The First Snowdrops

Snowdrops - Galanthus nivalis

Thank you to the NGAG Volunteers that planted these bulbs in September 2009!

The first of the snowdrops that were planted by NGAG volunteers last autumn are just emerging and coming into bud on Newington Green. These dainty little flowers are members of the lily family (Liliaceae) and are a welcome sight after winter's snow and ice. The leaves and petals of the snowdrops in the photo are still showing some grains of earth on them, that were probably gathered as the plant pushed up through the soil.

Apparently 'snow-piercer' is one of the names it is given, as the sword-like leaves can push up through the snow and it is one of the first plants to flower at the end of winter. The flowers close during the night and re-open in the morning when they provide a welcome source of food for early honey bees and other insects, which pollinate the plants as they search for nectar.

John Clare (1793 - 1864) wrote of bees searching for food in snowdrops in this poem, which suggests an indicator of climate change here, as the photo was taken in January and the poem is called 'March':

    The insect world, now sunbeams higher climb,

    Oft dream of spring, and wake before their time:

    Bees stroke their little legs across their wings

    And venture short flights where the snowdrops hings

    Its silver bell......

Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743-1825) poet, hymn-writer and abolitionist who lived locally (and has a road named after her - Barbauld Road, N16) and whose husband was a dissident minister at the Newington Green Church, also mentioned snowdrops in her poem  'The Invitation' -

...'Now the glad earth her frozen zone unbinds,

   And o'er her bosom breathe the western winds

   Already now the snow-drop dares appear,

   The first pale blossom of th' unripen'd year;

   As FLORA'S breath, by some transforming power,

   Had changed an icicle into a flower:

   Its name, and hue, the scentless plant retains,

   And winter lingers in its icy veins....'

These snowdrops, a much-loved little flowers that signal the ending of winter, may possibly be a native species but no-one is sure. They have definitely become naturalised and have grown in the UK for hundreds of years.

If you handle snowdrop bulbs take care, as they can cause some irritation and if eaten the plants themselves can cause stomach upsets. However, this doesn't seem to stop the squirrel that was busy trying to dig up the bulbs to eat them!

28  January 2010