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.

Glass House Replacement at National Botanic Garden of Wales

The National Botanic Garden of Wales have the biggest single-span glasshouse on the planet, so it’s a real task when one of those windows need fixing!

Recently, one of the 785 windows in the domed roof of the Great Glasshouse was shattered. The half tonne of glass was being held in place by the lamination so, although the pane had shattered, it was all still in the frame.  The company responsible for the roof of the glasshouse – German-based Früw visited the Garden to take out the shattered pane and replace it with a new one.

Here are some pictures of the task undertaken.