Every year at this time visitors flock to Kingston Lacy to view the stunning display of tiny flowers that signal Spring is on the way. Head Gardener Andrew Hunt tells Faith Eckersall the story of the annual show

They call them the ‘Fair maids of February’ and who could argue with that as their appearance heralds the end of winter and the first signs of Spring?

They certainly think so at Kingston Lacy which is snowdrop central; they have seven million specimens which they are preparing to show off to the thousands of visitors who flock annually to see them.

But, as Head Gardener Andrew Hunt explains, there’s more to Galanthus Nivalis than meets the eye; flowering snowdrops sulk in the snow yet bizarrely, they need its white blanket to warm them for spring.

“They are called snowdrops because they like growing near snow and the snow is a way of them being kicked into action,” he says. “They contain natural anti-freeze so they never freeze solid but do need snow; it warms the soil, kicks them into action and when the snow melts the water seeps down and they start to come through.”

Their season begins in October when they begin to move under the earth. “They start storing moisture which converts into the leaves and flowers you see in the spring,” he says. “If the summer before is too dry you’ll get a poor display in February.”

Given the meteorological horror of last year, Kingston Lacy must be expecting a bumper show. “Our fingers are crossed,” says Andrew.

Kingston Lacy’s snowdrops are legendary so it’s hard to believe they only arrived at the estate in 1900, when Henrietta Bankes took charge of what was ‘a rather masculine garden, lots of avenues and trees’.

Henrietta introduced colour, bulbs, parterres and a kitchen garden and after much telegraph correspondence with Kew Gardens’ William Goldring, instructed her gardeners to plant snowdrops.

Now they froth along the lime avenue and the Lady Walk and the Japanese Garden. “It gives you a real wedding dress look,” says Andrew, who is happy to admit he adores the snowdrops. “They mean that spring is on its way.”

They look so settled in our landscape it’s astonishing to think they only arrived in this country during the reign of Elizabeth 1. And the wild snowdrops we think of almost as our birthright only got going in the 1700s.

They may all look alike but there are around 400 species, of which Kingston Lacy displays an impressive 35, including Sam Arnott and the splendidly-named Brenda Troyle, although they do baulk at paying top dollar for bulbs which can reach an eye-watering £100 EACH.

“We don’t have any of those,” says Andrew, quickly.

What they do possess are being furiously tended by staff and the 80 volunteers who attend to the gardens’ every whim; after all, any day now it’ll be snow time...

  • Call 01202 883402 or visit nationaltrust.org.uk/kingston-lacy to find out when the snowdrops are blooming