Snowdrop By Gail Harland (Hardback, 2016)

Product Description

Quietly elegant flowers dressed in simple white & green snowdrops look too fragile to cope with wintery weather They are however very resilient & are treasured by gardeners for their ability to flower early in the horticultural year In Snowdrop Gail Harland explores how they have been used by non-gardeners too as symbols of purity & of hope & consolation In Victorian Britain snowdrop bands encouraged chastity among young women; today snowdrops are used as the symbols of several charities Snowdrops are commonly found in flower paintings from the sixteenth century onwards & frequently appear in poetry & prose Medicinally they are a source of galanthamine used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease The gentle beauty of the snowdrop may have attracted the attention of poets & artists for centuries but today snowdrops are more popular than ever before with record-breaking sums being reached for individual bulbs The rise of snowdrop enthusiasts known as galanthophiles has been much commented on & an expanding number of snowdrop events draw enthusiasts from around the world to discuss admire & buy specimens of these enchanting plants Snowdrop is the ideal companion for galanthophiles or indeed any plant lovers who are interested in the emotional & cultural aspects of these much-loved plants