Archive for Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble

New Snowdrops for 2026: Part One

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2025 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘Early Bird’ is easily recognized in the garden as a Galanthus woronowii cultivar but it blooms much earlier than the typical end of February or March.  Photo 1/25/25

To see last year’s snowdrop catalogue, click here.

I have been selling snowdrops since I started my nursery in 1991.  However, in 2013, I started importing from England cultivars that were hard-to-find in the US and growing them on for my customers.  My imports for catalogue sales always focused on cultivars that were well known and readily available in Europe, but every year I purchased single bulbs of a small number of rare and expensive cultivars to add to my own collection.  I am excited that once again I will be selling limited quantities of those choice snowdrops.

As usual, the 2026 Snowdrop Catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December 2025.  Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at some of the special, new snowdrops that will be available in the catalogue.  Enjoy!  

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a specialty nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate you are interested in snowdrops.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

‘Early Bird’, pictured at the top, is an inverse poculiform (all the segments are inners) cultivar of the snowdrop species Galanthus woronowii, sometimes called the green snowdrop for its shiny green leaves or Woronow’s snowdrop for its namesake, Georg Jurii Nikolaewitch Woronow (1874-1931).  Unlike the species though, it has lovely green markings on the outer segments, not just the inners, and the pagoda shape we treasure in ‘Trumps’ and other inverse poculiform snowdrops.  Its very wide leaves are bright, shiny, and the beautiful shade of green characteristic of the species.  They sparkle in the winter sun and are my favorite snowdrop foliage.

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When the flowers are closed, you especially notice ‘Early Bird’s’ lovely wide and shiny green leaves.  Photo 1/30/22

Even more unique is ‘Early Bird’s’ bloom time.  G. woronowii is usually the last snowdrop to bloom in my garden at the end of February or beginning of March, while ‘Early Bird’ blooms much earlier as you can see from the dates of these photos.  It may be the earliest bloomer of its species.

Millions of G. woronowii bulbs are legally harvested in Georgia every year and sold as dried bulbs through European bulb houses mainly located in the Netherlands.  A friend selected and named ‘Early Bird’ from a batch purchased in the early 2010s.  For more information on the species Galanthus woronowii, you can read my post The Sochi Snowdrop by clicking here. 

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‘Peter Gatehouse’ is a stately fall-blooming snowdrop with a distinctive inner mark.

‘Peter Gatehouse’ is a member of the Hiemalis Group of the giant snowdrop species, Galanthus elwesii.  It is easy to recognize for its large flowers featuring an olive green X lightening towards the base.  It blooms in mid-October here in southeastern Pennsylvania.  It is a prolific bloomer with an upright habit and a spathe (the bud sheath) that points upwards.

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A close up of the lovely two-toned inner mark and the long elegant outer segments. 

This graceful snowdrop was given to Elizabeth Strangman at Washfield Nursery in England in 1994 by Peter Gatehouse and named after him.  Anne Repnow profiles it on page 87 of her book Some More Snowdrops.

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There may be no more perfectly uniform poculiform snowdrop than ‘Poculi Perfect’.  Photo March 2020

‘Poculi Perfect’ is a snowdrop that elicits superlatives on sight.  It has a large, pure white, perfectly formed poculiform flower, which means all the segments are outers.  Generally there is still some size and color variation in poculiforms, but here the inner and outer segments are the exact same size and shape and show no green at all.  When he introduced it, Joe Sharman at Monksilver Nursery called it “one of the best Czech poculiforms with exceptionally large flowers.”

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‘Poculi Perfect’ displays its large flowers very late in the season.  Photo March 2025

‘Poculi Perfect’ is a taller cultivar of Galanthus nivalis, the common snowdrop, displaying its large blooms on upright, strong scapes set off by widely splayed, broad, glaucous leaves.  It was found in 2009 in the Czech Republic by Pavel Sekerka and named in 2011 by Jānis Rukšāns, the Latvian bulb specialist.  Anne Repnow profiles ‘Poculi Perfect’ on page 76 of Some Snowdrops.

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Like all snowdrops in the Scharlockii Group, ‘Selina Cords’ is a beautiful bright green.  Photo taken at Glenn Chantry 2/12/23

‘Selina Cords’ is similar to other members of the Scharlockii Group of Galanthus nivalis, the common snowdrop, but has lovely and extensive green markings on the outer segments covering the apex and running all the way to the base—a very pleasing look.  The slender flowers are incurved and attached to a long pedicel (stem attaching flower to scape) arising from the split spathe (bud sheath) resembling rabbit’s ears that is characteristic of this group. 

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‘Selina Cords’ displays its prominent pedicel and leaf-like split spathe.

‘Selina Cords’ is a robust snowdrop, and one of the best ‘Scharlockii’ types originating in Belgium.  It was discovered in 2006 by famous German galanthophile Rudi Bauer and named for his granddaughter.

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Look for another post profiling more new snowdrops (& a Leucojum) soon.

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Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments.  Just scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Comment” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

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New Snowdrops (& a Leucojum) for 2025: Part One

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 20, 2024 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘Dryad Gold Sovereign’ features beautiful yellow markings and a huge flower.

To access our current snowdrop catalogue, click here.

I have been importing snowdrops from England and growing them on for my customers since 2013.  My imports for catalogue sales always focused on the more well known and readily available cultivars, but every year I purchased single bulbs of a small number of rare and expensive cultivars to add to my own collection.  I am excited that this year I will finally be selling limited quantities of those choice snowdrops.

As usual, the 2025 Snowdrop Catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December.  Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at some of the special, new snowdrops that will be available in the catalogue.  Enjoy!

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are also interested in snowdrops.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Dryad Gold Sovereign’, pictured at the top, resulted from an intentional cross of ‘Wendy’s Gold’ with G. nivalis “Sandersii Group” by expert hybridizer Anne Wright from Dryad Nursery in England.  Her aim was to produce vigorous snowdrops with bright yellow flowers.  After 12 years of rigorous assessment, Anne selected the yellow snowdrops in the Dryad Gold Group.

‘Dryad Gold Sovereign’ is recognized as the best in the group and, in Anne’s own words, it is “quite simply my favourite of all the snowdrops I grow.”  It is early-blooming, before most yellows, and produces large (twice the size of ‘Primrose Warburg’), well-proportioned, long-lasting, bright yellow flowers on sturdy, upright stems.  It performs exceptionally well in the garden.  You can read Anne’s own description of this elegant snowdrop by clicking here. You can also read Anne Repnow’s profile on page 41 of Some More Snowdrops.

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‘Herzilien’ holds its outer segments wide so you can easily see the little green hearts on the inners.

‘Herzilien’ means little sweetheart in German, referring to the marking on the inner segments and its tendency to bloom on Valentine’s Day.  The long claws joining the outer segments to the narrow, conical ovary hold the outer segments wide to display the perfectly shaped heart on the inner segments.  On page 55 of Some Snowdrops, Anne Repnow praises this snowdrop for its “astonishing vigor and floriferousness”.  It was selected around 2000 by Arthur Winkelmann after growing on seeds he received from a gardening friend in Russia.

.‘Joe Spotted’ is easily recognized in the garden.

‘Joe Spotted’ has beautiful markings and an excellent habit.   The outer segments feature a large olive green diamond, while the inner segments have a big, dark green apical mark and two pale green ‘eyes’ at the base—as I have said before, I am a sucker for a snowdrop with a face!  The gorgeously marked flowers are enhanced by the snowdrop’s tall, upright habit. 

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When the flowers are closed, you especially notice the very upright habit, here at Glen Chantry nursery in England.

‘Joe Spotted’ is praised as a strong grower and very fine plant.  Spotted in galanthophile David Bromley’s Shropshire garden by Joe Sharman, the owner of Monksilver Nursery in England.  You can read Anne Repnow’s profile on page 60 in Some Snowdrops.

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‘Titania’ features large, double flowers on upright, vigorous plants, pictured here at Colesbourne Park in England, which is the source of my stock.

‘Titania’ is a 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 Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  ‘Titania’ is one of the rarer but more easily identifiable Greatorex doubles due to its neat and regular double flowers with a prominent horseshoe mark at the base of the inner segments.  As you can see from the photo, it multiplies well in the garden.

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‘Ingrid Bauer’s’ large flowers have a very unique inner mark.

‘Ingrid Bauer’ has large and elegantly shaped flowers with the long outer segments held wide to reveal a very unique X mark on the inner segments.  The mark is composed of a pale green upper part and a very dark green lower part, making this snowdrop instantly recognizable in the garden.  An easy and prolific snowdrop selected by the famous German galanthophile Rudi Bauer and named for his wife in 2007.

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‘Null Punkte’ is the whitest spring snowflake.

‘Null Punkte’ is a spring snowflake or Leucojum vernum.  Its name means zero points in German and refers to the lack of green or yellow on the tips of the petals (tepals), making it the whitest spring snowflake.  The flowers in my garden occasionally have a slight bit of green (see far left of left flower in photo), but they get whiter as they mature. 

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‘Null Punkte’ growing under a shrub in Charles Cresson’s Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, garden.

‘Null Punkte’ is a good grower but not fast—I received a plant in 2013 and just have a few to sell now.  It was discovered in a park in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and named by Ingo Kaczmarek as a reference to point-giving in the Eurovision Song Contest.  For more information about Leucojum with descriptions and photos of many cultivars, click here.

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Look for another post profiling more new snowdrops (& an Eranthis) soon.

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Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments.  If you are reading the post in the WordPress email (white background), just reply to the email to comment.  If you are reading the post on my blog (black background, better formatting), scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Reply” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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December Blooming Snowdrops

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Galanthus bursanus, the newest snowdrop species, blooms earliest in my collection

For our current Snowdrop Catalogue, click here.  If you want to be notified about the next snowdrop catalogue, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com, and specify snowdrops.

I really appreciate the appearance of the earliest blooming snowdrops in my garden: Galanthus bursanus and Galanthus reginae-olgae and their cultivars, at the beginning of October.  They remind me that the much treasured snowdrop season is starting and will continue through March.  However, there are so many other plants performing then with flowers, berries, fall color, and seeds, not to mention all the work we need to do to get our garden ready for winter that I only notice the October snowdrops in passing.  Likewise, although I love all my snowdrops that begin flowering in January, which is the early main season for snowdrops, there are so many of them. 

It is the snowdrops that reach their peak in December that I most treasure.  I realized that I have never done a post featuring those snowdrops so here I will talk about my four favorites plus a peak at a potential newcomer.

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

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fall-blooming snowdrop 'Potter's Prelude' at Carolyn's Shade Gardens‘Potter’s Prelude’ is an elegant snowdrop with a bold mark.

‘Potter’s Prelude’, a cultivar of Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus, is a rare American snowdrop selected in the 1960s by Jack Potter, the former Curator of the Scott Arboretum in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.  It was registered in 2004 by noted regional horticulturist Charles Cresson and introduced in 2010 by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.

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This clump of ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is ready for dividing.

‘Potter’s Prelude’ is a free-flowering and vigorous snowdrop with wide, recurving, very blue leaves.  Its flowers are large and elegantly formed with a bold dark green mark.  They begin blooming in mid-November and continue into January with December being their peak.  Be aware that some snowdrops sold under this name are inferior seedlings.  International snowdrop expert Alan Street told me that the flowers shown in the top photo, which he much admired, are far superior to the form circulating in England.  ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is featured 0n page 77 of Anne Repnow’s book Some Snowdrops, an excellent reference guide.

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‘Standing Tall’

‘Standing Tall’ is an American Galanthus elwesii cultivar selected and named by Charles Cresson.  It was introduced for sale for the first time by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in 2013.  Although it can reach 12″ tall, it was primarily named for its very upright habit and unmistakable, commanding presence in the garden.  Its name also reflects its ability to flop down when its cold like all snowdrops do and stand back up perfectly straight as if nothing has happened.  My unofficial observations also indicate that it remains upright at much lower temperatures than other snowdrops.

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‘Standing Tall’ in the Cresson garden.

‘Standing Tall is at its peak right now, although my main patch was divided last year and does not look as full as most years.  However, like all the snowdrops featured in this post, it is very vigorous and will quickly fill back in and look like Charles Cresson’s patch above.  It starts blooming between the the last week of November and the first week of December and continues through January.  It is featured on Page 83 of Anne Repnow’s excellent book Some Snowdrops.

.. ‘Three Ships’ has the very full outer segments sometimes associated with G. plicatus.

‘Three Ships’ is a cultivar of Galanthus plicatus selected in England by the famous John Morley of North Green Snowdrops in Suffolk in 1984.  He named it for the Christmas carol “I Saw Three Ships”.

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‘Three Ships’ multiplies well in my garden.

‘Three Ships’ is quite striking in the garden and cannot be confused with any other snowdrop. It has an ethereal glow that is whiter than white and large, bowl-like and deeply puckered outer segments with a wide and attractive green mark on the inner segments.  It blooms reliably about a week after ‘Standing Tall’ in mid-December, although I find that this is location specific.  One of my three patches bloomed on November 26 this year, while the other two followed the regular pattern.

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‘Xmas’ has large and elegant flowers with gracefully curved spathes.

‘Xmas’ was selected many years ago by a gardener at the US National Botanic Garden from a patch of normal Galanthus elwesii growing in the parking lot and passed through many hands to me.  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens first introduced it for sale as ‘Xmas’ in 2016.

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‘Xmas’ is at least twice the height of ‘Three Ships’, which blooms at the same time.  It is shown here with the flowers of fall-blooming camellia ‘Winter’s Joy’.

‘Xmas’ has very large and beautiful flowers with long, bowl-shaped outer segments and a distinct X mark on the inner segments.  In the Delaware Valley, it usually comes into flower in mid-December at the same time as ‘Three Ships’ and is fully out around the holidays when there is often a lull in snowdrop activity.  It also goes on blooming for about a month after ‘Three Ships’ as its flowers are particularly durable and long lasting.   When my dear friend Alan Street saw this photo he was impressed with the height and fullness of the flowers.  Unfortunately, he never saw ‘Xmas’ in person as it makes quite an impression when you see it in the garden.

. A new December-blooming Galanthus elwesii under consideration.

I have been observing this snowdrop, which appeared in my oldest patch of straight species Galanthus elwesii.  It blooms in late November/early December and has lovely, full flowers with a solid green inner mark from apex to base.  It will take more years of observation and building up stock before I decide if it merits a name.  Meanwhile, I would be grateful if any reader would let me know if they have seen a similar snowdrop blooming in early December.

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The inner segments are entirely green.

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The snowdrops profiled here are some of my favorites.  I have lined my front walk with large clumps so I can enjoy them every day this time of year, and all four appear in more than the two standard locations in my garden (one for display and one for back up).  In fact, ‘Xmas’ is in six locations, ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is in five, while the others are in three.

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Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments.  Scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Reply” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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New Snowdrops for 2024: Part One

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘Anglesey Candlelight’ has an orange glow on its inner segments (photo by Chris Ireland-Jones, thanks Chris!).

Our current snowdrop catalogue is on line here.

Fall color has been glorious this year and continues on for a little while longer.  It has also been a great fall for working outside, and I have been busily cleaning out around the snowdrops and checking their stakes and their labeling.  Each clump then gets a small layer of compost and a thin covering of ground leaves.  They will also be fertilized with liquid fish emulsion.  It has been very dry but that thankfully ended this week with 2″ of much needed rain.

As usual, the 2024 Snowdrop Catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December.  Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at some of the special, new snowdrops that will be available in the catalogue.  Enjoy!

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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In February, Michael and I toured Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, England.  It is one of the most visited National Trust properties, and I can see why after experiencing its beautiful winter gardens.  We were given a private tour by Senior Gardener David Jordan, the resident snowdrop expert among other responsibilities.  The tour included the extensive snowdrop collection where we saw ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ for the first time.

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I am a sucker for a snowdrop with a face and find ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ charming (photo taken at Avon Bulbs 2/2023).

‘Anglesey Candlelight’ is a very rare snowdrop with large flowers featuring an expressive face and a tinge of pale orange on its inner segments.  Its leaves are a light, lettuce green.  David Jordan spotted it about ten years ago while out looking for unique snowdrops among the thousands of specimens in the garden.  He noticed its light green leaves and moved it to the collection area for evaluation.  When it flowered the next year, he saw the orange shade on the inners and “named it ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ as it described the flower and the way it glows like a candle.” 

If you go to England during snowdrop time, I highly recommend visiting Anglesey Abbey, click here.  Be aware that to see the specialist collection of rare snowdrops, you need to book a guided tour far in advance.  Thank you, David, for one of the best snowdrop days we have ever spent!

.‘Phil Cornish’ is one of the most highly praised inverse poculiform snowdrops (photo from Anne Repnow, Some Snowdrops, thanks Anne!)

In 2017, we had the great pleasure of visiting the well known galanthophile and discoverer of many fine snowdrops Phil Cornish in his Gloucestershire garden.  The much sought after snowdrop ‘Phil Cornish’ was discovered there in 2002.  It is an inverse poculiform (all the segments are inners) with the classic pagoda shape and G. plicatus ‘Trym’ as a parent.   This upright and early-flowering selection has stunning markings: almost all green inner segments and outers heavily marked with a dark green heart at the apex and a paler green patch at the base.

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‘Phil Cornish’ has the classic pagoda shape (photo from Anne Repnow, Some Snowdrops).

‘Phil Cornish’ is highly praised in my favorite snowdrop reference Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne Repnow.  It was also profiled as a favorite in the January 2023 Gardens Illustrated article on snowdrops in Margery Fish’s garden at East Lambrook Manor, click here, (scroll to the end for their top picks).  The photos in the article are taken by photographer Jason Ingram and are quite lovely—be sure and scroll down to see ‘Phil Cornish’.

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‘Daphne’s Scissors’ sparkles in the winter sun (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 3/2015).

‘Daphne’s Scissors’ is a cultivar of G. elwesii, the giant snowdrop.  English galanthophile Daphne Chappell found it in her garden in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, in 1985.  She named it for the scissor-shaped inner segment mark.  It is an upright plant with large flowers.  Evidently, the presence of the bold green mark on the outer segments varies in England, but on my plants it is present every year (see photo below).

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‘Daphne’s Scissors’ thrives in my garden (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2023).

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‘Franz Josef’ shows its strong, emerald green markings (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2022).

‘Franz Josef’ has eye-catching, very large and full double flowers with inner segments tightly packed to bursting.  The narrow outer segments with bold green tips fully expose the deep emerald green cross on the inners.  Its elongated and cone-shaped ovary (the cap above the flower) is also unusual.

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Avon Bulbs featured ‘Franz Josef’ in its gold-medal winning display at the RHS Show in February 2017 (photo taken at RHS Show 2/2017)

This neat and handsome double is a cultivar of the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii.  Although it was discovered by Michael Dreisvogt in a Munich Park in 1999, it remains rare.

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‘George Elwes’ (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2023)

The snowdrop bible names ‘George Elwes’ the “finest” G. elwesii x G. plicatus hybrid (Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis, and John Grimshaw Timber Press 2006, page 265).  It earns this praise because it is a tall and upright snowdrop with large flowers.  The long, elegant outer segments compliment perfectly the fully green inner segments.  I especially like the long curved spathe encircling the ovary (the cap above the flower).  It was selected in 1979 by my dear friend Carolyn Elwes at Colesbourne Park and named after her late son.

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Snowdrop expert Alan Street considered ‘George Elwes’ special enough to give it a prominent location in the Avon Bulbs display at the February 2018 Royal Horticultural Society Show (photo taken at the RHS Show 2/2018).

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Look for another post profiling more new snowdrops soon.

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Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments.  Scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Reply” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

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Some Snowdrops by Anne Repnow

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter interest with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2021 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

img032An unassuming title for a wonderful book.  The snowdrop pictured on the cover is ‘Wol Staines’ from Glen Chantry in England, a nursery that I dream of visiting.

Our current snowdrop catalogue is on line here.

Last fall, I received my copy of Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne C. Repnow (Davidia Press 2020) and  immediately read it cover-to-cover twice.  Although COVID certainly had something to do with that, I was also captivated by the excellent photographs and comprehensive descriptions.  I want to share this first-rate book with you in time for you to purchase it for use as a reference during the upcoming snowdrop season.

Nursery News:  Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade.  The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US.  For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops.  Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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.img033The book starts with some beautiful landscape photos of snowdrops, this one taken at Brechin Castle in Scotland.

Anne Repnow gardens near Heidelberg, Germany.  She started her career in scientific publishing but during that time took courses in horticulture and landscape design.  Ten years ago she followed her love of gardening into a new career as a garden designer.  Along the way she managed to accumulate 500 snowdrop cultivars in her own garden.  Anne organizes the German snowdrop event Snowdrop Days in Luisenpark.  There is no mention of photography in her bio but the photographs speak for themselves.

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img042‘Godfrey Owen’ comes into bloom early in the main season for snowdrops, generally the second half of January in my garden.  It is one of my favorites and has received the coveted Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

The heart of the book is descriptive profiles of 90 Galanthus cultivars illustrated with nearly 280 well-chosen photographs.  Each snowdrop gets its own page with a full paragraph of description, including an explanation of its markings, an account of its discovery, and a focus on why it is in the book.  For ‘Godfrey Owen’ above, Repnow mentions its exceptional beauty and unusual petal configuration of six inners and six outers.  She also provides a chart with an approximation of bloom time, a ranking of vigor, and a relative price.

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img041‘Wasp’ is a snowdrop that you would recognize anywhere without a label due to its long, narrow, wing-like outer segments and the striped inner segments resembling a thorax.

For this post, I have scanned four pages from Repnow’s book profiling snowdrops that will appear in our 2022 Snowdrop Catalogue: ‘Godfrey Owen’, ‘Wasp’, ‘Three Ships’, and ‘Standing Tall’, which brings me to another reason I love this book.  Repnow does not just focus on snowdrops that are new and relatively unavailable to American gardeners, although there is definitely a large number of those, but includes many snowdrops that are  available in the US.  Eleven cultivars in the book are in our 2022 catalogue, while an additional 14 have been offered previously by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.  This is not a book for dreamers, but for gardeners who want to grow snowdrops.

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img038‘Standing Tall’ is an American snowdrop selected by bulb expert Charles Cresson and introduced exclusively by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in 2013.  Its upright habit, height, and mid-December bloom time make it an outstanding snowdrop.

Some Snowdrops includes a wide diversity of snowdrops selected in the UK and all over the rest of Europe and even covers some North American snowdrops.  She profiles ‘Green Bear’ and ‘Rosemary Burnham’ from British Columbia and ‘Potter’s Prelude’ and ‘Standing Tall’ from the US.

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img040‘Three Ships’ is another favorite available in our 2022 catalogue.  Its distinctive, large, round and seersuckered outer segments along with its Christmas bloom time earned it a rare Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

If you would like to purchase Anne Repnow’s book, which I highly recommend, you can get it from Barnes and Noble here or Amazon here. Anne tells me that the next installment More Snowdrops is in the works—I can’t wait.

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In my last post I described six snowdrops that Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is offering for the first time in our 2022 Snowdrop Catalogue.  To read the post, click here.  Four snowdrops from the catalogue are profiled in this post.  Look for an upcoming post with five more new snowdrops.

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Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments.  Scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Reply” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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