With the beginning of spring showing in the flowers that are starting to pop their heads up out of the snow covered ground it feels like life is returning to the garden. In western Europe the daffodils and snowdrops are coming into full bloom and bringing colour to very dreary gardens. Snowdrops are a small perennial plant and is part of the amaryllis family with over 2,500 named varieties. Snowdrop bulbs are sold undried and need to be planted as soon as possible after purchase. The small plant grows to reach a maximum height of 3 to 6 inches. It is the first of the spring flowers to bloom. Snowdrops produce one small white flower which droops its head toward the ground. When the flower opens it has three inner petals that are covered by three outer petals. The head of the flower will collapse in freezing temperatures and reopen when the weather gets warmer. The leaves of snowdrops are bluish-green and long and slender, much like blades of grass. The plant thrives in many soil types and needs very little maintenance. It can grow in many locations that include under trees because the snowdrop blooms before most of the leaves of a tree sprout. Other choices include rock gardens and woodland gardens.
The snowdrop is native to Europe and the Middle East and was brought into Britain by the Romans and then introduced to the Americas with the British settlers. Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, was the botanist who named the snowdrop the Galanthus nivalis, which means “milk flower of the snow,” in 1753. The German folklore has a very sweet legend saying that ‘at the beginning of time, Snow searched for a colour to borrow. When Snow asked and pleaded for one of the colours of the flowers, the flowers turned away denying Snow a colour; they felt Snow was too cold and unpleasant. The snowdrop however felt sorry for Snow and offered it its colour. Snow accepted the gift and became white from that point on. To show its gratitude, Snow allowed snowdrops to bloom at the end of winter with Snow’s protection against snow and ice. Snow and snowdrops exist side-by-side as friends’.
The tiny snowdrop holds so much meaning and beauty, a garden just is not complete without them. They herald the beginning of spring with white the colour of purity and innocence and symbolize hope of the summer to come and the beginning of the new flowering season. The prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” Blessed or happy is the man who trust or believes in the Lord because his hope and confidence is found in him. The man who trusts, is happy because his hope is based on something that is sure to happen. God does not lie, he has promised to save all who seek him in salvation. This assurance of hope brings happiness to man. Just like the snowdrop brings assurance of summer so does the hope of man that is rested in the Lord for his peace and joy of salvation it is assured in him.
P. Pilgrim. pilgrimway101@yahoo.com
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