Snowdrops - for Amblealice!

18 comments

I just love them so much, and adding a “wee extra” blog right now, for Alice’s “Folklore of plants” page on GOYpedia.

A great deal of folklore depends on our calendar, Anyways…..!

When Eve was expelled from Eden, flowers failed to bloom, and she sat there, crying. An Angel caught a tear and breathed on it. It fell to Earth, and became the first Snowdrop. From this, Hope was born.

When God asked the snow to get some colour from all the flowers, all refused, except for the snowdrop, who obliged. hence, this is the first flower of the year.

Monks from Rome originally brought snowdrop bulbs to England. they were grown in the gardens of monasteries, and achieved the name of “church flowers”. In time, their presence in churchyards were seen as unlucky, and they were thrown over the walls, to colonise the countryside.

The Winter Witch fought a duel with Lady Spring, who received a cut to her finger. Where the blood fell, when the snow melted, a snowdrop grew, and so Spring has henceforth always beat Winter.

It is unlucky to bring/grow snowdrops indoors. In some cultures, even the sight of a snowdrop in the garden heralds disaster/death.

“I don’t think so!”. for me. they represent “purity and hope”, as represented in the “language of flowers”.

:-))

22 Jan, 2010
14 likes

Comments

Healerwitch

Beautiful snowdrops...haven't grown them in years!

23 Jan, 2010

Gilli

Gorgeous. I love snowdrops.

23 Jan, 2010

Grindle

you can't beat the beauty of those little white jewels :)))

23 Jan, 2010

Terratoonie

Lovely blog with excellent paragraph spacing ;o) x

23 Jan, 2010

Arlene

~ the latest Gardeners World mag has Snowdrops with black grass in a pot~now there's an idea!

23 Jan, 2010

Spritzhenry

Now that's a strange coincidence, Arlene - I was intending to do that in a container this week - and I don't read Gardeners' World! :-))) Maybe they pinched my idea?? LOL.

Thank you David - that was a lovely blog - I enjoyed it. xx

23 Jan, 2010

Arlene

hI Barbara~ great minds think alike?
I have Black grass with pink cyclamen in a pot but the cyclamen have tended to get crowded out~ I have just ordered some Sam Arnott snowdrops from Trecanna~ slightly bigger and scented and will use those with some of my black grass ~ I potted some up from runners last year and may thin some out in some of the pots if necessary to do two containers~it takes so easily!
~enjoyed the folk lore David~ I too love Snowdrops and Hellebores because they are so early~ getting buds on everything now!

23 Jan, 2010

Spritzhenry

And isn't that a real pleasure, Arlene! :-)))

23 Jan, 2010

Arlene

~ yay!!!!!

23 Jan, 2010

Wagger

Fascinating folklore about a beautiful flower. I can't imagine anybody not loving snowdrops!

23 Jan, 2010

Grindle

I like the idea of the black grass and snowdrops, I was going to move mine, now I know just what to do with it :))))

23 Jan, 2010

Clarice

What a great idea snowdrops and black grass.

23 Jan, 2010

Hollyeves

great blog...........lovely snowdrops............

23 Jan, 2010

Amblealice

I've got the black grass, but not the snowdrops.....they don't like my garden (:
Thank you so much for the lovely story David...its off to Folklore as we speak :))

23 Jan, 2010

Bonkersbon

Another lovely blog David...Our snowdrops are starting to pop up all over the garden now...not yet in bloom,but the promise is there ! Love the folklore !

23 Jan, 2010

Amblealice

Glad you like it BB...there's some fascinating stores,,,,

23 Jan, 2010

David

Well now, I find this all very useful, too. Ophiopogon with snowdrops growing through??? I love black and white, and it is still a very "trendy" colour combo!

Would have loooked stunning in our "choc" themed garden, and may still try this out next year. Just because I have to change themes doesn't mean that I still don't hark back to previous ones, and still have many wishlist plants I want to see in the garden.

Glad you liked the folklore I found by chance when googling up dates for the forthcoming Snowdrop Festival. You are most welcome, Alice! :-)))

Arlene - even pink cyclamen with a very dark "backdrop" gets me thinking of Turkish Delight!!!!! :-))

24 Jan, 2010

Bonkersbon

Thank you Aa..must take a look.......

24 Jan, 2010

Add a comment