When All At Once I Saw A Crowd!

It really is a case of being the only show in town – the snowdrops are what are in mind – and when there are no other plants competing for attention in the garden their significance is, perhaps, magnified…but not much, to be honest, for I do find them very attractive, interesting and I look forward to them very much every year. Because of this interest, there is hardly a day that I don’t walk the garden to note progress, to see old and valued favourites reappear, to watch clumps develop from the first flower opening to the whole lot being in full show, to watch especially for varieties planted only last year as the loss of even a single such bulb could be an expensive one indeed or a significant loss as it may have come as a gift from a kind friend. No doubt there are others of similar ilk out there, not obsessed as such but especially keen and interested, who watch day by day the progress of their favourite plants. Galanthophiles? Perhaps, though it has become a term of disparagement along the lines of “train-spotter”, an “anorak” in other words but, to trot out the old catchphrase, “Who cares, Habibi, they’re gorgeous!” We will enjoy what we enjoy!

So, for those who enjoy such things, here is a pictorial update on the progress of the snowdrops in the garden: These are newly into flower or present a better view of some that may have been in flower previously for even a previously seen and photographed snowdrop will catch the eye if the light catches it in a pleasant manner or if it looks a little different or better at the moment the camera is in hand:

‘Wendy’s Gold’ – 1st flower this year

‘Blewbury Tart’ – one of Alan Street’s finds

‘Rodmarton’ – growing very well

‘Don Armstrong’ – a poculiform elwesii

‘Lyn’ – a bit tossed about in the wind

‘Benton Magnet’ – a great grower here. Smaller than ‘Magnet’

‘Buttons ‘n’ Bows’ – a very small flowered elwesii

‘Galloping Horses’ – elwesii var monostictus

‘Trinity’ – first year here and promising

‘Rodmarton’ – a big double

‘Hercule’ with ‘Betty Hansell’ ‘in front left

‘Silverwells’ – a form of ‘Atkinsii’

‘Lyn’ – another ‘Atkinsii’ variant, easy and elegant

‘Mrs. Thompson’ – always variable

Drummond’s Giant’ – from the late Statia O’Neill, Carlow.

‘Magnet’ – the first of this group to flower

‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’ – struggled in last few years but going well again

‘X-Files’ – a bold marking

‘Godfrey Owen’ – the perfect 6 inner and 6 outer segments

‘Ding Dong’…Avon Calling. One of Alan Street’s introductiojs

‘G 71’ – one of the Greatorex doubles

‘Galatea’ – an outstanding performer in the garden

‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ – not always the easiest to please

‘Atkinsii’ – easy and elegant, a favourite!

‘Hans Guck In Die Luft’ – with the two little eyes looking to the sky

‘Lavinia’ – one of the Greatorex douhles

‘Ailwyn’ a small attractive double

‘Kryptonite’ – a new one this year

A posy of ‘Brocklamont Seedling’

‘Brocklamont Seedling’ – a tidy double from the garden of Margaret Glynn, Ballymena

‘Brocklamont Seedling’

‘Little John’ – good strong mark

‘Paradise Giant’ – long elegant outer segments

‘Selborne Green Tips’ – regularly with two flowers per scape

‘Hercule’ – introduced by Mark Brown

‘Betty Hansell’ – a nicely marked double

‘Double Duin’ – a Gert Geensen introduciton

‘Lapwing’ – beautifully marked, easily distinguished.

‘Lavinia’ – a Greatorex double

‘Three Ships’ – holding on in flower. Not doing well this year. I lifted and moved the clump, 50+ bulbs.

Garden seedling…possibly to be named ‘Paddy’s Prelude’ – a suggestion from Mark Brown!

And, a few clumps for I think snowdrops always look better in groups than as individuals no matter how beautiful they may be:

‘Colossus’

‘Godfrey Owen’

‘Mrs Macnamara’

‘Ailwyn’

‘Galloping Horses’

‘Galloping Horses’ – yes, repeated because it is a seedling here in the garden and I like it!

‘Anne’s Millenium Giant’

‘Florence Baker’

A mixture

‘Hans Guck In Die Luft’

‘Castlegar’

‘Lapwing’

‘Faringdon Double’ – gone over in the last few days

And, finally, what I do regularly on days when I can’t get out into the garden for a walk around; I bring a pinch into the house to open there in the warmth and to be appreciated in comfort:

Galanthus ‘Brocklamont Seedling’

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