Monty revisits one of his classic books, Gardening at Longmeadow, in an occasional series.
The first batch of the snowdrops in my Spring Garden were planted 15 years ago. They were from a friend’s garden, and they’ve gradually been spreading by seed, although every few years I do lift and divide a clump or two.
Left to their own devices they’ll gradually carpet the entire area they occupy, since they have the rich, rather damp soil they love, and some shade which also suits them.
The pollination of snowdrop seed depends upon two things: some sunny, mild weather and the insects to spread the pollen. The outer petals open to be horizontal when the temperature rises to about 10°C, and this attracts insects.
British gardening expert Monty Don, shared his advice for nurturing snowdrops. Pictured: Snowdrops, with some purple crocus
The green markings on the inner petals are said to glow in ultraviolet light, which is another enticement for pollinators such as the queen bumblebees that one sees bumbling around in the winter sun.
The best way to make a clump of snowdrops spread is to lift them immediately after flowering, divide up the mass of bulbs and replant them in smaller groups a few feet apart. Seed dispersal will mean that these clumps gradually meet.
Unless the snowdrops are growing in grass, you’re almost certain to disturb them if you plant anything else near them, which you’re almost certain to do as they disappear to nothing by midsummer and, in fact, do not amount to much after mid-spring as their foliage gradually withers.
A way round this risk is to plant them at the base of deciduous trees and shrubs, where they’re less likely to be disturbed and will not mind the shade.
The only thing to watch for is the ground getting too dry – especially in autumn when they start to grow again, albeit underground and out of sight for another few months.
Snowdrops are good as a cut flower, if you pick them with a longish stalk. The first tiny bunch of modestly inclined flowers in a vase on the kitchen table is a wonderfully hopeful moment and they have a surprisingly strong honeyed fragrance drawn out by the heat of a room.
They also grow well in pots. Use a general-purpose potting compost to plant a small clump in each pot and keep them outside in a cool corner, bringing them into the sun in the new year.
You can bring the pots indoors to make a lovely houseplant, although the flowers will last longer outside in the cool. They will not need repotting or feeding every year, but do keep them watered from October through to June.
Every three or four years take them out of the pot, divide them into three and repot into fresh compost.
No one seems to know if snowdrops are native or not, although because of their longevity and ‘naturalness’ they feel as though they ought to be.
There is no reference to snowdrops growing wild in Britain before 1778; indeed, the first garden reference was not until 1597. And while they seem carelessly natural, they’ve been bred as intensively as almost any garden flower – there are more than 350 species and cultivars.
The common Galanthus nivalis will do me fine, although I do love the double G. nivalis f. pleniflorus. This is sterile, so will not spread from seed, but increases perfectly well from divisions – and because it does not produce seed, its flowers last an extra long time.
HOW TO DO WINTER PRUNING
Monty Don revealed the purpose of winter pruning it to clear damaged or overcrowded growth
- The purpose of winter pruning is to clear damaged or overcrowded growth, letting more light and air into the plant, to stimulate renewed and more vigorous growth.
- Every tree and branch develops a ‘leader’ which grows longer and more vigorously than the rest of the plant. When you remove that leader, the lower shoots cease to be suppressed and will grow more vigorously, until one becomes a leader and the cycle continues. The more you remove the leader, the more the plant will bush out and thicken up.
- If you wish to curtail growth, leave the pruning until the middle of summer, when the foliage is fully grown and before the roots start to store food ahead of the winter.
YOUR KITCHEN GARDEN: CAVOLO NERO
Monty sows the first seeds of cavolo nero (pictured) in a seed tray or plugs in January
Cavolo nero – or black Tuscan kale – is the most useful brassica in my garden, and although it’s at its best in winter when the leaves have had some frost on them, I grow it all year round.
It can be eaten raw in salads when young, or cooked if the leaves have been left standing from summer through to spring. It’s great in stews, soups and sauces.
You pick the leaves individually, and the plant replaces them with more and more fresh ones until it starts to flower almost a year after planting.
I sow the first seeds of the year in a seed tray or plugs in January, with a couple of extra sowings at monthly intervals. If germinated in seed trays, the seedlings must be pricked out into pots before being planted out into their final positions in ground that has previously grown a leguminous crop such as peas or beans.
The plants grow fairly large so need 60cm space all around them. They may also need to be staked. If grown as a salad crop, cavolo nero can be sown directly into the soil in rows and thinned to just 10cm.
It’s a brassica so will need protection from cabbage white butterflies between June and September.