Looking back on Snowdrop Season.
Our first snowdrop season since moving back to the UK last year and wow! What an event. I have gardened in America for 30 years and don’t ever recall there being much fuss about snowdrops. We had them in our garden, and even had a few different varieties, but what happens in England takes it to a whole new level. The sheer volume of varieties for a start. Then, when you talk to real galanthophiles, you start to hear stories about the “snowdrop glitterati” (fascinating). And, there’s “Grumpy”. Everyone wants Grumpy. The few we had for sale were snapped up before we even opened. We do have a couple of small clumps in our growing stock that we are thinking of twin-scaling to increase long-term availability.
I could go on, the weather (flooding), the cake demand, handling coach loads of people. It all added spice to the month long event. I’m glad we got through it (tired but unscathed) and we’ll be ready to do the whole thing again next year.
Looking forward to Spring
Meanwhile Spring is arriving fast. We’ve closed for a month to get ready for the Spring/Summer season in the garden. That will start April 1st. But, already the garden is changing on a daily basis. Still lots to do. On top of the regular weeding, pruning and general tidying we are also working on several new things. Car park improvements, new signage, and two brand new garden areas. I also have to cram in a week back in America for (unrelated) business reasons. So, as I sit here early on the first Monday morning after Snowdrop season I’m not sure how we are going to get it all done. But, we have a great group of employees and volunteers so, with their help we will be ready for our first visitors next month. Hope to see you all then.