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.