#SixOnSaturday - Recreating the Galanthophile Experience at home

 At the time of year, I would normally be joining friends to visit snowdrop gardens in the local area. It's a great thing to do, I love marveling at the different types of flowers, and am amazed by the fact there are so many labelled varieties. I think they probably put the labels away each year and bring them out again each January, but how do they know one snowdrop from another?   Over the years I have bought snowdrops from these visit, and looking back at my plant buying records, I have bought 14 different varieties of snowdrops over the past 6 years from Colesbourne Park, Cotswold Farm, South Cerney Gardens and Welford Park. All of those are top places to visit snowdrops, however this year due to Covid, Colesbourne Park is open for pre booked visits from people living locally, Cotswold Farm and Welford Park are both closed, and South Cerney Gardens appears to be open, but presumably only for people living nearby. 

I thought therefore that I'd make a note of the varieties of snowdrops I have bought, look up their special characteristics and see if I could identify them in the garden!! Easier said than done, and if there are any experts out there, please let me know how I've done. I looked up the list of snowdrops on Avon Bulbs website and will buy more from them this year. Apologies if I've got some wrong!!

This first one above is in the front garden and has been flowering for about 3 weeks and is 30cm tall. That might mean it's G. elwesii named after John Elwes from Colesbourne Park, bought from  Painswick Rococo Garden.

This one above looks like G. James Backhouse because of its long droopy outer petals. I bought that on 15 February 2015 from Colesbourne Park.

This is an much easier one, it has thick strappy leaves and rounded type flowers and so I think it's G. Augustus apparently a plicatus type.

This one above is G. Hill Poe I think because it has 6 outer petals and is fully double

This one above is very easy to identify because it has green markings on the outer petals, it's called G. nivalis viridapice.

I'm not really sure what this is, it's a very vigorous one given to me by my son in law's father. I think it might be G.S Arnott. 

So that's my six vaguely identified snowdrops, and not as much fun as visiting a snowdrop garden, but it was fun trying to identify them. Of course proper labeling would help, but labels wash off, get lost and generally don't survive in my garden.

I do like a mass of snowdrops and am pleased with this view of clumps of common snowdrops:

OK that's my six and partly makes up for the lack of visits anywhere to look at snowdrops, in a week where I got my first vaccination, I feel there's hope and a light at the end of the Covid tunnel.

Do consider joining in with this uplifting #SOS and find out more by visiting The Propagator's blog.