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Plantwatch: Bulb flowers weather cold snap better than most

Snowdrop plants covered by freshly fallen snow.
Delicate-looking snowdrops are truly rugged. Photograph: Federico Gambarini/AFP/Getty

Spring bulb flowers are extraordinarily tough. Snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and others have largely survived the onslaught of freezing cold this spring, so how do they cope?

These are alpine plants, originally from the mountains of Europe and central Asia, where they were well used to flowering in bitter cold with snow on the ground. One trick they use to survive the cold is their own antifreeze, proteins that prevent ice crystals forming in their cells and killing them.

Their bulbs are a rich store of food, so they can sprout leaves and flowers rapidly and long before competitors get going. And when spring grows too warm, the foliage dies back and the bulbs lie dormant underground for another year, which is why bulb flowers wilt in warm rooms and appreciate cool spots.

Snowdrops may look particularly delicate and flimsy, but they are truly rugged. Their leaves have specially hardened tips that push up through hard ground and snow. In sub-zero temperatures, these plants flop to the ground and look stone dead but, when conditions warm up, they come back to life unharmed, thanks to their antifreeze.