African Garden + winter blooms

Hope is Blooming

All the snow from the blizzard has melted in the woodland garden, revealing the sprouting Galanthus elwesii, the advance guard of spring. Then the sun shone down, coaxing the blooms to open. This is the start of the gardening year here at Squirrelhaven. Soon the woodland garden will be full of the sweet scented little blooms.

I'm not a galanthophile, I have only the one type. While I am tempted by the descriptions of some of the cultivars of Galanthus nivalis, nothing can beat the reliable, early blooms of G. elwesii, the giant snowdrop.

Galanthus elwesii, the giant snowdrop

Granted, they foiled my plan of snowdrops and winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) blooming together. G. elwesii is too early for that, but that's a small price to pay for outdoor blooms in the middle of February in the suburbs of Chicago.