A wonderful garden in early spring for snowdrops Galanthus elwesii (Giant or Turkish snowdrop).  This year like everything else they were extremely late to bloom.  Charles has a phenomenal collection, including Galanthus  "Beth Chatto" a rather droppy thing with a jaw-dropping price tag of $100 for one flower due to its rarity and the fall blooming "Potter's Prelude" which I continue to covet but with a price tag of $40 a bulb can never bring myself to buy as I'm sure one of the dogs would sit on them and I'd curse the day.  

My favorite was 'Ballerina" a gorgeous frilled double with an upturned face so you could see her beauty.  Unfortunately she was not for sale and would not be for the next few years -- a search on the internet did not yield any better result.  Another pretty double one was "Lady Beatrix Stanley", I decided to hold out for Ballerina and stick to the common (and much cheaper) Galanthus nivalis "Flore Pleno" if I wanted to indulge in a double variety.

There was a great double planting of Hamamelis 'Jelena' and 'Moonlight' -- which Charles told us he was replacing with Wisley Supreme, a variety with more fragrant bloom that doesn't hold its leaves -- he had handpicked the leaves off Moonlight for the right effect.  He had winter aconites planted in groupings as large as teh Hamamelis' drip line for maximum impact.

Camellia 'April Remembered' was in bloom -- a beautiful light pink flower that is fully hardy and blooms for three months from mid Feb through May.   'Spring's Promise' and 'Lucian Snow' were others he recommended -- Lucian Snow is a fall bloomer with the best cinnamon bark of any camellia that will bloom from Mid October - Thanksgiving.  I also admired the daffodils planted around ferns -- brilliant idea as the flowers will hide the ugly fern fronds and then the ferns will cover the dying daffodil foliage.  Close by was planted Ilex Koehneana, a great English/Chinese hybrid that was covered with scarlet berries the birds do not touch.

In the UK, Avon Bulbs hosted an “Immortals Lunch” for people who have a snowdrop named after them. It was inspired by the French Academy, where the 40 'Immortals’ meet to keep the French language pure.  As the English are quite happy to have their language change fluidly with the times, an Immortals Snowdrop meeting seemed much more important.  One of Avon's employees, Alan Street, is a major galanthophile, but his snowdrop 'Alan’s Treat’, is a play on his name, so he doesn’t strictly qualify as an immortal.  Maybe he should move the apostrophe to be invited next year and join the group photo.  To be a real immortal you need both names so 'Ruth’, 'Lynn’ and many other collectors also missed out on the invite.

Of those attending, Ruby Baker was one of the most senior.  A spritely 87 year old who can still clamber over stiles to see a good drift of snowdrops has been hooked since some visitors for tea suggested she see their snowdrop collection.  A the time she thought there were only two sorts, single and double, but when she looked into it and discovered there were a plethora of different ones she started collecting with a passion.  She and her late husband began traveling on snowdrop forays to Turkey, Corsica, Italy, France and Ireland --  'Irish Green’ is one of her discoveries although she found the best snowdrops in the Czech Republic. 

Standing next to Ruby is Carolyn Elwes of Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire who married into snowdrops in 1962.  She had no idea at the time that one of the best snowdrop collections lay on her doorstep but had cousins who had heard about the collection assembled by Henry Elwes (1846-1922) and kept nagging her to look after them.  Eventually she had to do something to keep them quiet and became bitten by the bug. She increased her collection by attending galanthophile lunches, with pots of snowdrops from her garden to exchange.  Then in 1995 disaster struck.  The village bells had to be rehung, and so in aid of the bell fund, Carolyn opened Colesbourne Park for the first Snowdrop Gala.  It attracted over 200 people and star of the show was a group of yellow Galanthus elwesii later named 'Carolyn Elwes’. They were the first yellow elwesii ever seen in public and hordes payed homage and snapped photographs. Days later there was a crater in the lawn and the treasured yellows had disappeared, never to be seen again.  The story appeared in newspapers worldwide and the theft went down in snowdrop history as unsolved. Luckily a few bulbs were lifted before the opening, so 'Carolyn Elwes’ survives, although it is still a rarity.  The theft turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the next year 1,600 appeared for their first garden opening to see the grounds they'd read about.  

Roy Mackenzie is an immortal who helped snowdrops get out of their 70s and 80s doldrums. Back then he remembers being extremely frustrated reading about bulbs he couldn't find.  He had a passion for propagation and was one of the first to take a scalpel to a snowdrop and twin-scale it.  This is key to increasing snowdrop production as one bulb can produce 50 offsets which flower within 4 or 4 years, speeding up the natural process.  Ronald started The Snowdrop Company in 1991 which enabled gardeners to acquire rare snowdrops for the first time and helped create their popularity today.  

Galanthophiles -- a British word for gardeners even more obsessed with snowdrops than I.

Over the years I've planted hundreds of snowdrops around the garden, clustered under trees, lining the stone staircase from the street to the front door, in the hopes that they will naturalize throughout the garden.  The earliest to bloom, and still my favorite remain two tiny clusters by the mailbox, planted by a previous owner decades ago.

In early December, the first clump blooms, just three flowers that have not multiplied in all the years we have lived here.  I'm afraid to divide them in case they don't return.  I think they must be Galanthus ‘Potter’s Prelude’, the only fall blooming one I can find listed.  

There is a few weeks interlude until the next clump begins to flower.  I think these must be Galanthus elwesii which are slightly earlier and larger than the common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis. 

Although hideously expensive, I keep meaning to splurge on other earlier flowering cultivars such as ‘S. Arnott’, and ‘Atkinsii’.  For now, I have to wait until late February to March when the common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) carpets the ground with wonderful honey-scented white flowers, a signal that winter is ending.  Snowdrops grow in full sun to full shade and are usually not picky about soil. Deer resistant and summer dormant.

The best way to buy snowdrops is ‘in the green’ (as they say in the snowdrop world), rather than as bulbs in the fall.  If you can find them for sale in the spring is not only the best way to insure vigorous healthy plants, you will also be able to enjoy the blooms immediately as most plants will be flowering when you receive them. 

A hint of spring and then more snow!  A good 4" fell during the night, and the witch hazels are now covered.  

Snowdrops are still poking out and after a warm day spent clipping off the dead hellebore leaves the new buds are now stretching towards the sun.

For the first time this year it actually feels like Spring, blue skies, sunshine and a balmy 54 degrees.  The snow is beginning to melt, exposing broken branches, and the first signs of spring flowers.  The snowdrops are blooming and underneath the ratty leaves of the hellebores buds are beginning to appear.

The hellebores tired browning leaves have served their purpose and can be cut back.  In past years I've cut a third back in November, leaving some leaves to provide nutrients to the plant, then pruned back again in January.  This year I did get around to pruning off some of the leaves on a warmish day in January but actually regret it as those hellebores were battered by the snowstorms that followed.  The old leaves protected the new tender foliage and unfurling buds of the plants I didn't get around to pruning and they survived in much better shape.

It is important now to go around with at pair of sharp felcos or pruners and remove the old foliage or the plants look hideous during their peak bloom months.

I've found over the years that having a planting schedule doesn't necessarily mean I actually remember to get the seeds in the ground at the right time.  I start the season with great intentions to be incredibly organized and sow successive planting of different vegetables so I can enjoy extended harvestings of each crop, then during the hectic summer planting months the weeks slip by and my weekly sowings of carrots, lettuce etc have gone by the wayside. 

At the end of the planting season it is great to store left-over seed in a cool dark place.  My old Burgon & Ball seed storer does wonders in keeping my remaining seed safe in an airtight box, it looks great and has handy monthly dividers to separate the seed and keep them in one place when not needed.

The trouble is most of my seeds need to be planted in the months of March - May, so jamming them all in one mass is guaranteed to ensure they linger in the box after the first sowing.  I've tried filing them in photo boxes, separated by dividers, but out of sight they become definitely out of mind.

Last year I tried using a clear plastic shoe organizer, marked each row with a month and then  labeled each shoe slot in the row label week 1, week 2 ...  I hung it in on the wall in clear view where I couldn't overlook it and then sorted through the seed packets, read the backs to learn the planting times and popped the seeds in the right slot.  It did make organizing the seeds as they arrived easier as I could put them in the right planting weeks as soon as I opened the mail.  Once they were sown I either left them in their original slot or moved them into the next week if I planned to sow them again.  If I wasn't such as seed glutton it would probably have been a good system, unfortunately it soon overflowed with seeds, the plastic ripped and I at one point it fell off the wall when I was shoving in packets and I had a mess of spilled seeds.  

This year I think I finally have a solution.  I've created an enormous open box I can put on the potting shed bench that does the same thing.  The trouble was that it took finding a box and compartmentalizing it into sections instead of clicking 'buy' on amazon and not having to leave my armchair.  For the less lazy, a box like the one below would do the trick nicely.  I based it on the official Victory Garden seed box that belonged to the very first VG host James Underwood Crockett.  A wonderful mix of Yankee frugality and common sense which helps to create gardening magic each spring.  Hopefully I'll never miss a planting date again.

I’m overwhelmed by seeds this time of year, seduced by all the luscious catalogs that flooded the mailbox when snow was thick on the ground.  A week curled up in front of the fireplace turning pages glowing with glossy photos of ripe, delicious looking vegetables and gorgeous brightly colored flowers has led to a daily onslaught of seed deliveries.  Boxes from Johnny's (my favorite), Thompson and Morgan andBurpee which now fill me with trepidation. 

They litter the rooms, still in the packing boxes and envelopes, and I have others left over from last year that I keep finding in odd drawers and corners of the garage.  It happens every year despite my best intentions.  What’s worse is finding those crumpled envelopes of seeds gathered from my garden or friends gardens that I mean to label or am SURE I’ll remember what is inside. 

I couldn’t face starting seeds under home-rigged lights in the garage again so ordered a professional light stand which was promised by mid-February but is yet to arrive. Now I’m panicking because as we’re in zone 6 I should have started to sow the seeds indoors in late February as most need to be started 8 weeks before our frost date.  Since outside everything seems to be at least a month behind schedule hopefully it will all work out fine.  Below is an ideal time table for planting seeds.  Of course in real life this rarely goes to plan.

Vegetable/Herb Seed Starting Timetable (Listed in weeks before the last frost)

Twelve Weeks: Cardoons and Brussels Sprouts

Eleven Weeks: Leeks, Artichokes and Cauliflower (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)

Ten Weeks: Celery, Celeriac, Jicama and Lemongrass

Nine Weeks: Broccoli, Cabbage and Kohlrabi (transplant out four weeks before the last frost date)

Eight Weeks: Eggplant, Tomatoes, Chiles, Sweet Peppers, Chives, Sage, Stevia and Thyme

Six Weeks: Asparagus, Fennel, Onions, Rhubarb, Shallots, Tomatillos and Basil
Four Weeks: Melons, Bitter Melon and Cucuzzi Edible Gourds.


Flower Seed Starting Timetable (Listed in weeks before the last frost)

Twelve Weeks: Datura, Salvia and Viola.
Ten Weeks: Dianthus, Digitalis, Lobelia and Heliotrope

Eight Weeks: Milkweed, Coreopsis, Gaillardia, Globe Amaranth, Helichrysum, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Heuchera, Nigella, Platycodon and Statice

Six Weeks: Cutting Ageratum, China Asters, Celosia, Cleome, Coleus, Nepeta Catmint, Euphorbia, Forget-Me-Nots, Dahlia, Nicotiana, Scabiosa, Snapdragons and Thunbergia


This year with a greenhouse in place all is going well.  In previous years I cheated and ordered Brussels Sprouts, Leeks, Cauliflower, Celery, Broccoli, Cabbage and Kohlrabi from Deep Grass Nursery who produce great certified organic vegetable transplants.  I sat next to Bruce and his wife (the owners) at a PASA conference dinner last year.  They're great people, have been in business for over 25 years with greenhouses in Southern Delaware and they ship all over the country.  Traditionally they have served market gardeners, CSAs and farmers, this year they've added home gardeners to their client base and ship transplants in quantities fewer than trays of 62 which can be daunting to consume for a family of 5.