A diversion this afternoon, after all my chores, to Battleston Hill – the enchanting woodland at the RHS Gardens, Wisley. Between rain showers and with a careful watch on the sodden earth, I found my first snowdrops. Galanthus elwesii is one of the first to flower, tall, with large flowers and distinctive blue-grey-green foliage, the petals opening wide as they mature. With an Award of Garden Merit, naturally.
A little more on the subject from The Telegraph…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3339919/On-the-spot.html
As an aside, I bought a book just before Christmas, ‘Of Rhubarb and Roses – The Telegraph Book of the Garden’, a delightful and varied collection of articles from The Telegraph covering many decades of garden writing and featuring some stellar authors too. There is no proper subject index, so I’m not sure what I will find next, but have enjoyed my reading thus far. If I remember to make notes, I can probably find some of the more recent pieces online but will report from time to time on the more enjoyable, useful and idiosyncratic musings that I come across.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/10368753/Rhubarb-and-roses-a-Telegraph-gardening-anthology.html
The Teddington Gardener 