Beat the winter blues and catch the best orchids and snowdrops in Britain this February

Snowdrops at Welford Park, Berkshire © Charlotte Weychan

As we step into February the days are getting longer and there have been some wonderful frosty mornings. Check out any leading garden website and you'll see a wonderful array of glistening pictures as horticulture hacks around the country capture frozen plots and plants on camera. In the south of England we've escaped lightly this winter and although the temperatures have plunged and there have been dire warnings of snow and ice storms, the snowdrops are beginning to appear. For some of the best places to visit to see white gold, click here, but my favourite is Welford Park in Berkshire where you will witness spectacular displays of this hardy little plant from this week. For a comprehensive list of snowdrop gardens around the UK, visit Great British Gardens. 

'Alluring Orchids' opens at Kew on 7 February - every year the display (2014 seen here) is spectacular

But if snowdrops aren't your chosen spice, head for one of the two orchid exhibitions that are about to open in in Britain. Both Kew and the Cambridge University Botanic Garden offer spectacular displays in their glasshouses during February, opening on Saturday 7th. And there's also the Butterfly Exhibition at RHS Wisley, which runs until early March. This year the RHS is offering timed tickets for the first time to help with queues.