The 2025 garden season gets off to a wonderful bejewelled start with the National Garden Scheme’s Snowdrop and Spring Flower gardens.
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
5 Whitemans Close, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, RH17 5DE. Saturday 25th, Monday 27th, Wednesday 29th, Friday 31st January, Saturday 1st, Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th, Tuesday 11th, Wednesday 12th, Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February from 11am to 3.30pm with entry £8.50 inclusive of teas. Pre-booking is essential, please phone 01444 473520 or email [email protected] for information & booking.
This garden shows that winter need not be dull as there is much to see and enjoy in the depths of winter. See a collection of many single and double snowdrops, hellebores, bulbs and other winter treasures, some not widely known. It is a sheltered garden and there will be flowers to enjoy. Check out the enormous Daphne bholua that scents the garden for weeks on end in February.
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Hide AdPembury House, Ditchling Road, Clayton, BN6 9PH. Every Thursday and Friday from 13th February to 7th March from 10.30am to 3.30pm with entry £12 and home-made teas included. Pre-booking is essential, please visit www.ngs.org.uk for information & booking. Timed slots at 10.30am & 2pm.

Depending on the vagaries of the season, hellebores and snowdrops are at their best in February and March. This is a country garden, tidy but not manicured. A number of winding paths give a choice of walks through 3 acres of garden, which is in and enjoys views of the South Downs National Park. Please wear suitable footwear, macs and winter woollies. Plants for sale and ideally cash preferred.
A few facts you might not know about snowdrops!? It’s Greek name is ‘Galanthus’ which translates as ‘milk flower’. A naturally occurring substance within the plant, called galantamine, is used to help treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, although the bulbs themselves are poisonous. The flowers were named after earrings not drops of snow and there are more than 2,500 varieties of snowdrop.
They are symbolic of spring, purity and religion and are one of the first flowers to appear in the new year. In the northern hemisphere snowdrops can be seen appearing as early as January, weather permitting. They usually flower between the months of January and April. Collecting snowdrop bulbs in the wild is illegal in many countries. For many, you need a license to sell snowdrop bulbs, as they’re covered by CITES regulations – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
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Hide AdIt’s actually illegal to transfer them over borders, without a CITES permit. The snowdrop isn’t a UK native. They became fashionable in the Victorian era but, due to it being known under several different names, no one knows for sure, when they were first introduced to the UK.

The first records of plants in the wild date from 1778 but botanist John Gerard is said to have described the snowdrop in his writings from 1597.
So go along and visit one of the 2 gardens listed to see these beautiful flowers for yourself.
Remember all monies raised from these garden visits go to support many nursing and caring charities.