Snowdrop

(Hardback)

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Description

Quietly elegant flowers dressed in simple white and green, snowdrops look too fragile to cope with wintery weather. They are however very resilient and are treasured by gardeners for their ability to flower early in the horticultural year. In Snowdrop Gail Harland explores how they have been used by non-gardeners too, as symbols of purity and of hope and consolation. In Victorian Britain snowdrop bands encouraged chastity among young women; today snowdrops are used as the symbols of several charities. Snowdrops are commonly found in flower paintings from the sixteenth century onwards and frequently appear in poetry and prose. Medicinally they are a source of galanthamine, used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The gentle beauty of the snowdrop may have attracted the attention of poets and artists for centuries but today snowdrops are more popular than ever before, with record-breaking sums being reached for individual bulbs.Snowdrop is the ideal companion for galanthophiles or indeed any plant lovers who are interested in the emotional and cultural aspects of these much-loved plants.

Reviews

"Harland's book will delight galanthophiles but it will also entertain and inform general readers about the genus. . . . The book is the result of diligent and extensive research that the author obviously enjoyed, the fascination she has for the subject and the pleasure she takes in sharing it evident on every page. . . . Snowdrop is the latest volume in Reaktion Books' excellent Botanical series, which looks at the social and cultural impact of plants as well as their botanical and horticultural importance, and it joins the rest of the collection as an essential addition to the libraries of both gardeners and plant enthusiasts."-- "Gardens Illustrated"

Author Bio

Gail Harland combines work as a dietitian with horticultural writing. Her previous publications include The Tomato Book (2009), Designing and Creating a Cottage Garden (2011) and The Weeder's Digest (2012).