Plant Literate #1: Snowdrop

Loathe as I am to put "snow" in any more titles, I am happy to announce that I have selected the first of my five newly-known plants on my Thirty Before Thirty list: the galanthus nivalis, or snowdrop. Apparently there are over seventy-five varieties of this plant, and all produce white blossoms. Their greatest benefit (besides being so charming) is that they're early risers. One of my dear childhood friends has returned from two years abroad, and when she and I took a stroll through the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum last week, we were disappointed early on to see mostly browns. Stumbling across these snowdrops then was a bit like finding a pot of (white) gold. From now on, when I see them, I will think both of her and the dependability of good things coming back to us.