Joan Cooper with some of the snowdrops in her garden. Picture by Peter Boma.
GARDENINGSNOWDROPS are the garden portent of weather changing for the better.
As the days start to lengthen, clumps of this little nodding flower light up shady, moist corners of the garden.
But, like the snow, they are fickle and this year they are giving a Cowes family cause for concern.
They want their snowdrops looking their very best — what would Snowdrop Day be without snowdrops?
Eileen Breeze organised the day for Saturday, February 4, when she could normally predict there would be a fine show, but this year they have been on the late side.
She planted a couple of thousand, which are now well established in her Cowes garden, together with splashes of seasonal colour from daffs,
"We’re keeping our fingers firmly crossed for next Saturday they will be looking their best. It’s not a big garden — a diamond shape of about 100ft by 120ft — but we like to think it looks lovely when the snowdrops are at their best," she said.
"We’re raising money for the charity effort by my son-in-law Ben Laidler, who is in the Army Air Corps based at Yeovilton.
"He plans to take part again in the Rally for Heroes, which starts at Dunsfold Aerodrome and which will take 50 cars through France, Monaco, Italy and Bavaria, before finishing at the Nurburgring in Germany.
"They hope to raise £100,000 for Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion and we decided to do our little bit."
Snowdrop Open Day takes place at 44 Magdalen Crescent, Cowes, between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, February 4. Entrance is £3 and there will be light refreshments.
Snowdrops are, coincidentally, the subject of a Hardy Plants Society talk on the very same day — so there is the option of seeing the real thing earlier in the day and learning more about them from a renowned expert.
Jennifer Harmer hails from Hampshire and is a knowledgeable member of the Hardy Plants Society.
She is coming to the Island to talk about snowdrops and pulmonaria at the Newport Parish Rooms in Town Lane from 2.30pm to 4pm to a gathering organised by the IW group of the Hardy Plants Society. The meeting is free to members and £3 for visitors.
Joan Cooper, who is a leading light of that group, knows a thing or two about snowdrops and her garden will look a picture with its many different varieties in a few days’ time.
Set against the white flecked with green are drifts of vibrant cyclamen which, I can confirm, self-seed like crazy in the most unlikely places.
Joan, who is 76, is a welcoming sort and, should you want to see a cracking display, she welcomes visitors under the National Gardens’ Scheme.
Joan lives in Cranmore and can be reached on 760550 if groups fancy a tour of her garden.
There they will find a diverse selection of snowdrops.
Because they are so diminutive, people tend to think a snowdrop is just a snowdrop, but a close look confirms they do come in many variations on a theme, and some are nicely scented too.
One of the largest, sweetest smelling and most distinctive is galanthus elwesii with its two delicate green marks on the petals and honey-scented blooms.
All snowdrops prefer a moisture-retentive, humus-rich, woodland-type soil.
It should be well drained, cool and shady but it should not dry out in summer.
Most soils benefit from the incorporation before planting of a good quantity of well-composed leaf mould or leaf litter.
They also benefit from planting 'in the green’ at this time of year rather than when dormant later on and there are many deals to be had from specialist nurseries at the minute.