Snowdrops at Cotswold Farm

For my first visit to look at snowdrops this year, I chose Cotswold Farm because I think it's enchanting. The Arts and Crafts house provides a beautiful backdrop to a south facing sloping garden which terminates in a bog garden with a stream running through it.
It was the owners first day of opening for the 2018 season and I think they were pleasantly surprised by the number of people visiting.
I'll add opening times before the photos, it's basically one weekend and Mondays in February.
SNOWDROPS AT COTSWOLD FARM – 2018
Open for Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust –
Saturday, 17th February and Sunday 18th February 11:00 – 3:00
Entrance £ 5.00 Adult Children FREE
Soup Lunches, Tea, Coffee and Cake
Also Open All Mondays in February 2018 – 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th
Cotswold Farm has a fascinating, family friendly Cotswold garden, overlooking a quiet valley on descending levels with Terrace designed by Norman Jewson. The snowdrop collection was begun in the 1930’s and further developed by Ruth Birchall in 1996, now boasting 62 varieties. There are many named snowdrops in the borders and swathes of naturalised snowdrops in the woods and along the woodland paths. A winter step garden with scents and textures leads down to the bog garden. Hellebores, cornus, aconites, cyclamen, crocus and sarcococca abound.
The first photo shows a perfect clump of Galanthus Benhall Beauty:

 I can appreciate differences between snowdrops, but find it hard to say which are absolute favourites. I like nearly all of them, although have a slight preference for the large ones like Galanthus S Arnott
Here's a view of the pond with the amazing clipped box in the background.

 Below another view of the pond with the house on the left

 and a close up of the box:

 A lovely clump of G Comet. The perfectly formed clumps I think are the result of regularly dividing clumps. It really pays off, they look so good.

 As we walked down towards the bog garden, the aroma of the Daphne was fantastic. Beautifully positioned in an enclosed sort of corridor. A really good piece on the best scented Daphnes appears in the latest edition of Gardens Illustrated

 Here's a photo of the box garden

 and the rather lovely border of snowdrops

 Down by the stream at the bottom of the garden, there are lots of snowdrops massed together.

 The photo below gives you an idea of the tranquility of the lower part of the garden.

 There's also a woodland walk where you find more varieties of snowdrops. This one is G Peg Sharples, I liked this one very much and bought one to add to my ever growing collection of Galanthus.

Do have a look if you can, Cotswold Farm is a real hidden gem. Not far from the A 419, but you feel as though you're far away from traffic, in the middle of Cotswold countryside with the Ridgeway just visible on the horizon.