Snowdrop Days: A Midwinter Celebration
“Snowdrop Days: A Midwinter Celebration” is set for February 2 through 10, 2013, in the Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London, England (map)
Otherwise closed for the winter (it reopens March 29, 2013), the winter-blooming show welcomes visitors to discover dozens of unusual, rare and fascinating types on the Snowdrop Trail. There are 10,000 snowdrops blooming in the wood plus special snowdrops on display in the Snowdrop Theatre. A wide selection of snowdrops and other winter-flowering plants from specialist nurseries will also be on sale.
Visitors can take a free guided tour, visit the Shop for garden related gifts and enjoy brunch, a warming stew or mulled wine at the Tangerine Dream Café.
Admission is £9 for adults.
If you’re in London on February 7, 2013, Road Trips Gardener, consider signing up for “Painting Snowdrops at the Garden”. Held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., this is a one-day watercolor course with botanical artist Gillian Barlow. Cost is £105.
Situated in the heart of London, Chelsea Physic Garden has a living collection of around 5,000 different edible, useful, medicinal and historical plants. It was founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries for the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants.
The Garden’s warm microclimate means that many tender plants can flourish including a number of rare and endangered species. It has the largest outdoor fruiting olive tree in Britain and the world’s most northerly outdoor grapefruit tree. From pomegranates to ginkgos, mulberries to eucalyptus, there are over 100 different types of tree in the Garden, many of which are rare in Britain. In the glasshouses there is a collection of tropical and sub-tropical species and a Victorian Cool Fernery.
(Photo courtesy of Chelsea Physic Garden)