Snowdrops at The National Botanic Garden of Wales

Snowdrops will be a little later than usual this year but the scene is set for a fabulous display of everyone’s favourite spring flower at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Horticulture experts at the Garden are predicting a late – but great – display of this pretty, white, delicate, harbinger of spring.

Head of Horticulture Laura Davies said: “The recent cold snap may hold them back a bit this year but we are still expecting a spectacular show.

“We have a mile of snowdrops around the lakes and the Springwoods are always a treat at this time of year.”

Laura says there is a dark side to these pretty bloomers. They tend to be unreliable, unpredictable - and downright promiscuous. But, to counter this, says Laura, they have a more beneficent side: the extract Galanthamine is being used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s.

Said Laura: “You have to grow the different varieties of Galanthus - the botanical name for snowdrop - separately as they interbreed at will. So you have to keep a close eye on what they are up to.”

The National Botanic Garden boasts a mile of snowdrops near the necklace of lakes on the former Regency estate and parkland. It also has 46 different cultivars in the Springwoods (behind the Double-Walled Garden).

Laura is urging fans of the pretty but promiscuous flower to visit the Garden soon: “Some varieties won’t flower until April but the main show of snowdrops is happening in the next few weeks.