Ten of the best
I am a fully paid-up member of Snowdrops Anonymous because I have a large collection of named plants collected over the past 30 years. They are a mixed blessing because while they brighten up the winter, they are also a constant source of anxiety! Some have a death wish and will die out again and again in a short time. Others are slow-growing and can take up to 10 years for a single bulb to triple in size due to lack of vigor. Many look very similar, so a lost label is a disaster. Fortunately, there are unique snowdrops that come back year after year and make good clusters in many gardens and conditions. The RHS Bulb Expert Panel has awarded AGMs or Garden Merit Awards to about a dozen or so of the best. If they grow well, lots of bulbs will come up for sale, which will drive down the price, so the cheaper snowdrops
How to care for these beautiful flowers and the varieties that deserve a place in your garden are often the best
1. G. elwesii ‘Godfrey Owen’ AGM
This six-petalled single produces flowers that openblike Tiffany lamps.
2. G. elwesii ‘Mrs Macnamara’ AGM
Guaranteed to flower by Christmas, this single-flowered snowdrop is upright and bold.
3. ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ AGM
A double snowdrop with a dainty green necklace of markings around the neat inners
4. G. plicatus ‘E.A. Bowles’ AGM
A late snowdrop with tall flowers that have six outer petals and no inners. Just like a lightbulb.
5. ‘Ophelia’
Snowdrops with Shakespearean or classical names are Greatorex doubles – that is, varieties developed in the middle of the 20th century by breeder Heyrick Greatorex. These G. plicatus and G. nivalis hybrids are tall with neat tutus marked in dark green
6. ‘Trumps’ AGM
Pixie-hat shaped flowers marked in green, and thisis the most vigorous of its type. Makes big clumps
7. G. plicatus ‘Diggory’ AGM
Huge, flat-bottomed flowers shaped like decanters, with noticeably puckered petals. ‘Augustus’ and ‘Amy Doncaster’ are also worth growing
8. ‘Spindlestone Surprise’ AGM
Yellow-marked snowdrops gleam in brighter positions and this one, which is thought to be the same as ‘Primrose Warburg’, was collected in Northumberland.
9. ‘Green Tear’
This is the best green snowdrop of all, with green inners and outers. It’s pricier than the others.
10. ‘Walrus’
Spiky snowdrops with lots of narrow petals can be tricky to grow, but this one isn’t.ave to be.
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