CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS

Clockwise from upper left: ‘Beth Chatto’, ‘Mrs. Thompson”, ‘Big Eyes’, ‘Wasp’, ‘Heffalump’, ‘Blonde Inge’, ‘Daphne’s Scissors’

All snowdrops in this catalogue are sold out.  If you wish to get an email announcing the 2025 catalogue, please send the following required information: your full name, your mailing address for USPS, and your cell number.  The catalogue remains available for information purposes only.

2024 Snowdrop Catalogue

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has been selling snowdrops since 1992, transferring our passion for this fascinating plant to more customers throughout the US every year. We sell our snowdrops (plus some leucojums and eranthis) in late winter as growing plants because that is the best way to insure vigorous and healthy snowdrops in our climate. You will also be able to identify and enjoy the flowers immediately as they will be mature and, with a few exceptions, blooming when you receive them. Finally, unlike dormant bulbs, you will know right away that the plants are healthy and safe to add to your existing collection instead of isolating them for a year.

All snowdrops are mail order only: there will be no option for picking up at the nursery.  Prices are for one plant unless indicated, and quantities are limited.  Before ordering, please check this online catalogue, which will be updated regularly to indicate current availability, to make sure the snowdrop you want is not marked sold out.  You are welcome to include a couple of substitutions in case your first choices are not available, otherwise we do not substitute for sold out plants.

To Order:   Please read all the directions carefully. Please send an email to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and include the plant names, quantities, your name, cell number, mailing address for USPS, and substitutions if desired.  Please include all the required information even if you think we have it.  Our minimum order is $79 and a $16 charge will be added for packing and shipping your plants USPS Priority Mail (additional shipping charges for Priority Mail Express and/or insurance will be added for very large orders).  Supplies are limited so order early.

Within 24 hours, you will receive an email acknowledging your order and confirming availability, which will be followed in a few days with an email specifying the amount owed to be paid by check.  If you do not receive an initial acknowledgment, we did not receive your order.  Another email in late February or early March will let you know when the plants are ready for shipment.   

Snowdrops will be shipped with all soil removed, which we do to make sure the bulbs are healthy, and can be planted in your garden immediately or potted up and stored in a well lit, cool (but not freezing) location until planted.  Please note that if you live in a colder location like northern New England or the upper Midwest, you may receive your snowdrops before you are ready to plant them outside. 

We offer no guarantee other than that each plant is true to name and healthy when it leaves here.

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Cultural Information:  Common snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis, are naturalized throughout our garden, and we still can’t have enough. The wonderfully honey-scented, white flowers appear by the thousands from February through March and are our personal signal that winter is ending. By adding more unusual varieties, we have extended our snowdrop bloom season from fall through winter into spring.

Snowdrops are the best plants for consistent winter interest in the garden. A great companion plant for hellebores, winter aconite, hardy cyclamen, and other winter-blooming plants, snowdrops grow in part shade to full deciduous shade and are usually not picky about soil. They are deer resistant and summer dormant. Plant them about 3″ deep and 3 to 6″ apart and fertilize with organic fish/seaweed emulsion  All varieties offered do well in the Delaware Valley, USDA zones 6 and 7; gardeners outside that area should do their own research into hardiness.

Carolyn’s Snowdrop Articles: Snowdrops are desirable plants for three reasons: their early bloom time, ornamental characteristics, and their fascinating histories. For more on this, read the feature article I wrote for the Hardy Plant Society Newsletter called “Confessions of a Galanthophile” by clicking here. I have written many other articles about snowdrops, and you can find links to most of them by clicking here.  Read my cover article on snowdrops in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Fine Gardening magazine by clicking here.

Reference Books:  The comprehensive snowdrop encyclopedia A Gardener’s Guide to Snowdrops: Second Edition by Freda Cox (Crowood Press 2019) contains descriptions of every snowdrop on our list. The descriptive information below comes from many sources, including the Cox encyclopedia already mentioned, Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne C. Repnow (Davidia Press 2020); A Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops by Naomi Slade (Timber Press 2014); The Galanthophiles: 160 Years of Snowdrop Devotees by Jane Kilpatrick and Jennifer Harmer (Orphans Publishing 2018); and Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis, and John Grimshaw (Griffin Press 2006, sadly out-of-print, referred to below as Snowdrops).

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RHS AGM signifies a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit, given to only 28 snowdrops out of the over 2,500 plus in cultivation.

UK Popularity List refers to an Avon Bulbs survey of British galanthophiles resulting in a list of their all-time 25 favorite snowdrops.

For more information about and photos of some of the snowdrops offered below, which are new to the catalogue this year, click here, here, and here.

Photos appear above the descriptions.

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GALANTHUS

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All the plants below are available unless they are marked sold out.  Snowdrops in short supply show a number indicating the remaining availability.

These plants are sold out:

‘Anglesey Candlelight’ (rare single snowdrop):   a very rare snowdrop with large flowers featuring an expressive face and a tinge of pale orange on its inner segments;  Anglesey Abbey Senior Gardener  David Jordan selected it about ten years ago for the orange shade on the inners and “named it ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ as it described the flower and the way it glows like a candle;” it also has unique light green leaves;   $85   Sold Out

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‘Atkinsii’ (classic single snowdrop): Snowdrops describes ‘Atkinsii’ as having “elegant elongated flowers that suggest the drop-pearl earrings of Elizabeth I”—a true English classic; selected in the 1860s by James Atkins of Gloucestershire, it is a large-flowered cultivar valued for its early bloom and particularly sweet fragrance; gorgeous swathes of ‘Atkinsii’ adorn Painswick Rococo Garden in February, click here; RHS AGM; #9 on UK Popularity List;   $29   Sold Out

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‘Beth Chatto’ (rare single snowdrop, G. plicatus subsp. byzantinus): A very rare snowdrop discovered in the 1960s at Beth Chatto Gardens, the nursery and gardens of famous English plantswoman Beth Chatto, and named for her at the suggestion of Graham Stuart Thomas; considered a superior example of its subspecies, this lovely, late-flowering cultivar has long arching outer segments and a bold inner marking with a basal blotch narrowly joined to an apical round-armed V; bulks up to an outstanding display of large, globular flowers over the almost prostrate leaves;  there is concern in England that the true ‘Beth Chatto’ snowdrop is lost, and many photos are clearly not the right plant, however, Beth Chatto Gardens has confirmed that this is the right snowdrop; it’s provenance is as follows:  Charles Cresson acquired his stock from John Elsley, former horticulturist for Wayside Gardens, who got his plant from Graham Stuart Thomas, who got it directly from Beth Chatto;  $95   Sold Out

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Big Bertha’ (rare single snowdrop, G. elwesii): huge, round flowers with dark green tips on the ballooning outer segments and a prominent, dark green mark on the inners; distinct habit with widely splayed leaves at ground level and very upright flowers and scapes (flower stalks); instantly recognizable in the garden; a vigorous cultivar of the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii, discovered around 2004  in a bulk purchase of bulbs by Gill Richardson, Manor Farm, Lincolnshire;   $95   Sold Out

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‘Big Eyes’ (rare single snowdrop): beautifully rounded, balloon-like flowers, reminding me of one of my favorites, ‘Melanie Broughton’; spoon-shaped outers with long claws (claws attach the outer segments to the ovary) reveal two large eyes looking out with a down-turned mouth below, a lot like the very popular ‘Grumpy’; when my dear friend Alan Street saw it for the first time he proclaimed “what big eyes you have!” just like Little Red Riding Hood and so it was named; hybrid between the common snowdrop, G. nivalis, and the Crimean snowdrop, G. plicatus; Alan found it in a naturalized colony in Berkshire around 2000;   $85   Sold Out

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‘Blewbury Tart’(unique double snowdrop, G. nivalis): outstanding and distinctive outward-facing double snowdrop with three narrow outer segments clasping the inner dark green tart-like rosette; multiplies rapidly; another amazing discovery by international snowdrop expert Alan Street in his hometown of Blewbury, Oxfordshire; our stock came from the old Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, WA; #25 on UK Popularity List;  $25   Sold Out

.Blonde Inge’ (yellow snowdrop, G. nivalis): this is the first snowdrop to have yellow markings on its inner segments while the ovary (the cap above the petal-like segments) remains green—a very beautiful combination; vigorous snowdrop that grows rapidly to form an impressive clump; emerges green and turns yellow with sunlight, a so-called ‘color change snowdrop’; found by Nicholas Topp in 1977 in a cemetery near Cologne, Germany, and introduced to the UK in 1993; the name comes from the lyrics of a German foxtrot;   $49   Sold Out

.Cordelia’ (Greatorex double snowdrop): beautiful and elegant double snowdrop originated prior to 1954 by English plantsman Heyrick Greatorex as part of his famous series of large and vigorous doubles named after characters in Shakespeare’s plays—here the youngest daughter in King Lear;  ‘Cordelia’ is one of the lesser known but more easily identifiable Greatorex doubles due to its large, green inner marking, superior height, and very uniform and neat rosette; thrives in my garden;   $42    Sold Out

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‘Daphne’s Scissors’ (unique single snowdrop, G. elwesii): found by English galanthophile Daphne Chappell in her garden in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, in 1985 and named for the scissor-shaped inner segment mark; upright plant with large flowers;  presence of the bold green mark on the outer segments varies in England, but on my plants it is there every year;   $45   Sold Out

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‘Excelsis’ (unique single snowdrop): ‘Excelsis’ arrived in my garden by mistake last year, and I was so taken with it that I ordered more so I could include it in the catalogue this year;  international snowdrop expert Alan Street discovered it as a seedling at Avon Bulbs in 2015; he was immediately dazzled by its long, shapely outers and the heavenly marked green inners, hence the name; the dark green V extending from the apex joins a lighter green V from the base, creating an elegant and unusual mark;   $55   Sold Out

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‘Fenstead End’ (unique single snowdrop):  I first saw ‘Fenstead End’ when I visited John Morely at North Green Snowdrops during a snowstorm in February 2017.  I admired its long, tapering outer segments and bright green coloring, but the flowers weren’t open.  Later that month, at the RHS Show in London, I saw it with its outers raised up to reveal the lovely, white-edged bright green skirt underneath (see the flower in the upper left of the photo for the full effect).  I had to have it for my collection!  It was discovered by Charles Grey-Wilson in Fenstead End, Suffolk, in 1987;   $55   Sold Out

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‘Franz Josef’ (rare and unique double snowdrop, G. elwesii): eye-catching, very large and full double flowers with inner segments tightly packed to bursting; narrow outer segments with bold green tips fully expose the deep emerald green cross on the inners; this neat and handsome double is a cultivar of the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii, discovered by Michael Dreisvogt in a Munich Park in 1999 and remains rare;   $85   Sold Out

.George Elwes’ (classic single snowdrop): Snowdrops names ‘George Elwes’ the “finest” G. elwesii x G. plicatus hybrid, earning this praise because it is a tall and upright snowdrop with large flowers; long, elegant outer segments compliment perfectly the fully green inner segments; I especially like the extended, curved spathe encircling the ovary (see photo); selected in 1979 by my dear friend Carolyn Elwes at Colesbourne Park and named after her late son;   $55   Sold Out

.Godfrey Owen’ (unique six-petaled snowdrop, G. elwesii):  one of my top ten favorites with its rare configuration of six longer outer segments and six shorter inner segments; inner markings are somewhat variable with two small dots at the apex sometimes joined to two smaller dots at the base; an elegant snowdrop that performs well in the garden while standing out from the crowd without a label; discovered in Shrewsbury around 1996 in a population of typical G. elwesii by renowned English galanthophile Margaret Owen and named for her husband; RHS AGM;  $45   Sold Out

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‘Heffalump’ (unique double snowdrop):  a beautiful, full, and neat double whose inner segments and bright green markings are clearly visible because the three outer segments are quite slender; I have always had a particular affection for this snowdrop because famous galanthophile Primrose Warburg found it in her garden at South Hayes and named it for her husband whose nickname was Heffalump, presumably after the character in A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh story;   $45   Sold Out

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‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’ (unique single snowdrop): long, elegant, and full outer segments and inners boldly marked with the double chevron insignia found on a British corporal’s uniform; vigorous hybrid producing many flowers, probably a G. nivalis x G. plicatus cross; discovered by Michael Broadhurst in 2013; highly praised in my favorite snowdrop reference Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne Repnow and profiled as a favorite in the January 2023 Gardens Illustrated article on snowdrops in Margery Fish’s garden, click here;   $69   Sold Out

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John Gray’ (classic single snowdrop): a member of the much sought after Mighty Atom Group with huge flowers on widely arching pedicels (flower stems); a very beautiful, early-blooming snowdrop; selected by famous horticulturist E.B. Anderson for its “outstandingly large flower” from the Benhall, Suffolk, garden of John Gray in 1951; first offered for sale by the Giant Snowdrop Company in 1967; RHS AGM, #10 on UK Popularity List;   $49   Sold Out

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‘Kite’ (classic single snowdrop, G. elwesii): elegant, early-blooming snowdrop with exceptionally long outer segments and a well-defined X mark on its inners, one of my favorites; when established it can form twin flowers on one flower stalk, a very rare trait (see top photo above); selected by Oliver Wyatt at Maidwell Hall in Northhamptonshire;   $45  Sold Out

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‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ (classic double snowdrop): a very dignified, unique, and vigorous double snowdrop with an elegant, tightly packed inner rosette and a distinctive mark split into two dots; grown by Lady Beatrix Stanley (1877-1944) at Sibbertoft Manor in Northhamptonshire, England, and named for her in 1981 by British snowdrop expert Richard Nutt; RHS AGM; #13 on UK Popularity List;   $25   Sold Out

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‘Madelaine’ (yellow snowdrop, G. plicatus): a Crimean snowdrop similar in looks to ‘Wendy’s Gold’ but with an especially ethereal yellow that glows in the late winter sunlight; in our garden, it thrives in an open, sloping, east-facing location, sunnier and drier than most spots where we grow snowdrops; introduced in 2002 by Joe Sharman of Monksilver Nursery in Cambridge; my favorite and most vigorous yellow;   $79   Sold Out

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‘Marjorie Brown’ (classic single snowdrop, G. elwesii): the clear white, large, round, well-proportioned flowers are late-blooming and vigorous, forming large bulbs;  wide leaves with a very distinct bluish tinge compared to other G. elwesii; Snowdrops calls it “highly garden-worthy”; found by the famous Ruby Baker in a flower arrangement entered in a March 1987 flower show by Marjorie Brown; magnificent in a large sweep (right photo above);   $49   Sold Out

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‘Merlin’ (classic single snowdrop): a snowdrop so revered that it earned an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in 2012, over 120 years after it was found; a beautiful, vigorous, highly-prized classic snowdrop;  probably a hybrid between G. elwesii and G. plicatus; grown for its completely dark green inner segments; discovered in his garden in 1891 by Victorian plantsman James Allen of Shepton Mallet in Somerset; RHS AGM, #16 on UK Popularity List;  $45   Sold Out

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‘Miss Prissy’ (unique and rare double snowdrop):  very neat, outward-facing double snowdrop; the outer segments have prominent green tips and the inner segments are very green with sparkling white edges; hybrid between the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii, and the double common snowdrop, G. nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’ selected by Stephen Jackson and registered in 2017; named after the spinster hen in the Looney Tunes cartoon;   $85   Sold Out

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‘Mrs. Thompson’ (unique single snowdrop):  uniformity is usually highly prized among snowdrop collectors but paradoxically this snowdrop’s erratic behavior has made it more desirable; along with an elegant and stately classic flower, when well established, it also produces twins (two flowers with separate pedicels on the same scape), fused flowers, and flowers with 4, 5, or even 6 outer segments, none of which detracts from the beauty of the clump; discovered by Mrs. N.G. Thompson of Red House, Escrick, York, prior to 1950; #23 on UK Popularity List;   $49   Sold Out

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‘Phil Cornish’ (rare, inverse poculiform snowdrop):  an upright and early-flowering selection with stunning markings—almost all green inner segments, and outer segments heavily marked with a dark green heart at the apex and a paler green patch at the base; an inverse poculiform (all the segments are inners) with the classic pagoda shape and G. plicatus ‘Trym’ as a parent; this much sought after snowdrop was discovered in 2002 in the Gloucestershire garden of the well known galanthophile and discoverer of many fine snowdrops Phil Cornish; highly praised in Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble  and profiled as a favorite in a January 2023 Gardens Illustrated article;  $110   Sold Out

.‘Potter’s Prelude’ (fall-blooming snowdrop, G. elwesii var. monostictus): free-flowering and vigorous snowdrop with wide recurving blue-green leaves and large flowers similar to the best of the species except that it blooms from mid-November to January; a rare American snowdrop, selected in the 1960s by Jack Potter, former Curator of the Scott Arboretum, registered in 2004 by Charles Cresson, and introduced by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in 2010;  $43   Sold Out

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‘Primrose Warburg’ (yellow snowdrop): one of the most beautiful yellow snowdrops with intense yellow markings on the inner segment and ovary (the “cap” above the petal-like segments), much coveted by collectors; originated at South Hayes, the garden of the famous British collector Primrose Warburg, and chosen by her fellow galanthophiles after her death in 1996 as the most suitable snowdrop to bear her name; very vigorous in my garden; RHS AGM;   $75   Sold Out

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‘Robin Hood’ (classic single snowdrop): A much beloved snowdrop, first mentioned by James Allen in 1891, it is tall and upright with a very unique inner marking resembling crossed swords; Snowdrops praises its “beautifully shaped, sparkling flowers…[with] a distinctive poise”; vigorous in my garden; #18 on UK popularity list; $39   Sold Out

.‘S. Arnott’ (classic single snowdrop): large rounded, sweetly scented flowers with a heart-shaped green mark, pictured here at Colesbourne Park, the famous snowdrop destination in England; Snowdrops describes ‘S. Arnott’ as the “classic snowdrop….a first-class garden plant with an unquestionable constitution, admired by everyone,” a must have for snowdrop collections; considered the ‘desert island snowdrop’—the snowdrop that collectors would choose if they were limited to one—and named for an early galanthophile, Samuel Arnott (1852-1930); RHS AGM, #1 on UK Popularity List;   $25   Sold Out

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‘Scharlockii’ (green-tipped snowdrop, G. nivalis): a charming and vigorous snowdrop with bright green tips on its outer segments; notable for the “rabbit ears” (see photo) formed when its spathe (flower bud covering) splits into two prominently upright, leaf-like halves after releasing the flower; one of the last snowdrops to bloom in my garden; discovered in 1818 by Herr Julius Scharlock in Grandenz, Germany, and named in 1868;  2 for $39 (1 order is 2 plants)   Sold Out

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‘Straffan’ (classic single snowdrop): the third oldest snowdrop cultivar still in existence, discovered in the later 1800s by the gardener for Straffan House in County Kildare, Ireland, in a clump of G. plicatus brought back from the Crimean War by the fourth Baron Clarina—now that’s a snowdrop with a pedigree!;  revered for its indestructibility and garden-worthiness, the legendary E.A. Bowles called it “the most beautiful of all forms”;  later flowering and reliably produces a second flower stem as the first is fading, making it very long-blooming—the favorite snowdrop of honeybees (bottom photo) in our garden; RHS AGM, #21 on UK popularity list;   2 for $49 (1 order is 2 plants)   Sold Out

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‘Three Ships’ (December-blooming snowdrop, G. plicatus): one of the most beautiful snowdrops in my garden with an ethereal glow that is whiter than white; large, bowl-like and deeply puckered outer segments with a wide and attractive green mark on the inners; rare, early-flowered form of G. plicatus, blooming reliably in mid to late December; found by John Morley of North Green Snowdrops in Suffolk in 1984 and named for the Christmas carol “I Saw Three Ships”;  RHS AGM, #8 on UK Popularity List;  $95   Sold Out

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‘Trumpolute’ (rare, inverse poculiform snowdrop): large, boldly marked and gracefully recurved outer segments with bright green markings, which are repeated on the inners;  it has the classic pagoda shape of an inverse poculiform snowdrop (all the segments are inners) and resulted from a cross between G. plicatus ‘Trym’ and G. elwesii;  found at North Green Snowdrops in 2001 by John Morley who gave it its name because the flowers look like ‘Trumps’ and the leaves are convolute (wrapped around each other, also called supervolute);   $85   Sold Out

.‘Viridapice’ (green-tipped snowdrop, G. nivalis): the flowers are easily distinguished by the strikingly prominent green tips on the outer segments as well as the inner ones;  this is a large and vigorous G. nivalis cultivar originally discovered near a farmhouse in northern Holland prior to 1922; our superior form of ‘Viridapice’ was acquired from the old Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, WA; RHS AGM;   $29   Sold Out

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‘Washfield Colesbourne’ (unique single snowdrop): I saw this snowdrop for the first time during my February 2023 trip to England and had to have it; as Gardens Illustrated says in its January 2023 article, it is tall and majestic with large flowers and incredibly dark green inner segments;  Snowdrops calls it a “magnificent hybrid”; found at Elizabeth Strangman’s famous Washfield Nursery in Hawkhurst, Kent, it is a seedling of the snowdrop ‘Colesbourne’ but much more vigorous;   $55   Sold Out

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‘Wasp’ (unique single snowdrop): this charming and unique snowdrop caused a sensation when it was first introduced in the late 1990s; the name is quite apt as the very long and narrow outer segments stick out at an angle like wings and the striped, tubular inner segments resemble a thorax—‘Wasp’ flies around on its long flower stem in the slightest breeze completing the insect-like effect; discovered by British snowdrop enthusiast Veronica Cross at Sutton Court;  $42   Sold Out

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‘Xmas’ flowering with fall-blooming camellias.

Xmas’ (December-blooming snowdrop, G. elwesii): Brilliant detective work reveals that many years ago a gardener at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC, selected an unusual x-marked and early blooming plant from an otherwise ordinary patch of G. elwesii. He gave plants to his chess partner who planted them at his employer’s estate. A landscape designer collected some from the estate, passed them to a fellow designer, who traded some to me. I named this snowdrop ‘Xmas’ because its very large and beautiful flowers with long, bowl-shaped outer segments have a distinct X mark on the inner segments and, better yet, in the Delaware Valley, they bloom around the holidays when there is often a lull in snowdrop activity. Thanks to my assistant detectives Holly Schmizu, Former Executive Director of the USBG, and Susan Bowman for bringing to light this American selection from an iconic American garden.  $75   Sold Out

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ERANTHIS

Like leucojums below, I purchased dried eranthis bulbs many times and even soaked them overnight with no success in the garden.  It wasn’t until a wonderful friend brought me some growing plants that I was finally successful (thanks Julie Z.!).  The two cultivars came from seeds sent to me from Germany in 2014 (thanks Martina B.!).  Growing instructions are the same as for snowdrops (see Cultural Information at the beginning), but plant them 2″ deep instead of 3″.  The plants multiply vigorously, but you can also collect the seeds when ripe and sprinkle them to increase your patch.  The winter aconites below come true from seed but take five years to reach flowering size.  The plants offered here are flowering size.

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Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite):  beautiful buttercup yellow flowers bloom profusely in late winter; an attractive, frilly green ruff around the base of the flowers sets them off to perfection; excellent companion for snowdrops, spreads vigorously; RHS AGM;   3 for $39 (1 order is 3 plants)   Sold Out

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Eranthis hyemalis ‘Orange Glow’ (rare golden orange winter aconite):  very similar to the species (technically the leaves are finer and the flowers a little bigger, Cilicus Group) but with golden orange tinted flowers; discovered in 1950 by Jens Ole Pedersen in a nursery in Holbæk, Denmark; I received seeds from Germany in 2014 and flowering began in 2019, now I finally have enough to sell;   $39   Sold Out

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Eranthis hyemalis ‘Schwefelglanz’ (rare pale yellow winter aconite):  very similar to the species but with pastel yellow flowers; a very useful color in the garden, looks spectacular paired with yellow snowdrops or witchhazel; selected by Ruth Treff of Darmstadt, Germany, in 1985 and introduced in 1997; these plants are from seeds received from Germany in 2014;  $39  Sold Out

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LEUCOJUM

The only way to introduce the rarely available spring snowflake into your garden successfully is as a growing plant—all my attempts with dried bulbs have failed—so I am excited that bulb expert Charles Cresson is once again making this wonderful relative of the snowdrop available in the green.  Growing instructions are the same as for snowdrops (see Cultural Information at the beginning), but they can grow in very moist situations.

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Leucojum vernum (spring snowflake):  Spring snowflake’s six petals (technically tepals) are of equal length, forming a nodding white bell with green to greenish yellow tips that is quite beautiful set off by the bright green strap-like leaves. It blooms in March and April and grows to 10 to 12″ tall in part to deciduous shade in average to moist soil, even thriving in clay.  It naturalizes readily in shady woodland conditions and on the March bank at Winterthur;  RHS AGM; $39   Sold Out

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Leucojum vernum var. carpathicum ‘Gertrude Wister’ (semi-double spring snowflake): ‘Gertrude Wister’  is so unique because spring snowflakes normally have 6 petals, while this form averages 12 or more suggesting that two flowers have fused together to form one large and attractive, semi-double flower. Discovered by well known bulb authority Gertrude Wister in the 1960s in her garden on the Swarthmore College campus, she gave it to bulb expert Charles Cresson who named it after her.  Introduced for sale in 2014 by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens;  $79  Sold Out

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Instructions for ordering are at the beginning of the catalogue.