nivalis

Spring is Afoot

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Yesterday I was absolutely beside myself because I saw the first snowdrops of the season.  These brave early-appearers are double-flowered, with pale green tips on the outer petals and pronounced green blotches on the inner ones.  I have forgotten their varietal name and the plant tag is currently submerged under a cover of dead leaves, … Read more

Snowdrop Hope

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Over the centuries, writers have spilled a lot of ink over a little flower—Galanthus nivalis or snowdrop.  Tennyson and Wordsworth have sung its praises in lines of verse.  Elizabethan herbalist John Gerard described the plant in his 1597 Herball, when galanthus was already old news.  It was most likely described by the great botanist and … Read more