Welcome to Brixton Flower Club’s weekly flower spotting! Each month we will choose one road or area in Brixton, provide you with a weekly post on something beautiful that we spot and tell you a bit more about it. Thank you to all the local gardeners who work so hard to add some colour and nature to Brixton’s streets. In February, we are looking at the flowers to be found in Blenheim Gardens.
Location: Blenheim Gardens
Week 3: Galanthus
Common Name: Snowdrops
Now we are getting into early spring, lovely snowdrops are everywhere – a sure sign that the end of winter is nearly here! There are lots of snowdrop gardens open in England at this time of year (none close to Brixton unfortunately) and I highly recommend going to see forests carpeted with these delicate flowers if you have the chance.
The ‘snow’ name comes from the fact that the flowers typically appear after the last snow has melted – although in my experience they have a mind of their own! Because of their timing, and their signal that winter is coming to an end, snowdrops are often used to symbolise hope.
Many species of snowdrops are now endangered and so if you have any space in your garden they really are a worthwhile (and easy) bulb to grow. Snowdrops are perennial and so you will benefit from more than one year of flowering and they have a honey-like scent if you get down close to them.
Snowdrops have thousands of literary mentions – take a look at the poems by Ted Hughes and William Wordsworth for inspiration!
