Naomi Slade has always had a soft spot for snowdrops. Growing up in west Wales, where winters are cold and damp, she would gather a little posy of snowdrops for her mother on Valentine’s Day, when little else was in flower.

Years later, the keen horticulturist and author has charted her love of these pint-sized beauties in The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops, where she not only examines the many different varieties, but offers design ideas.

“Very often people leave snowdrops to make the best of things unaided,” she observes. “If they are lucky, they get divided or fed, but the predominant regimen is one of benign neglect.

“A little care pays dividends, however, and to elevate the show from just delightful to simply fabulous it is worth thinking about plants to accompany snowdrops as a background or counterpoint.”

While snowdrops look amazing naturalised in a woodland area, if you have a medium-sized garden they look best with other plants.

“In general, if a plant keeps itself to itself – think clumping ferns, small bulbs and specimen trees – it is probably a good neighbour as far as snowdrops are concerned,” observes Naomi.

Avoid placing snowdrops with dense evergreens with mats of roots, spreading plants such as comfrey and vigorous geraniums and herbaceous perennials that need dividing every few years, such as heleniums and asters. Instead, partner them with small bulbs.

“They look great with purple crocus tommasinianus and dwarf irises, or planted under a tree with bright gold aconites or cyclamen. A backdrop of foliage also shows them off to good advantage, so position them among small evergreen ferns and around sedum spectabile cultivars and clumping, well-behaved geraniums.

“Avoid the thuggish spreading types, as they may well swamp the bulbs. Grasses are another pleasing companion and not necessarily the most obvious choice.”

I wouldn’t think of putting snowdrops in a container, but Naomi has other ideas, although they will need plenty of TLC if put in a pot.

“Choose decent-sized pots, repot every year to avoid depletion of nutrients and a general reduction in compost quality, and make sure that the pots don’t freeze,” she warns.

* The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops, by Naomi Slade, Timber Press, £17.99.

This week's jobs -

Lightly prune Group 2 clematis – the early to mid-season, large-flowered hybrids – before new shoots appear.
* If the weather’s good, treat your wooden furniture with coloured or natural wood preservative.
* Plant dormant crowns of lily-of-the-valley between shrubs, in well-drained, rich soil.
* Sow early, fast-growing crops such as radishes, early carrots and lettuce, in a frost-free greenhouse.
* Reorganise your storage space, making room for tools and garden equipment, then declutter your shed.
* Continue to remove dead pansy flowers and stems to encourage them to flower again.
* Occasionally water any patio plants that are sheltered by your house.
* Continue to chit potatoes to give them a head start.
* Move deciduous trees and shrubs that are in the wrong place, while they are dormant.

* Keep a bag of grit or salt on standby to sprinkle over icy paths.

Best of the bunch - hellebores.

A Gem of the winter garden, sometimes known as the Christmas or Lenten rose, this popular perennial flowers reliably from late winter to early spring. 
Its elegant flowers and leathery leaves bringing a lift of colour from pale green to white, cream to pink, and purple to almost black. 
There are about 20 species of herbaceous, evergreen, pere-nnial flowering types. Their resistance to frost and tolerance of shady conditions makes them a popular choice and favourites include foetidus, niger and hybridus. Plant them in heavy, rich, limey soil that won’t dry out in summer.