I went for a walk the other morning—well, it was more of a shuffle and slide because there was a lot of sneaky black ice on the sidewalks—and I happened to notice some snowdrops (Galanthus) peeking out of a neighbor’s lawn. That definitely put a spring in my step!
I shuffled faster to get to my own backyard to look for signs of life. Over the last week we had several very windy days with milder temperatures, and most of our snow is now gone.
I couldn’t remember where I planted any of the snowdrops bulbs I purchased last fall, so it took me awhile to find anything. Eventually I spotted a little white bud peeking out of some wet leaves.
I poked around and found about a half-dozen plants either just popping out of the ground, or ready to bloom.
Snowdrops get their name because they are not afraid to emerge even when there’s still snow on the ground. They grow about 4 to 6 inches tall with nodding white flowers. Snowdrops will grow in full sun to light shade and they are tolerant of frost.
You can even plant the little bulbs in your lawn. They will bloom and die back to the ground long before it’s time to mow the lawn for the first time in the spring (unless you’re my neighbor who likes to mow in the middle of March for some strange reason). The plants naturalize slowly and are deer and rabbit resistant.
Snowdrops are a great cure for spring fever. It will probably snow a few more times this month and next month, but seeing these little white flowers persevering in the chill reminds me that very soon everything will be alive and green again.