Garden Notes
“Welcome, welcome! sang and sounded every ray, and the Flower lifted itself up over the snow into the brighter world. The Sunbeams caressed and kissed it, so that it opened altogether, white as snow, and ornamented with green stripes. It bent its head in joy and humility. Beautiful Flower! said the Sunbeams, how graceful and delicate you are! You are the first, you are the only one! You are our love! You are the bell that rings out for summer, beautiful summer, over country and town. All the snow will melt; the cold winds will be driven away; we shall rule; all will become green, and then you will have companions, syringas, laburnums, and roses; but you are the first, so graceful, so delicate!”
Snow drops
The first flowers to bloom each year in the Essence + Alchemy garden. Traditionally snowdrops [Galanthus] were used to treat headaches and as a painkiller but in modern medicine a compound in the bulb of the snowdrop has been used to develop a dementia treatment.