Snowdrop History

There have been snowdrops at Cambo for many years, but it was Sir Peter’s grandmother, an avid gardener, who really encouraged their spread. As it is important that snowdrops are thinned out every three or four years to ensure that they retain their vigour and health, Lady Erskine and her eight children spent hours each year digging, dividing and replanting the snowdrops in the 70 acres of woodland.

In 1986 Catherine, having read articles advocating planting snowdrops in leaf in the spring rather than the traditional dried bulbs in the autumn, began her now renowned mail order snowdrop business.

In January 2009 Cambo dispatched its largest single order to date of 110,000 snowdrop bulbs, is constantly recommended as ‘best supplier of bulbs in the green’ by Gardening Which and in 2003 Catherine was a finalist in the Country Living magazine’s Enterprising Rural Women Awards.

Over the years, Catherine’s own collection of specialist snowdrops has increased and multiplied and we now offer a very limited number of these by online, limiting customers to only three, and in some cases only one, of each variety.

The snowdrop woods at Cambo became a major tourist attraction and were the inspiration for a Snowdrop Art Exhibition, Snowdrop Gift Shop and Tea Room and ultimately the Scottish Snowdrop Festival for which Cambo won a VisitScotland Thistle Award in 2007.

The name ‘Cambo’ is now synonymous with ‘snowdrops’.