Margot Navarre is sharing her earliest blooms with us today. She gardens in Bellevue, Washington, and we’ve visited her garden before; check out Summer in Margot’s Garden if you want to see what it looks like in the height of summer. But right now, Margot is celebrating a favorite group of plants: snowdrops.
Drifts of snowdrops in full bloom, so cheerful and tough, mark the end of each winter. To the right, ‘Chief Joseph’ lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ‘Chief Joseph’, Zones 5–8) provides bright yellow needles to add to the snowdrop display. The pine holds this bright color through the winter, then shifts to green through the summer months.
Galanthus ‘Primrose Warburg’ (Zones 3–8) has a long-lasting bloom time but hasn’t been prolific in our garden. On this variety, the green ovary and markings on the petals have shifted to yellow, giving extra color and beauty.
The snowdrop variety ‘Wasp’ is a hybrid discovered by Veronica Cross at Sutton Court in Herefordshire in 1995. A vigorous grower with long white petals, it stands out in the garden.
Galanthus nivalis ‘Viridspice’ (Zones 3–8) shows off nicely in a simple vase.
We designed and added a dry-stacked retaining wall to make more room for plants and extra special snowdrops. This is a picture from September.
And here’s the new bed in January. We planted a dwarf camellia, daphnes, primroses, cyclamen, ferns, a full-moon maple, and bulbs. We will continue to add speciality snowdrops to the new garden space.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!
Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.
Fine Gardening Recommended Products
A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
DeWalt Variable-Speed Cordless Reciprocating Saw with 6-Piece Saw Blade Set
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
DeWalt Variable-Speed Cordless Reciprocating Saw
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Comments
Beautiful!
Thank you for enjoying the snowdrops.
That's an amazing collection of Snow Drops! I love your dry-stacked retaining wall planter- really nicely built and uses the space well!
Thank you. It took a little planning to build the retaining wall and most of the plants came from my existing garden. The full moon maple was from a friend who I used to work in gardens with and since then she has retired so it is a special focal point.
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in