Create drifts of pearl-white snowdrops
These pristine flowers have an enduring charm, nodding and shivering in the lightest breeze
Snowdrops offer a dazzling presence, but don’t be seduced by the expensive cultivars until you’ve mastered the easier ones! There are three species of note and reasonably good drainage is key with all of them. They spread by making more bulbs, but don’t need routine division – they seem to like growing cheek by jowl.
Galanthus elwesii is the boldest of the three with upright, wide, blunt-tipped, grey-green foliage, indicating that it prefers a brighter spot than most snowdrops. Many of mine grow under roses so they’re shaded in summer, but in full sunlight from November until April. This species is named after Henry John Elwes (1846-1922) from Colesbourne Park in Gloucestershire. A largerthan-life Victorian, he collected plants in Turkey and Greece and his snowdrop is equally strong, generally reaching H23cm (9in). The individual bulbs are far larger than most snowdrops and the flowers are boldly marked. It’s for sale in garden centres now: if the foliage is healthy and the flowers are well marked, snap them up and plant them
My snowdrops often grow under roses so they’re in sunlight November to April
out as soon as you can because snowdrops prefer to be in the ground.
Galanthus plicatus has soft green foliage with a paler midrib and the clean-white flowers usually have a seersucker texture on the outer petals. ‘Plicate’ means pleated – the foliage has small pintuck on either side of the leaf. This snowdrop is a strong grower capable of pushing up through ferns. ‘Colossus’ is very early, usually out by new year, and ‘Diggory’ is a fine form with distinctive f lowers that have a flat bottom like an oldfashioned port decanter. ‘Three Ships’ flowers at Christmas, but needs a warm spot.
Galanthus nivalis, once thought native to Britain, is more difficult to get going because its tiny bulbs tend to dry out in garden centres. It’s often later to f lower, with grass-like foliage and small flowers. There are doubleflowered forms that are always open thanks to the tutu of petals inside the flower. Bulbs are available to order in the green, which are sent out in March. Plant them in threes in light shade under the outer edges of shrubs and trees, or line a path, or naturalise them in sparse grass. ✿