A distinctly springlike feel to today and no better way to signal the warmer seasons are on the way than the arrival of our beautiful little Snowdrops. Here’s a few facts…

Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are one of the first bulbs to flower and signal the start of spring. The flower is a symbol of hope.

According to legend, the snowdrop became the symbol of hope when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. When Eve was about to give up hope that the cold winters would never end, an angel appeared. She transformed some of the snowflakes into snowdrop flowers, proving that the winters do eventually give way to the spring.

A snowdrop rhyme

“The Snowdrop, in purest white array, First rears her head on Candlemas day.”

The name snowdrop does not mean ‘drop’ of snow, it means drop as in eardrop – the old word for earring.

Snowdrops are also known as ‘Candlemas bells’, Mary’s taper, snow piercer, February
fairmaids and Dingle-dangle.

The Latin name for the snow drop is Galanthus, which means “milk flower”.

One of the earliest bulbs to flower, most colonies in the UK reproduce by division of the bulbs and not by seed unless exceptionally mild weather encourages insect pollination. The hundreds of cultivated varieties include giant, double and rare yellow kinds, some of which change hands for significant sums.
Regarded by many as a wildflower, snowdrops were not recorded as growing wild in the UK until the 1770s. Most colonies are probably garden escapees though it is still thought some may be native, particularly in southwest England.
Snowdrops are certainly native to a large part of Europe, as far north as Brittany, where they grow in damp woods and meadows.

Snowdrops are one of the white flowers regarded as unlucky to bring into the house despite acceptance by the Catholic Church as a symbol of Candlemas. Some people still view them as ‘death-tokens’ and the flower has been described as ‘a corpse in its shroud’.