Address
Shaftesbury Snowdrops
c/o Councillor Tim Cook
The Town Hall
High Street
Shaftesbury
Dorset
SP7 8LY
Shaftesbury Snowdrops
Come and enjoy hundreds of thousands of snowdrops planted in and around the historic hilltop town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. The snowdrops bloom from late January to mid-March and include examples of rare and unusual Galanthus species and cultivars.
Shaftesbury’s snowdrop season is one of the biggest events of its type in the country and the town’s free snowdrop walks, including wheelchair and pushchair accessible routes, can be enjoyed by all, including dogs. Activities on offer during the season include an open snowdrop art exhibition at Shaftesbury Arts Centre, snowdrop-themed craft classes and visits to local landmarks.
Shaftesbury Snowdrops 2021: artwork copyright Percy Lizzard; poster design Liz Martin
Shaftesbury Snowdrops 2021
Making the world a brighter place
Update
What a challenging year it has been for everyone and we hope that you haven’t suffered the worst of it.
Here, at Shaftesbury Snowdrops, we are looking forward to enjoying our snowdrops this year; why not come along and see them and enjoy one of the our walks, covid-19 restrictions permitting? Please see our Events page for details of what safe pastimes we have to offer fellow snowdrop-lovers in Spring 2021.
There will also be a few days of planting snowdrops out in our community during Spring 2021, again, restrictions permitting, details of which are to follow. Please do come and join us – we would love to see you.
Sadly, due to the current covid-19 situation, we will not be going ahead with our Study and Social Day, and we have also had to cancel our Best in the West Snowdrop Sale.
A number of other events, including the Lantern Parade, are also postponed until 2022!
However, we would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about our very special Shaftesbury Heritage Snowdrops, a large and comprehensive collection of Galanthus species, hybrids and their cultivars. After much thought and consultation, we have moved our precious collection to the lovely Springhead Trust, where they will be planted out and nurtured by the dedicated gardening team.
Shaftesbury Snowdrops on BBC Countryfile
23 February 2020
We are very excited to confirm that BBC Countryfile came to Shaftesbury to film the activities of the Snowdrop Season, including some of the artisans and organisations who work with us. A huge thank you to the BBC and to all the volunteers who made the filming possible over two very busy days. Enjoy the programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fs1q.
Come and visit us during Snowdrop Season 2021.
For more pictures see our Gallery
We are creating a 21st Century Legacy for the local community and our visitors to enjoy
“Just as the flowers provide pleasure and the promise of spring to come, the Season creates a sense of excitement and brings townspeople and visitors together in enjoying everything Shaftesbury has to offer.”
Founder, Pam Cruickshank
Timelapse photography is thanks to and copyright of Neil Bromhall
Background image is thanks to and copyright of Jane Shepherd
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Virtual Snowdrop Festival of Art 2021![]()
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As well as the beautiful snowdrops you can see around the town here at Shaftesbury Snowdrops HQ we are celebrating this year’s snowdrops with our own virtual Festival of Art.![]()
We are inviting local people both adults and children alike, to create a piece of snowdrop-related artwork, (it can be any kind of art) and send us a picture of it that we can display on our website gallery.![]()
The pieces will be exhibited in our virtual exhibition, and a panel of judges, including local artist Percy Lizzard who designed this year’s image and Jon Cory who masterminded the snowdrop jam jar lanterns for This is Alfred (we can’t wait to see your pictures of those) will choose a winning entry. ![]()
Once you have sent us an electronic version of your artwork, please place the original artwork in your window if possible, so that passersby can enjoy this year’s snowdrop season safely during the covid-19 restrictions.![]()
Your snowdrop art images along with your name and address should be emailed to gallery@shaftesburysnowdrops.org by 28/02/2021. ![]()
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When you are out shopping or for exercise do go past the Arts Centre Gallery where you’ll see some of the past years snowdrop artworks too. We hope the annual Shaftesbury Arts Centre ‘Snowdrops in Art Exhibition’ will be back in February 2022. If you’d like to enter next year please send an email to gallery@shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk![]()
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Good luck to everyone and enjoy this opportunity to be creative during the current lockdown!
Happy 2021 to all our friends and fellow galanthophiles. We are so lucky we can still get out and explore the snowdrops around Shaftesbury #thehighspotofdorset and in the places where we live. There’s no need to stay socially distanced from the snowdrops. Did you know that some smell of honey?![]()
Keep well.
We have 100s of snowdrops that need to be planted in our town. They will be ready in February 2021. If you or a community group would like some to plant please get in touch!
Best wishes to the organisers and artists for the reopening of the Gallery!![]()
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It’s June 1st and almost all the snowdrops in my garden have finished their growing for this year. If like me you’ve still got a few green leaves poking through it’s safe to cut these off now and not damage your bulbs for next year’s flowers. ![]()
I’ve lifted some bulbs this year to plant elsewhere over the coming months. These are stored in dry earth or sand in the cool of our shady garden shed. ![]()
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The Heritage Collection for Shaftesbury will need attention over the summer. Please email us on info@shaftesburysnowdrops.org if you can spare a couple of hours to help our one day.
From our archives, day 14: Easter Sunday. ![]()
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The end of abstinence from chocolate for many. We’ve never found a chocolate snowdrop but did indulge in a wild goose chase in Shaftesbury one February with a daily prize of a chocolate one for spotting all the snowdrops. We also hunted for a silver snowdrop made by local artisan silversmith Jes Holt. Lucky lady who won it. Jes makes earrings too. We hope to have some for sale next February. As you can see we’ve even had a snowdrop cake (we’ve had a few) made a by a talented local sugar-crafter. ![]()
Our snowdrops come in many guises through our local ‘Snowdrops in Art’ exhibition. Check back with us again to see some of the wonderful art that has grown from our legacy.
From our archives, day 13: Good Friday. ![]()
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In 2019 we commissioned some![]()
beautiful hand made and decorated pots from local potter Jonathan Garrett. Here are members of our volunteer team preparing snowdrops for public display. Have a happy and healthy Easter.
From our archives: Day 12 - The two common snowdrops growing on Stoney Path in Shaftesbury #TheHighPointOfDorset. The common single form is Galanthus nivalis (Milkflower of the snow) and the double is Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’. The last picture is of a local, Les dangly, ‘Spiky double’ snowdrop we dug (with the landowners permission) and transplanted in Shaftesbury. It is from oddities like our ‘Spiky’ that many of the interesting and unusual snowdrops are developed. ![]()
There are an astonishing 2500+ named snowdrops now available.