Attractions & Museums, Gardens.
East Lambrook Manor Gardens in Somerset will be celebrating the snowdrop season once again in 2021 with its third fabulous Festival of Snowdrops, running throughout February. In addition to the snowdrops growing in the garden, the festival will feature special displays of many of the more unusual cultivars so that they can be appreciated and enjoyed at close quarters. Snowdrops, or Galanthus to use their Latin name, have long been a feature of the garden, ever since the celebrated plantswoman and gardening writer Margery Fish created the iconic cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor, her home from 1938 to 1969. She planted her snowdrops in an area she named The Ditch, which was originally a drainage channel between two orchards. She and husband Walter, a former editor of the Daily Mail, landscaped it to create a water feature but the water famously disappeared once they finished the work, although in wet weather water often still flows. "The Ditch looks fabulous when the sides are carpeted with snowdrops," explains owner Mike Werkmeister, "and they have hybridized over the years resulting in several rare snowdrops being found and named after previous owners including Galanthus 'Margery Fish' and G. 'Walter Fish'. We now have over 150 different varieties and a popular feature of our festival is the special raised snowdrop display bed and the many individual varieties in clay pots throughout the garden. Other gardens have carpets of Galanthus nivalis but we want to demonstrate the diversity of the genus, from the common nivalis snowdrops to the rare ones with features such as yellow in the flowers. Our aim is for one of the best displays of named snowdrops in the South West." Sculptor Chris Kampf will be exhibiting his popular steel snowdrops and over 70 snowdrop varieties will be on sale in the nursery. If the pandemic permits there will be snowdrop tours throughout February with the owner or Head Gardener however visitors are advised to check the website for the latest information, to book a visit online and for details of snowdrops for sale. Throughout the festival the garden and nursery are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Garden entry is u00a36.00, over 65s u00a35.50, under 16s free. The annual NGS Snowdrop Open Day is Sunday 14th February and RHS members have free entry on Wednesdays.
