February is the month we associate with snowdrops, scientific name Galanthus which is Greek for ‘milk flower’.
It is a common flower across Europe, introduced to the UK in the sixteenth century, and is a welcome sign of spring. Their seeds are particularly tasty to ants, this is how snowdrops are spread. Or gardeners can dig them up after flowering to separate some bulbs to transplant elsewhere. Snowdrops also provide nectar for bumblebees and other insects waking from hibernation. They thrive in deciduous woodland, flowering before the leaf canopy is formed to make the most of the winter sunlight.
An alternative name for snowdrops is Candlemas bells, as they tend to appear at the start of February to coincide with the Christian festival of light. In Pagan times this was the festival of Imbolc, half way between the winter and spring equinoxes. This was a fire festival celebrated by lighting…
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