The common snowdrop is known as Galanthus nivalis. Galanthus is derived from two Greek words meaning ‘milk’ and ‘flower’ referring to the white petals. The plant itself could be said to look like three drops of milk hanging from a stem. Nivalis comes from the Latin word for ‘snow’.
Common names include Candlemas Bells (Candlemas is 2nd February), Little Sisters of the Snow, Milk Flowers, White Ladies, February Fairmaids, Dingle-dangles, Morning Star, Mary’s Taper, Snow Piercer, and Death’s Flower. Do you have any interesting names for the snowdrop? Let us know inside our Readers' Facebook Group.
Snowdrops are easily recognised by their flowering heads hanging shyly downwards. The reason behind this is to keep their pollen dry and sweet for hungry pollinators in winter. Some have a sweet fragrance to attract early pollinators. Bumblebees in particular, may visit them during their brief blooming period.
Despite only 20 species in the genus, they have borne an incredible 2500+ cultivars. Snowdrop flowers are all white, but the variability comes from green or sometimes yellow markings. There can be one or several green dots or markings. The leaves also vary from glaucous grey-green to bright green and can be short or long, narrow or wide.
To increase your snowdrop stock it is good practice to divide congested clumps every three or four years. The easiest time to undertake this is when you can see where the leaves are. This is referred to as moving them ‘in the green’.
They are native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East and are thought to have been brought to our shores sometime in the 16th century either by the Romans or monks.
Snowdrops rapidly gained popularity in the 19th century and with the surge of both botany and floral symbolism, they became associated with hope and purity - not surprising when you think of the small white flowers pushing through the cold earth during the dreary, late winter months.
There was, however, a dark superstition associated with the plant which probably developed from swathes of the bulbs being planted in and around graveyards during the Victorian era. In many areas of the country, to see a single snowdrop flower was once viewed as a sign of impending death and it was considered bad luck to cut and take one into the house.
They were once administered to ease headaches, and in modern medicine, a compound in the bulbs called galantamine is used to help alleviate the effects of Alzheimer’s disease (snowdrops are poisonous though so do not try to make any homemade remedies).
Snowdrops contain natural antifreeze. On frosty nights snowdrops collapse with freezing stress but their antifreeze allows them to recover as soon as the temperatures rise. During the first world war, snowdrop bulbs were used to de-ice tanks!
In 2012, seed company Thompson and Morgan paid a whopping £725 for a yellow-hued snowdrop, Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ found growing in a Perthshire garden. Named after the owner of the garden where it first appeared as a seedling, it was the world’s most expensive snowdrop at the time.
The record though for the most expensive snowdrop now goes to a single snowdrop bulb which sold on eBay for a record-breaking £1,850. Galanthus plicatus 'Golden Tears' was the result of 18 years of hard work and breeding by Joe Sharman of Monksilver Nursery.
Beware if you think you might have some unusual snowdrops in your garden: in February 2005 police in Fife intercepted a van containing stolen snowdrop bulbs estimated to be worth an eye-watering £60,000. Snowdrop theft, where the bulbs are illegally dug up and sold on, is a lucrative trade.
A true lover of snowdrops is called a galanthophile, with galanthophilia being the passion for collecting and cultivating different snowdrop varieties.
“Winter’s gloomy night withdrawn, Lo! the young romantic Hours Search the hill, the dale, the lawn, To behold the snow-drop white Start to light, And shine in Flora’s desert bowers, Beneath the vernal dawn, The Morning Star of Flowers!”
James Montgomery from ‘The Snow-Drop’ Scottish-born poet and hymn writer (1771-1854)
If you want to know about snowdrops, tune into our podcast chat with Helen Rushton, holder of a National Collection, in Aberdeenshire, and get Helen's top tips for starting your own snowdrop collection on the 'Scotland Grows Show'.