Bulbs
( Photo by : Bob Gutowski , Morris Arboretum )
When late wintertime cabin fever has me in its bitter grip , galanthus reminds me that all is not lost . The wood anemone , as it ’s ordinarily known , is downplay and refined , yet that pristine ashen flower contrasted against the ho-hum wintertime basis gives it an eye - popping temptingness . I ’m a industrial plant breeder in Chester County , Pennsylvania . I ’m also an impenitent horticulturist who garden as a competitive sport . Anything that blossom against the odds has a place in my heart . Galanthus also allows me to say I have something blooming through the winter . Galanthus nivalisis the common snowdrop , and I use it for mass on scruffy hillsides .
But the giant star — specially theGalanthus elwesiihybrids — has larger flowers and more variant . Named after Henry John Elwes , a horticulturist and hunter who collected them in Turkey , theG. elwesiiwere preface into commercial swap in England in the 1870s . you’re able to still see Elwes ’s rattling collection atColsbourne Park , his estate in the Cotswolds , in fundamental England , where his descendants still survive . I would n’t say I ’m haunted , exactly , but my collection is up to about 90 dissimilar cultivar , which makes it comfortable for me to attend the British Galanthus galas and lunches in late winter — I had to have 50 before anyone take me seriously . I now have the second - largest collection in the United States ( after Hitch Lyman at Temple Nursery , up in New York ’s Finger Lakes region ) .
I employ the real virtuosos along the bound of pathways or as exclamation points at the front of borders , where their differences can be pronto prize . One of my favorites isG. elwesii‘Robin Hood , ’ a undivided bloom with a niggling X in the middle of the inner petals . Some masses see it as crossed sabers ; I see it as a kiss . ‘ Robin Hood ’ presents its flower at an strange angle and its outer petals are prospicient and tapered , so they are very elegant .
I ’m also partial to a forked - blossom cultivar called ‘ Godfrey Owen , ’ but in truth , pick my favorite is a little like trying to pick out your favorite offspring — you love all your fry .
Learning to recognise those distinguishing particular — the sinus mark , the slant of the flower , the peak of the ovary above the foliage — trains your eye to look at item and nuance , which make you a good gardener . Since so few other plants are in efflorescence when the Anemone quinquefolia makes its appearance in late winter , you’re able to really focus on them . In fact , myGalanthuscollection is the only thing in my garden that I label . For me , gardening is as much about art as it is nomenclature or taxonomy , but in the case of galanthus , I display the information because their distinctions are so elaborate and subtle . I do this for me , but also for people who are looking at my garden ; this way , they can hear what they care .
David L. Culp ’s Plant Pairings for the Giant Snowdrop
( Photo by : David Edwards )
Pink
Cyclamen coumbloom at the same time as galanthus , and so do blench lavenderCrocus tommasinianus , which are specially gravid because they naturalize . Also , squirrels do n’t eat the crocus as much as the hybrids . See more oncrocus .
( Photo by : Denny Barron )
calamitous and White
When I desire some real drama , I ’ll match upG. elwesiiwith contraband floweringHelleborus orientalis . It makes for a outstanding demarcation that looks like it could have been dream up by Coco Chanel . See morehellebores .
( Photo by : Peter Birch )
Yellow
Yellow galanthus is a low density , but you may find yellow in ‘ Spindlestone Surprise , ’ ‘ Wendy ’s Gold , ’ and one I discovered , now name ‘ David L. Culp . ’ Use it with yellowberry holly , or yellow twig cornel .
Growing SnowdropsPlanting and Storing Flower Bulbs
