Two flowers which are much admired and enjoyed by the English are the Grape hyacinth and the Snowdrop. We have both in abundance in the garden and it a sure sign that winter is on the way out when they make a dramatic show. Grape hyacinths are a group of plants in the genus Muscari of plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of blue flowers resembling bunches of grapes. There are about forty species.
Some species are among the earliest to bloom in the spring, and are planted both in flower beds as well as in lawns. They are planted as bulbs and tend to multiply quickly when planted in good soils.
Muscari comosum bulbs are pickled and eaten in Greece and in the Puglia region of Italy, under the names “lampascioni”, “lampasciuni”, “lamponi”.
The Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) is the best-known representative of a small genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae that are among the first bulbs to bloom in spring.
All species of Galanthus have bulbs, linear leaves, and erect flowering stalks, destitute of leaves but bearing at the top a solitary pendulous bell-shaped flower. Galanthus nivalis grows 15 cm tall, flowering in January February and March. The white flower has six petals, the outer three segments being larger and more convex than the inner series. The six anthers open by pores or short slits. The ovary is three-celled, ripening into a three-celled capsule.
Propagation is by offset bulbs, either by careful division of clumps in full growth (“in the green”), or removed when the plants are dormant, immediately after the leaves have withered; or by seeds sown either when ripe, or in spring. Professional growers and keen amateurs also use such methods as “twin-scaling” to increase the stock of choice cultivars (cultivated varieties) quickly.

Two species seen out and about today Oystercatcher and Little Eggret have been added to the gallery Other Devon Birds…… have a look.