As garden designers, we often include bulbs in our planting designs. Bulbs are a great and cost effective way to bring colour and interest into the border, lawns, on banks and beneath hedges.

Galanthus – Snowdrop –is the bulb that once flowers, brings a sense of optimism as it heralds the beginning of the year of our gardens.

Snowdrop Facts

Galanthus comes from the Greek gála meaning ‘milk’ and ánthos meaning ‘flower’.

There are 20 species of Galanthus, with G. nivalis (nivalis meaning ‘of the snow’) the one that is the one native to Europe and the one we see in woods and along banks and roassides. The snowdrop actually isn’t native to the UK, but has successfully naturalized across the British Isles.

Of these 20 species, are an unknown number of varieties and cultivars. I’ve seen numbers quoted in the range of 2000, and have the same whispered in my ear. Our amazing resource Wikipedia has a lot of really interesting information on Snowdrops for you read.

Prices range from a few pounds for a few bulbs if you are lucky – to a tens of pounds for a bulb. It is not uncommon to pay £25 for one bulb, and many are classed as ‘good value’ for £50. These are special plants! The most spent on one bulb was back in 2012 when an astonishing £725.10 passed hands for this unique specimen. To read more about this click here.

 

Visiting Marchants Hardy Plants

Marchant’s Hardy Plants sells 40 different varieties that Graham has lovingly refined from trial and error over the last 35 yrs. The ground here is heavy clay, and you can be confident that his stock should do well if your conditions are hard like his. Do bear in mind though that all plants are living things and do die. Some are more sensitive than others and may struggle quite without reason, and some just have outright strops and will flounce off, never be seen again

I went out to Marchant’s to poke about Grahams stock, and to find out more. On arrival I followed the signs, and was quite surprised to find myself directed into a woodstove heated, low lit shed. It felt like I had opened a door into an old room – like a library – dusty, cool, full of history and secrets, and I knew I was going to leave having learnt a lot.

Inside was Graham, chatting quietly in his usual knowledable manor to a group of three. In the far side of the shed were a couple of other visitors. It took me a moment to adjust to the low light and then, when they had, I saw hundreds of little pure white delicate nodding flowers! Row upon row, each labeled with Graham’s usual informative nuggets. I mean, let’s face it, snowdrop petals really are the whitest of white. And showcased like this really enhanced the fact. It was quite stunning.

While I bent down and studied these little flowers, tipping them up to see what was going on beneath, my ears tuned into the conversation going on behind me. It was like listening to a foreign language! I had no clue what they were conversing about.

This was my first official experience of the world of Galanthophiles.

I took this as an opportunity and starting chatting to the visitors, all of whom turned out to be collectors. One has a garden in Kent and have a documented 494 different varieties and cultivars – well, before they turned up at Marchant’s Hardy Plants that is! They just buy to replace lost stock, or because it’s one that is not part of the collection.

At this point, I felt a little stir, you know, that feeling of knowing you were about to embark on a new journey…

…I just had to buy myself a snowdrop.

I was recommended a couple of larger, bolder, reliable varieties. But as a child I used to pick the naturalized G. nivalis, which is a smaller more delicate plant. So I settled on mid sized. I had heard the collectors both state that S. Arnott is just a superb variety – even though it is quite common, and it is indeed a well known variety. I was happy for that as my first choice. I then chose two other slightly more pricy ones – 1) because they were both beautiful, and 2) because they were distinctly different from one another. As a starter, you need distinct – not subtle! Subtle is for the experienced!

So my Galanthus collection launches with a Galanthus ‘Ketton’, a Galanthus ‘Ivy Cottage Green Tip’ and the Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’.

I did loose my heart to the more expensive Galanthus plicatus ‘Augustus Seedling’. Quite rightly Graham steered me away, reminding me not to run before I can walk!

I had no idea I was going to end up on this journey when I left my house that morning. I love it when life takes you down a side street you’ve never ventured down before!

Designing With Snowdrops

When we design gardens and create planting plans for our clients, we consider a few things when selecting bulbs. First is obviously a good number to create impact, large drifts of snowdrops are just stunning. To achieve this we can select strong reliable varieties like S. Arnott that don’t come with a price tag that would bring heart palpitations to our clients.

Second is placement. If you have a border that you get a glimpse of from a window, or when you sit at a table – wash up etc., your eyes often rest on it, then a larger variety will do just nicely here. Larger petals will stand out more – you wont have to go outside and seek them out. Pleasure is brought to you on these cold frosty mornings.

Thirdly, yes, have drifts, and yes have larger varieties, but why not spend a little more money on some really special ones. Place these where you wont always see them. Plant them by your secret bench where you have to and sit in order to see them. Plant some beneath a winter interest shrub that isn’t situated close to the house so you have to venture out in order to enjoy its unique beauty. Tuck them somewhere out of site so you chance across them. Surprise adds value! Rarity adds value, and so does infrequency.

If you love snowdrops, then tell us when we discuss your planting with you when we are designing your garden. We can plant swathes of popular varieties, or introduce some exciting rarer specimens as a little treat. We are happy to help you create a beautiful and interesting garden wherever you are, using all sorts of exciting and interesting plants such as Galanthus, be you in Sussex, Surrey, Kent or South London.