New Feature Article on Snowdrops
Every photo in this collage is of a giant snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii, in my garden. The differences in the markings are caused by the natural variation in the species, which is legally collected in the wild. None of them have been selected and given a cultivar name, although many plants like them have been named, probably too many. Yet I find this variation fascinating.
I realize that it is too much to expect that my readers are as obsessed with snowdrops as me. From the comments I receive, I do believe that many can understand and even admire what I find so charming about them. Because of that, I wanted to let you know that The Hardy Plant Society Mid-Atlantic Group has honored me by asking me to write an article on snowdrops for their newsletter. It is called “Confessions of a Galanthophile” and is the Feature Article for the January 2013 Newsletter (Vol. 27, No. 1). Even if you receive the HPS newsletter, you should read the on line version, which you can access by clicking here. The layout is gorgeous and the use of my photos as well as clip art is lovely: thank you Barbara and helpers.
My favorite single classic snowdrop, ‘Magnet’.
While letting you know about the Hardy Plant Society article, which makes use of parts of some of my previous blog posts, I thought this post would be a good place to list all the articles that I have written on snowdrops for easy reference. I have interspersed the article names and links with some of my favorite snowdrop photos, most of which I have not used before, so those of you who are in it purely for the photos should proceed.
A very unusual and pricey new snowdrop with squared off outer segments, ‘Diggory’.
November 22, 2010
“Snowdrops or the Confessions of a Galanthophile”
profiles G. reginae-olgae and ‘Potter’s Prelude’
click here to read
‘Kite’, very early-blooming with extremely long outer segments.
January 22, 2011
“Snowdrops: Further Confessions of a Galanthophile”
click here to read
short profiles of 16 snowdrop cultivars
‘Foxgrove Magnet’
February 9, 2011
“Are Snowdrops Thermogenic?”
click here to read
‘Straffan’, photo by Johnathan Shaw
January 19, 2012
“New Snowdrops for 2012″
profiles ‘Brenda Troyle’, ‘Tiny’, ‘Hippolyta’, ‘Dionysus’, and G. plicatus subsp. byzantinus
click here to read
The plump, quilted outer segments and lovely leaves of ‘Augustus’.
January 7, 2013
‘New Snowdrops for 2013″
profiles ‘Wendy’s Gold’, ‘Standing Tall’, ‘Mighty Atom’, and ‘Scharlockii’
click here to read
Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. vernalis
The Hardy Plant Society Mid-Atlantic Group
January 2013 Newsletter
“Confessions of a Galanthophile”
click here to read
Although considered ordinary by some, ‘Viridapice’ remains one of my favorite snowdrops.
2013 Snowdrop Catalogue
click here to read
* * * * *
All the posts as well as the catalogue itself, provide interesting and informative reading on subjects ranging from the origins of galanthophilia, the fascinating history of snowdrops, their provenance, how to research them, and even whether they produce their own heat. I intend to add titles and links through the years as I write more about one of my favorite topics.
Enjoy, Carolyn
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Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, US, zone 6b. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US.
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Nursery Happenings: The 2013 Snowdrop Catalogue is on the sidebar of the website and orders are being accepted. To view the catalogue, click here.
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January 15, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Beautiful and impressive article! Your photos are perfect. You must have been lying on your stomach to take them!! Snowdrops have always been a joy to see each spring after a long cold Michigan winter, and now I find I can try to grow them from fall to spring, thanks to all your writings.
January 16, 2013 at 9:08 am
Starr, Not sure I have ever gone flat on the ground. A good crouch usually does the trick. I was so happy to have an opportunity to use some photos I really liked but didn’t have a place for. You will have some new snowdrops to admire when your order comes. Carolyn
January 15, 2013 at 9:53 pm
I admire your passion for snowdrops! Your garden must be wonderful, carpeted with these drifts of white. I think I like the fat Augustus!
January 16, 2013 at 9:10 am
Deb, There are a lot that look very similar, but I think you could pick ‘Augustus’ out in a crowd. One of t he first to bloom too, its full name is Galanthus plicatus ‘Augustus’. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 12:02 am
Simply Beautiful! The little variations are interesting. After learning about where snowdrops grow best, I’m actually entertaining ideas of moving to a climate that is more suitable for snowdrops so I can try all the different varieties. I’ve fallen gravely ill with “Galanthophilia”. Thanks for sharing so many wonderful pictures.
January 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
Bernie, That seems quite extreme. Are you sure you can’t grow them in Georgia? If you really want access to all the wonderful cultivars, you will have to move to England. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 3:09 am
I do love snowdrops but I have to admit to not understanding the obsession that many have for them. I love seeing drifts of hundreds or better thousands of the simple flowered form under trees, in grass or under-planting winter interest shrubs like Cornus. Thanks for sharing your passion for them. Christina
January 16, 2013 at 9:14 am
Christina, You need to read my HPS article. In it, I tried to explain to people who might not share it, the basis of the fascination with snowdrops. Let me know if I got my point across. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 3:37 am
Brilliant – Howard (Ashwood Nurseries)
January 16, 2013 at 9:20 am
Howard, I am honored that you are reading my blog. Ashwood Nurseries is hellebore Mecca, and hellebores are one of my specialties. And you are such an accomplished writer that your praise is very welcome indeed. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 3:52 am
I have just spent a very happy half hour re-reading your snowdrop posts and the link to John Grimshaw, thank you! Will certainly wait for the second edition of the snowdrop “bible” to be produced although it sounds as if it could be some time yet !
January 16, 2013 at 9:31 am
Pauline, I keep getting mixed reports. Commenters on the snowdrop forum seem to think the publication of Snowdrops 2 is imminent. I would think if it was going to come out this year, it would be here because the snowdrop season has started. I do know that it will not contain the material in the old book, but will be a supplement with a combined index for both books. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 7:17 am
Thank you for those marvellous articles on snowdrops. I am a little addicted to snowdrops and I love to read about them. Like you I also have interest in the history of plants and I do research on the persons behind them, but even on the internet it seems hard to go back in time and to find information or pictures. I think we too will have to wait for the second edition of “Snowdrops” by Matt Bishop.
Meanwhile I enjoy these little flowers in my garden although they are covered by a thick layer of snow right now.
From Belgium (Antwerp), snowdrop greetings,
Béatrice
January 16, 2013 at 9:51 am
Beatrice, We have have had nothing but days and days of rain and drizzle and fog and gray—some Belgian snow would be a nice break—I feel like I live in England. Yes, we are very lucky that Matt Bishop and friends have done the research for us and captured it in a book. Even if you find interesting information on the internet, it often disappears when you try to locate it again. That happened with my research on Heyrick Greatorex but luckily I had notes. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 7:44 am
Congrats Carolyn for being asked to write an article for The Hardy Plant Society. I will be looking tomorrow too. I stopped at Diggory. It is unusual and caught my eye because of that. Augustus is different too, making it a garden standout. There is so much variation in this plant which you only see by looking close.
January 16, 2013 at 9:54 am
Donna, It would be nice if galanthophiles would name only the very unique varieties and not every slightly different snowdrop that appears in the garden. Then we would have just unique plants like ‘Diggory’, and I would have a lot less difficult time explaining what’s to like about them. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 2:46 pm
What do you think of the new ‘Snowdrops’ book by Gunter Waldorf?
January 17, 2013 at 9:52 am
Judy, I really like the new book and it is a steal from Amazon at $16.00. The first part is no nonsense approach to buying, growing, propagating, etc. The following three hundred photographs of the more popular and or desirable varieties are worth their weight in gold. Each has a short description that tells you why you would want that plant. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 10:45 pm
I love them all! Beautiful photos.
I wonder if ‘Galanthophilia’ is more prevalent around the rest of the world than here in England, where snowdrops are readily available and most are just as cheap as tulips and crocuses? OK, so there are some that would cost you an arm and a leg for just 5, but they are very rare, most are not expensive as such and easy to get hold of here, but I haven’t really heard of people going mad for them here in England, only from people abroad.
It’s like with us and orchids, in the tropics they grow them everywhere, nothing special, but here they are highly priced plants that needs special this and special that, even special pots.
Anyway, thanks for sharing all those posts, I thoroughly enjoyed it even if I am not completely mad about snowdrops, I just like them
January 17, 2013 at 10:15 am
Helene, I have to respectfully disagree with you. England is the center of galanthophilia where gardeners obsess more than any other place in the world. Great snowdrop estates (like Colesbourne), snowdrop teas, snowdrop weekends, snowdrop study days, snowdrop clothing and jewelry, etc., abound. Getting tickets to the annual Galanthus Gala is like winning the lottery. And you better get out of the way when the sales doors open if you don’t want to be trampled (I have heard it helps to have long arms and carry a large and sturdy basket to knock people out of the way). There is a whole RHS show in London in February that focuses heavily on snowdrops. Yes, the more readily available snowdrops are less expensive in the UK, but that’s because CITES, the endangered species convention, prevents snowdrops from being shipped internationally, and most snowdrops are bred, discovered, and or selected in England. However, the rarer cultivars are very pricey in the UK. 760 pounds was just paid on eBay for a rare yellow to use for production with an eye to the UK market. If you want to get a real feel for the obsession, read the galanthus thread on the Scottish Rock Garden Club forum. I would say that most American gardeners have heard of snowdrops, but very few would qualify as galanthophiles. Carolyn
January 17, 2013 at 11:26 am
OK, I believe you
I guess I might have missed the extent of the obsession because I get all my gardening info from watching TV and reading plant magazines and catalogues etc. and from the Internet of course. I am housebound and don’t meet other gardeners and never go to open gardens, shows, exhibitions etc anymore.
I have been to RHS shows in the past, many years ago, I remember being to one solely dedicated to camellias, that was wonderful, came home with lots of photos on my camera, and also another one about orchids.
By the way, my first snowdrop opened yesterday, despite the seriously cold weather we have right now!
Take care, Helene.
January 17, 2013 at 2:46 pm
Helene, I might have gotten a little carried away with my enthusiasm for English galanthophiles
. There was a discussion on the forum recently about battle tactics for snowdrops sales though. Carolyn
January 16, 2013 at 11:07 pm
Great article, Carolyn.
January 17, 2013 at 10:16 am
Thank you, Jean. I was honored to be asked to write it. Carolyn
January 17, 2013 at 1:28 am
I adore them and could become quite obsessed were it not for my husband and his reminding me of our budget as I retire…so for now I will live vicariously through you and your beautiful snowdrops.
January 19, 2013 at 2:16 pm
How can you let a budget (or a husband) get in the way of a snowdrop. Just kidding, they can get quite pricey if you go beyond the tried and true.
January 17, 2013 at 10:13 am
Great article! It is always intriguing what we gardeners become obsessed with – and how long it takes us to do so. It seems we all have one obsession, and after reading your article, I can understand your snowdrop obsession. I am especially impressed that they can give such a long bloom time, and of course, anything that blooms when everything else is dormant is most welcome.
January 17, 2013 at 10:19 am
Holley, I am glad that the article worked. I really don’t expect many people to become obsessed with snowdrops (and I certainly have other plant obsessions like hellebores, miniature hostas, and native plants) but I want gardeners to understand what there is to like about them. Carolyn
January 17, 2013 at 1:21 pm
You are certainly a fan of Snowdrops! I enjoyed reading about thermogenic plants, fascinating. I will have to figure out a spot for some Snowdrops in my garden.
January 19, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I love the photos (not mine) in the thermogenic post of the little skunk cabbage “ears” peeking out of the snow. It is an amazing phenomena.
January 17, 2013 at 4:28 pm
Some seriously bewitching images…..I am almost converted to galantophilia
January 17, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Catherine, Your comment came through. It is annoying when you don’t get a message that it’s awaiting moderation and the comment vanishes into thin air. Not sure why that happens.
It is interesting that when it came to me picking some of my favorite images, every photo is of a single green-marked snowdrop, the exact cultivars that non-galanthophiles say all look alike. To me there is something pristine and elegant in them unmatched in any other flower.
Carolyn
January 18, 2013 at 8:18 pm
I’ve enjoyed your snowdrop images before but this is the first time I saw them as little paratroopers under their canopies! Good job with the fabulously detailed pictures with those porcelain-like white petals captured so well. And congrats on the article–you are the snowdrop goddess! I do think “galanthophile” sounds just a little bit like someone who is into having a guy open the car door for them. How about snowdropper or maybe snowdropist? Snowdropista? Ok I’ll stop…
January 18, 2013 at 10:03 pm
Linnie, You are right galanthophile is a strange word and galanthophilia is even worse. We will really have to work on something, but maybe more elegant than snowdropista. Carolyn
January 19, 2013 at 8:23 am
Hi Carolyn, the Snowdrops which you show us are indeed charming. Can you believe the ones in our garden as yet are not even peeking through the soil, yet some of the Daffs are.
January 19, 2013 at 8:47 am
Alistair, I have been seeing pictures of snow and cold in England and Scotland whereas it has been relatively warm here. Some of my earliest snowdrops are poised to bloom any moment now. Carolyn
January 19, 2013 at 8:28 am
[...] New Feature Article on Snowdrops (carolynsshadegardens.com) [...]
January 19, 2013 at 8:47 am
Carolyn, I can’t wait to greet the snowdrops from your garden when spring finally arrives! Have a wonderful time in St. Lucia! P. x
January 27, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Congratulations! Great article, I will miss this year the snowdrops.
February 27, 2013 at 3:36 am
[...] time lurking on the Galanthus site of the SRGC, and drooling over snowdrops on Pauline’s, Carolyn’s and Anna’s [...]