Lord Hestletine is a galanthophile and there are more special snowdrops to see in his garden then you (well certainly I) can imagine. There are the expected drifts of nivalis....
and there are clumps of labelled snowdrops throughout the garden. It is impossible to visit at this time of the year without spending a lot of time bending down peering at snowdrops and reading the labels. Whilst the differences are sometimes rather slight, after a short while you 'get your eye in' and start to form opinions about these differences that prior to visiting you (I mean I) would not have thought possible.
This is Ding Dong, I liked Ding Dong alot. If you peer at it you can see that the ovule is a pale yellowy-green, almost avocado color.
This is Blewberry Tart, you can see it has very distinct petal formation. It is quite fancy for a snowdrop and I cannot quite decide if I like it or not, I sort of do in a I think I shouldn't way.
This tiny wee thing is an alpinus, it is teeny tiny and I think best grown in a pot, I would struggle to see it if planted into my garden.
This one is Modern Art.
I think it is rather special, it has pale green splashes on the petals. I like it a lot.
I might (did) buy one. I also left with a small list of snowdrops I want to look out for and buy. I am not spending lots of money on them, I am no where near the scale that true collectors are at. I am playing around the edges, which I suspect is a place my bank-balance will insist I remain.
