Just one more day and David Culp’s Galanthus Gala is a go and of course I’m ready. Early entry to the hall on Saturday and in person attendance at the talks has been sold out for a couple weeks, but after 10am anyone can stroll in to shop the sales tables, and there’s also a virtual option for the talks. If you’re in the mood and can make it to Downingtown Pa I’d say go for it! There is nothing similar anywhere else in the US, and the range of rare and special things for sale under one roof will be unparalleled.
The most common double snowdrop, Galanthus flore pleno.
Rare and special is great, but let me take a minute to go on about the most common snowdrop cultivar out there. First I apologize to everyone (including myself) who are excited about the latest and greatest, but the double version of the common snowdrop (G. nivalis) really does earn its keep and its place in just about any snowdrop garden. Flore pleno doesn’t complain much as long as you remember it’s a little piglet who likes a nice mulch, fertile soil, and eventually division since it does tend to clump up quickly and will overcrowd if neglected. It’s also sterile, not that it matters much, but when you consider how widespread it is via stray bulblets and sharing that’s quite impressive, plus sterile flowers tend to stay in bloom longer and don’t spend energy on seeds, so that’s another reason it consistently puts on a good show. My friend Paula states it’s the best snowdrop for filling beds with bloom, and I agree.
Flore pleno, the double snowdrop, in one of the damper parts of the garden.
Ten years ago, Paula gave me my Flore pleno start with a little baggie of about 25 freshly dug bulbs, and over just a few years they’ve grown into hundreds. Their original spot was too dry and bare and the bulbs barely bloomed, but once moved into a more woodland setting they exploded. I’m really beginning to like their “messy” and “common” look, and for a while dedicated an entire bed to Flore pleno and her related forms. I named it my ‘White Trash’ bed and and it’s everything special even when they’re not that special.
An unamed, common Galanthus elwesii. I have a few like this and love how they always look surprised and confused.
I’m sure you’d guess that many parts of my garden are filled with things which are not that special. I’ll be excited to consider expensive little things in tiny pots this weekend but even the premier ones which I bring home are destined to share their new bed-space with the peasantry. By the way the peasants in the front street border are multiplying with abandon, and each year I’m closer to sweeps of self-seeding winter aconite and snowdrops. In just a few more years even the most refined eye may have to acknowledge their enthusiastic masses.
I need more witch hazel. Two were lost when the bulldozers came through and how can I have snowdrops and winter aconite without an overstory of flowering witch hazel?
Okay, I have to admit that even with this talk of a love for the most common I did fall for plenty of special snowdrops which were more special because they had a name. Today I realize they all kinda look alike but I still can’t honestly say I regret adding them to the garden or that I’d do things differently. Each is its own treasure (says no one other than a snowdrop-nut) and many have their own story which comes to mind when they sprout each spring.
Galanthus ‘Robin Hood’ is an old variety which may date to the 1800’s and is not the latest and greatest but is quite nice anyway.
But it’s late and stories always go on, so let’s wrap up this pre-Gala post.
Probably only about 100 years old as a cultivar, ‘John Gray’ is still sought out and planted. He’s a stretcher here and I think would display better on a slope but who knows when that move will happen.
I’m sure I’ll add a few things. I always do and it has started to become obvious when you look at the beds.
‘The Wizard’ is a nice tall, more recent introduction, with nice green marks on the outers and even a little touch of green up top. I like him.
…unless you visit ‘Norfolk Blonde’. She just sulks, special or not.
Another year of choosing life, ‘Norfolk Blonde’ has even flowered again this spring. A better gardener would have moved her to a better spot years ago, or at least cleared her some breathing room, but no. I actually enjoy complaining about her 🙂
Did I mention that common or not, the season is early? Probably, and things are about ready to peak even though just by a leap it’s still February. Nearly everything has been convinced it’s time to come up and I guess they’re on to something. After tonight’s cold I don’t even see a single night below freezing for the entire first half of March, and that’s crazy. Quite a few 50’s and 60’s sit in the forecast and I suspect this will rush the season ahead even more.
‘Merlin’ in front backed by ‘Mrs Backhouse #12’, two very common and not-cutting edge snowdrop varieties.
And here we are, finishing up just before bedtime. As always I apologize for the rambling and nonsense but maybe for just one year I can remember to take a few pictures worth posting from the Gala. Maybe. They’re all likely to be plant photos, but I’ll try to remember some readers are also interested in people and perhaps I can accommodate. Just don’t tell my family, sometimes they mention how many plant photos I have and how few birthday, Christmas, etc there are and I don’t think adding pictures of random, non-family plant people will help the debate.
sorta like suburbia 
I beg to differ. With all respect to you and Paula, I think ‘S. Arnott’ is best for filling beds with bloom. I do concede ‘Flore Pleno’ might–might–last longer, but ‘S. Arnott’ is taller and more fragrant.
Yes and better for the bees.
I do enjoy the fragrance, but here the bees far prefer the winter aconite and pussywillow, and I haven’t yet seen any native bees so I guess they are waiting on the native flowers before they wake up. How about I plant more of all of the above and that should cover all my bases! -see how more plants is always the answer? 😉
Snowdrop season is almost over here in the UK, I just have Wareham, Polar Bear and Baxendales Late still flowering, everything else has finished and we are now into Narcissus time! Your snowdrops are looking lovely and I have serious envy of your Gala Day, looking forward to the photos!
As always I’m struggling to keep up with comments both on my own and other blogs, but I did enjoy seeing your most recent photos of the fritillaria in bloom and the usual suspect who likes pecking at them! I hope your garden has a chance to dry out, but it appears to be in perfect condition regardless 🙂
I like the way you have Merlin and Mrs Backhouse planted close. This way when you have non plant people you guide around the garden they can clearly see that there are differences in Galanthus spcs. I have noticed when I bring people around to different clumps to show there are differences they just roll their eyes and agree.
I do envy you your trip to Galanthus heaven, I mean Gala. I hope you find at least one plant that lights up your inspiration for the garden. I can’t wait to read your take on the Gala.
I also envy your near swathes of Winter Aconite. I can’t seem to get them to take in my garden. They look good for a couple of years and then not return.
Primrose has taken well in my garden. I think this year I can even divide her. 🙂
Have a great weekend and surely since this is Leap Year you can bear to bring home some lovely new plants. Cheers…
Eye rolls when it comes to snowdrops!? I can’t believe it, even though I’ve witnessed the same here as well. Good for us that we still even allow such heathens back into the garden 😉
Let em know if you want to try a few more winter aconite. They might even be doing a little too well in spots and success is just giving them time and letting them find a spot to root in a they wish. -which doesn’t mean much if they just fade away, but I have had it many times that the ones I plant die after a year or two, and at this point I almost expect it, so I always try to spread any seed which sets… so here I am right after claiming they’re carefree admit that they can be little buggers 😉
Glad Primrose is doing well! Seedlings will be next 🙂
Don’t put any of your Winter Aconite into the compost. I will take them and try again. Your soil and their requirements must be just right. If I am not anything else I am a gardener and I try try again.
Truly, nivalis flore pleno is the ‘landscape drop’ – when en masse, very noticeable from a distance.
That and here we are two weeks later and she’s still in bloom, unlike most of the others.
:-D, exactly, another feature I forgot !
Lovely bloomers all over the yard, Frank. We’re not going to have frost either… rather disturbing for March, particularly if things break dormancy, then Mother West Wind decides to throw in a polar blast. (Why are gardeners always worrying? We can’t help ourselves!)
Have fun at the Gala. Don’t break the bank! 😉
Thanks! -and so far so good, no arctic blasts on the horizon, just a couple nights below freezing which shouldn’t be a problem if you didn’t already plant a few spring pots to cheer up the front door 😉
Lovely blooms, have fun at the Gala! tzgarden.blogspot.com
Thanks Tracy, I enjoyed my yearly dose of Galanthamania!
I love all your snowdrops, particularly The Wizard. We had some warm days in February which saw off most of our snowdrops. We galanthophiles wait all year for them and feel a bit cheated with such a short season. I love the last photo with snowdrops, cyclamen and aconites, it reminds me of bacon and eggs.
Our season ended the same way, a few warm days with lots of rain and they all opened when they shouldn’t have. I should have been sick on the nicest days to stay home and enjoy but working in a sick day can sometimes seem like more work than it’s worth!
Bacon and eggs. I hope you got a nice breakfast after that observation since it seems you’ve got food on your mind! And now I do as well and am wondering if there’s any decent bread for toast, and could perhaps nibble on a bit while admiring the cyclamen bacon in the garden!
Hope you’re enjoying your new garden this spring
Your snowdrop season has been nice and long this year, but I expect the mild weather they have forecast will allow them to fade as everything else starts growing up around them. The Flore pleno really do look good once they have filled out. Look forward to hearing how the gala went. (And how much you spent?… 😜) Have a good week Frank!
It’s funny that you mention a long snowdrop season. It’s ending now and I thought it passed too quickly, but then realized that without snow it came in dribs and drabs all winter and did go on for quite a while. I think there were too many rain days to be honest, and I’d rather have some snow if anyone were to ask my opinion 😉
It’s dried out a little this week and the weather has been warm, and if the asprin can tame these sore muscles I hope to finish the most desperate items on the to-do list so that I can move on to the should-do list ;)