It seems to get earlier every year, but snowdrop season is well and truly already upon us and set to bring a welcome sight as winter slowly turns to spring. For a fix of the white stuff, here are a few suggestions for top snowdrop spotting.
Make it a family affair at this Elizabethan splendour
Burghley House’s Gardens provide stunning snowdrop displays, showcasing a diverse array of varieties, with visitors treated to vibrant bursts of colour from emerging spring flowers along with wintry lakeside views. Between 14 and 20 February, seasonal activities include Family Snowdrop Planting, a hands-on opportunity to add to next year’s display, and Daily Garden Tours, led by Burghley’s expert Gardens Team focusing on seasonal highlights, including Burghley’s abundant snowdrop displays. Included with normal Gardens admission (from £11 adult and £8.50 child).
East Yorkshire’s snowdrop sensations
Visitors looking to brighten up a wintery walk are spoilt for choice in East Yorkshire. Details of eight of the best are now available in a handy online guide from Visit East Yorkshire, including carpets of white in the woodlands at Burton Agnes Hall (Snowdrops in the Woodland from 31 January to 1 March, garden admission applies – plus, dogs on leads are welcome) and a chance to see almost 100 varieties growing in the grounds at Burnby Hall Gardens on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds. Meanwhile, Sledmere House – one of region’s finest country houses –is renowned for sparkling displays of snowdrops in the 18th century walled garden.
Stroll a ‘lost garden’
A 450-year-old garden abandoned to nature for 50 years before being restored over the last two decades, Lincolnshire’s Easton Walled Gardens are famed for its drifts of snowdrops. Once described by former US president Franklin D Roosevelt as “A dream of Nirvana…almost too good to be true”, the restored historic garden has become a visitor favourite for its snowdrop displays during February and March, which this year opens early for one weekend, 7 and 8 February, before officially starting 11 February. Admission costs £13 adults and £6 for children.
Explore a plant pageant at this Elizabethan gem
Lincolnshire’s Doddington Hall – an Elizabethan manor house with 400 years of unbroken family ownership – is once again hosting a pageant of spring bulbs throughout the Gardens. Beginning in early February with snowdrops and winter aconites, Cyclamen coum, and Crocus tommasinianus (from 4 February), it then continues through March and early April with drifts of Lent lilies and a collection of heritage daffodils, including rare Edwardian varieties, and snake’s head fritillaries until May. Garden admission applies (£9.50 adults, £4.50 children).