Garden Q&A: Can you recommend events for snowdrop fans?

Put Bride Park Cottage, Kilumney, Cork, and Mount Congreve, Co Waterford, on your must-visit list

Snowdrops in bloom. File picture

Can you recommend any garden visits or upcoming events for snowdrop aficionados?

ANSWER

Of all the flowers guaranteed to bring a smile to your face snowdrops are the ones to succeed without fail.

They gently peep up through the hard face of a winter-frozen earth and tell us that spring is here. These perfect delicate little blooms are the first to arrive along our garden borders.

In Bride Park Cottage in Kilumney, Cork, they gracefully wander around beneath tall graceful trees and elegant statuary. They are the harbingers of better days to come and bring delight into our hearts.

So this Sunday, February 18, give yourself a treat and head for that very place to admire the blooms and celebrate them, as Bride Park Cottage in Kilumney, Cork (Eircode: P31YW52) hosts a  Snowdrop "open day". 

Galanthus 'Compton Court' is an early-flowering snowdrop.

I promise you will not only have a delightful day but will be supporting a good cause  Cancer CUH (Cork University Hospital) in its great work. 

The garden will be open from 11am to 5pm, admission is €10 and there will be plants and antiques for sale along with a raffle and light refreshments.

Meanwhile, the magnificent Mount Congreve Gardens swung open its gates again for the season on February 1 and visitors are in for a treat, with snowdrops among the stars of the spring show.

Twins Sophie and Chloe Drea at Mount Congreve Gardens, Waterford. Picture: Patrick Browne

The 70-acre gardens are also blooming following being tipped by the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller in its 'Best Place To Go' 2024, and the New York Times listing including Mount Congreve Gardens in its ’52 Places to Go for 2024’.

Mount Congreve is located just 10 minutes from Waterford City and is now open from Thursday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm until March 1 when the gardens open seven days a week; see Mountcongreve.

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