Snowdrops herald the end of winter in York (From York Press)

Snowdrops herald the end of winter in York

9:41am Thursday 4th March 2010 in

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STRICTLY speaking, it’s a winter flower. The poet Wordsworth understood that very well. In part 1 of his Prelude – subtitled the ‘Growth of a Poet’ – he writes about “ere the birth of spring, Planting my snowdrops among winter snows”.

Ere the birth of spring, notice – in other words, before spring has truly started.

Gina Parkinson, The Press’s gardening correspondent, agrees that in no way is the snowdrop a sign that spring is upon us. “Though possibly they do herald the end of winter,” she says.

There are different varieties of snowdrop, some of which flower earlier than others. But generally they are a late January and February flower.

This year they are a bit later than usual, Gina says. Not because of all the snow we had – they are fine with that – but perhaps because the temperatures have been so low, she thinks.

Spring or not, it is always nice when those first, pure white flowers push up out of the earth and begin to carpet the ground. “You think: ‘Oh, yes, the gardening year is starting again,” Gina says.

Snowdrops, perhaps because of the pure, simple beauty of the flowers, have long been associated with innocence – and mourning. Seamus Heaney includes them in his poem Mid-term Break, about mourning a dead infant.

They also feature in the Victorian prose poem Flowers For A Child’s Grave, where the anonymous author writes about “gathering flowers for our little angel’s grave”. One is a lily. “And side by side with this lily let me place a snowdrop that sprang up before it in the same fair and fruitful garden, which is a soul… it is pure and whiter, and tiny and timid…”

Given such associations, it seems appropriate that the photographs of snowdrops we publish today should be associated with religious buildings.

Mike Tipping caught a spray of perfect, pure drops near the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, and at Holy Trinity Church in Acaster Malbis. Dave Harrison and Garry Atkinson, meanwhile, found carpets of snowdrops at Heslington Church and Bishopthorpe Palace.

They’re enough to make the heart lift. Just don’t mistake them for the first signs of spring. Not quite yet, at least…