Readers of my Dryad series may have noticed that I am fond of snowdrops. While the weather in in Midlands Britain is not actually cold at the moment - day time temperatures are about 7C, average for the time of year - we are experiencing a grey, dismal, damp period with variable rain from mild drizzle to torrential downpour. It is a consolation to see the pure, delicate, demure, white cup flowers of Galanthus Nivalis blooming among the weeds and mud. They are not the only blooms - I see primroses, primulas, even some dwarf iris (in the Botanical Gardens) - but I think they are the most beautiful. "Fair maids of February". The forecast is for temperatures to drop, with clearing skies, which is something of a relief. All the same, those little white flowers are a promise of spring.