Very occasionally Snow Crocus can give nice color from January onward even here in the south of Sweden, so I'm sure it can provide lots of winter interests in the UK or Ireland, if planted in a warm spot. They may not open their blooms until there is some nice warmer weather, but they can show their buds for a couple of months if the weather stays favorable! There may be some differences between cultivars. Mine are all NOIDs, but I noticed the darker ones tend to bloom just a little later than the rest and the dark buds are a bit less visible in the gray winter light. Snow Crocus will however bloom earlier once established as they start to grow roots rather early in the autumn.
Anemone coronaria 'Mr. Fokker' is a superb little plant, unfortunately not completely hardy where I live and while its later than Snow Crocus and not a winter bloomer here, it can have a very long bloom period once established, all depending on weather. Once established it will also bloom earlier.
