Snowdrops are the first official flowering plant of the year, spot them on walks in the deep of winter!
The lovely snowdrop is one of the first flowering plants of the year, and a promise of spring and warmer days to come. There is nothing better than spotting them on one of your walks in the deep of winter!
They are so hardy because they grow from bulbs, and they provide a much appreciated snack for bumble bee queens that are out and about on mild winter days. Snowdrops are native in large parts of Europe. Its natural distribution includes most of Southern and central Europe. Elsewhere in Europe it has been introduced and has “gone wild”, including in most of the UK.
There are quite a few places where you can enjoy carpets of flowering snowdrops. The National Trust has published a list of Top spots for snowdrops, where you can see spectacular displays on their properties.
They also publish a spring flower detective sheet and a snowdrop colouring sheet for your little ones on their website naturedetectives.org.uk.
Enjoy your winter walks!
Main image by Amanda Slater – CC BY-SA 2.0
Second image by Mathias Erhart – CC BY-SA 2.0