Snowdrops and other treasures – January 2024

The third week in January had the coldest weather this winter, so far

It was a cold week in the garden with temperatures down to -8°C overnight, and only just getting into positive figures during the day. The ground didn’t thaw out and so the team has been working indoors re-potting plants in the collection.

There is still plenty to see on the rock garden even in such cold weather. During this cold snap, I liked the way the water levels had changed in the pools, freezing the lily pads under the ice.

At the end of 2023 new seating has been brought on the lower and upper terraces. When the weather is slightly warmer many visitors enjoy sitting here.

Another view I like is looking from Oak Wood towards the rock garden. In the forefront of the picture are the leaves of Gunnera manicata, this is not a plant for a small rock garden.

While cold outside, there was plenty of colour in the Alpine Display House.

I like the myths and legends around plants

Many people will know that the genus name Galanthus is derived from the Greek gala – milk and anthos – flower. I came across these two stories that you may not be so familiar with. They explain why snowdrops are associated with hope and renewal.

From Greek mythology, snowdrops are the flower associated with spring

Persephone was the Greek goddess of spring and nature, and daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. She was kidnapped by Hades and carried off to the underworld to be his wife; definitely not politically correct. Demeter neglected her duties when she went looking for Persephone, and refused to let the earth fruit until her daughter returned. The gods saw what was happening and persuaded Hades to let her go. As Persephone had eaten pomegranate seed in the underworld she had to return each autumn and spend the winter there, which corresponds to the dying down of plants and the halting of growth. Persephone returned each spring with snowdrops from the underworld, so that man would see that spring had returned. The green marks on the inner tepals represent the green shoots of re-growth, gripped by the white outer tepals, a symbol for winter and snow.

If you don’t like Greek, other versions are available

The Christian version of this myth is that after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, Eve was about to give up hope that the first cold winter would end. An Angel saw her sorrow and took pity on her. He transformed some snowflakes into snowdrop flowers, proving that the winter would end and give way to spring. The green inner petal markings are the promise for new growth from the white of winter.

I’m not sure that either story will help you grow snowdrops more successfully. However, you might at least be inspired to grow some more varieties.

At Wisley, there are lots of snowdrops in the display case

Galanthus ‘Ailwyn’

This cultivar was selected by Richard Nutt in 1994, from plants found at Anglesey Abbey and named for the owner Ailwyn Broughton, Lord Fairhaven.

Everyone needs an Aunt Agnes

Galanthus ‘Aunt Agnes’. Named by Olive Mason, to honour her aunt, who started a lifelong passion by introducing Olive to snowdrops. This is a chance seedling found in her Dial Park garden.

Galanthus ‘Hobgoblin’ – a mischievous and ugly fairy, which is an unfortunate name for such a charming plant.

Galanthus ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’. Richard Nutt named this in 1981 for Barbra Buchanan’s mother. It is a double but the picture was not able to capture that detail. It has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Galanthus ‘Lapwing’ was found in Lapworth, Warwickshire in 1997 by Phil Cornish. The markings are said to resemble the fluttering wings of a lapwing.

Galanthus ‘Trumps’. In 1999 Matt Bishop spotted this in John Morley’s garden. It is thought to be a cross between Galanthus plicatus ‘Trym’ x G. elwesii. As the flowers mature they become more flared.

Some of the other highlights in the Alpine Display House

Colchicum szovitsii. This species is found from eastern Bulgaria to north western Jordan and Iran. It grows in moist to wet grasslands, steppe and pine forest margins at 200-3250m. It is a snow melt plant. The specific epithet has been chosen to honour Johann Nepomuk Szovits (1782 – 1830) who was a Hungarian pharmacist and plant collector. He must have been very highly thought of as there are many genera that have species named after him including Allium, Paeonia, Gladiolus, Euphorbia, Gagea, Thesium and several more.

Bulbinella latifolia subsp. latifolia. It comes from the Roggeveld plateau, the coldest part of South Africa. It grows to 90cm with dense racemes of small yellow flowers.

Lachenalia quadricolor

The four-coloured opal flower is another endemic from the southwest Cape Province of SA. The genus was named in honour of Werner de Lachenel, professor of anatomy and botany at the university of Basel, Switzerland (1736 – 1800). He was widely regarded as an outstanding scholar on Swiss flora. The specific epithet is from the Latin quadricolor – four colours.

Lachenalia ‘Ronina’. Bred by the ARC – Roodeplaat Vegetable & Ornamental Plant Insitute in SA. It is compact and developed for the novel cut flower industry. I’m not sure I’d be able to steel myself to cut the flowers off to take inside. Besides, I’m not sure that the team at Wisley would let me.

Hyacinthella leucophaea subsp. atchleyi

Originally from the Balkan Peninsula, including Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Albania. A newly published paper states it has a wider distribution than previously thought. It grows in dry calcareous areas among steppe vegetation. The genus name is from the Greek hyacinthis and the Latin ella – little one, meaning little hyacinth. Hyacinthella leucophaea is also mentioned in an article by Ray Drew, which includes several other species of this dainty genus.

Hyacinthella lazulina. From the Gulnar province in South Turkiey,  growing in rocky fields over limestone.

Hyacinthoides mauritanica

Who doesn’t like a bluebell? It is found in Portugal and Morocco. Mauritania was the Latin name for Morocco, giving this plant its specific epithet.

Gymnospermium albertii

Growing on rocky hillsides in central Asia such as the Chimgan Valley in Uzbekistan.  The genus name is from the Greek meaning for naked seed. The specific epithet was chosen by Eduard August von Regel (1815 – 1892) who was the Director of the Botanic Garden of St Petersburg, for his son Johann Albert von Regel.

Ornithogalum sintenissi

This is a woodland plant found from the East Caucasus to northern Iran. The genus name comes from the Greek ornis – a bird, and gala – milk, literally “birds milk” an expression amongst the ancient Greeks for a wonderful thing. Don’t judge! There are many common expressions in use today that will give much amusement to future generations. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the a German botanist Paul Ernst Emil Sintensis (1847 – 1907).