SNOWDROP

Snowdrops are among the hardiest flowers known to our gardens, and are

invaluable for their welcome snow-white bells in the earliest days of

the opening spring. They should be planted in clumps, and left alone for

years. The double-flowering variety is exquisitely beautiful: we might,

indeed, speak of it as a bit of floral jewellery. The flowers are

bell-shaped, closely packed with petals, like so many microscopic

petticoats arranged for the 'tiring' of a fairy: they are snow-white and

sometimes delicately tipped with light green. This variety is as hardy

as the single, and the best for growing in baskets and pots. When

employed in lines the planting ought to be very close together, and the

line should be composed of several rows, making, in fact, a broad band.

Such a ribbon when backed with Scilla sibirica is very beautiful. The

best way of displaying the Snowdrop alone is in large groups densely

crowded together. The effect is much more telling than when the same

number of bulbs is spread over a larger area. Put the roots in drills,

two inches deep, and if possible in a spot where they need not be

disturbed for two or three years. Snowdrops may be grown in pots, and

be gently forced for Christmas. But unless wanted very early, it will

answer to lift clumps from the border in November and pot them.