Each year the National Garden Scheme starts the garden visiting season with its inspirational Snowdrop and Spring Flower gardens. Hundreds of gardens sprinkled with snowdrops – these delightful harbingers of spring – and wonderful, colour contrasting spring blooms including the bright gold of aconites and soft purple of crocus, open their gates to the public from late January through February and into March.
“After the long, dark winter months, the appearance of these beautiful early spring flowers really lifts the spirits and heralds the start of all the wonderful gardens to come,” says National Garden Scheme Chief Executive, George Plumptre. “Year on year more and more people discover the joys of these late winter/ early spring garden visits, many of which are accompanied by tea and cake or a warming bowl of soup! Our expert garden owners are also on hand to share their top tips of how to grow snowdrops with many selling a good selection of varieties too.”
A full list will be available on the National Garden Scheme website from mid-December but look out for some of the perennial favourites opening in 2024:
- Clover Cottage, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 18 and Sunday 25 February
- Bucklow Farm, Cheshire, Sunday 25 February
- The Dower House, Derbyshire Saturday 10, Sunday 11 February
- Higher Cherubeer, Devon, Friday 2, 9 and Saturday 17 February
- Slade, Glamorgan, Sunday 11 February
- Home Farm, Gloucestershire, Sunday 28 January, Sunday 11 February
- The Picton Garden, Herefordshire, Sunday 25 February
- The Old Rectory, Fawkham, Kent (by arrangement only) throughout February