New snowdrop cultivars

Brief descriptions of the newer cultivars 

ELWESII

elwesii ‘Cross Eyes’ a vigorous, narrow leaved form with fuzzy eyespots and slightly green tipped.

elwesii ‘Curse of the Were Rabbit’ every flower is different with extra petals, petaloid spathes and all sorts of weirdness going on

elwesii ‘Greenbottle’ A selected sport from G. e ‘Cross Eyes’ with a large, very dark green mark on the tip. Semi-pterugiform and varies from year to year in the strength of the tipping.

elwesii ‘Kencot Kali’ the longest- petalled, green-tipped variety ever found. Vigorous, early. Needs to settle to get to full size and markings.

elwesii ‘Kencot Pip’ Round, chunky, green-tipped outers, relatively vigorous

elwesii ‘Magnus’ very distinctive with a perfectly circular basal mark. Vigorous. Mid to late.

 

NIVALIS

nivalis ‘Angelfly’. A tiny, narrow- leaved variety from Günter Waldorf.

nivalis ‘Bagpuize Virginia’ a double from Kingston Bagpuize. Neat and slightly spiky.

nivalis ‘Charlotte Jean’. The only pure white scharlockii poculiform. Not easy.

nivalis ‘Chrome Yellow’ brilliant yellow, with hints of orange, ovary and mark.

nivalis ‘Creme Anglaise’. Distinctly cream in bud and aging to creamy-white. Poculiform. Late.

nivalis ‘Ecusson d’Or’ yellow flowers with yellow tips to the outers. Needs to settle down to show its full character. From France.

nivalis ‘Fee Clochette’ a neat pterie with truncate petals with a narrow green mark. Unstable. Needs time to settle.

nivalis ‘Flocon de Neige’ a double which always has 6 perfect outers. Very beautiful.

nivalis ‘Francesca de Grammont’ a superb, late, reliable poculiform.

nivalis ‘Gloria’ a poculiform with long-pointed inners and outers. Reselected to be pure white.

nivalis ‘Green Light’ a form with bright shining green leaves and green-tipped outer petals.

nivalis ‘Green Zebra’ a tiny virescent from Slovenia. Very slow and rare.

nivalis ‘Hidden Secret’ looks like a normal nivalis until you look inside and find the centre is doublenivalis ‘Jenny Wren’ a small, late, very neat double. Not the same as the Greatorex plant.

nivalis ‘Joshua Jansen’. With neat dark green tips. Selected by Günter Waldorf.

nivalis ‘Llo ‘n’ Green’ the earliest green-tipped selection. Green tipping is variable, season to season.

nivalis ‘Little Prince’ a very green spiky double. Very unusually of European origin, not British.

nivalis ‘Luke’ a spiky with short, green-tipped petals. Relatively vigorous.

nivalis ‘Monti Picentini’. The only yellow nivalis selection from Italy. Found by Peter Erskine.

nivalis ‘Munchkin’ a miniscule plant less than 5cm tall. Reflexed leaves. Normal flowers. Vigorous.

nivalis ‘Narwhal’ a walrus type, but with whiter flowers that continue on reliably into April.

nivalis ‘Nero’ the most amazing pterugiform nivalis with a very dark green big mark. Rare and slow. Diminutive.

nivalis ‘Norfolk Blonde’ pale leaves and pale yellow flowers with a long ovary.

nivalis ‘Quad’ a double nivalis which usually has only four outers followed by a ring of four inners and then a full centre. Three and three on immature bulbs.

nivalis ‘Shrek’ a long-petalled, elegant virescent, washed pale green. Very long petals.

nivalis ‘Springwood Park’ a superb new poculiform nivalis with huge flowers. Needs to settle in to perform at its best. Slow.

nivalis ‘Tiny Tim’ a small, late form

nivalis ‘Widder’ to begin with it looks like an unassuming scharlockii of the Ardennes type. The leafy spathe valves are straight but as the flower ages the spathe valves start to curl up producing an effect like the horns of large ram. The curling is different in each flower. Widder is ram auf Deutsch. A selection by Jan Pleuger.

nivalis ‘Woozle’ a bizarre double spiky with green tips. The flowers are dense and globular unlike the other spikys. It’s unique character is the extra petals growing from the ovary. Very vigorous.

 

PLICATUS

plicatus ‘Bowles Gemini’ A third poculiform plicate from Myddelton this one often has two flowers per stem thereby increasing the show. Mid-season, leaves intermediate between EAB and BH.

plicatus ‘Bryan Hewitt’ another superb poculiform plicate from Myddelton House. Earlier, shorter, greener leaves and very elegant flowers.

plicatus ‘E A Bowles’ a fully poculiform plicate found at Myddelton.

plicatus ‘Ellie Saunders’ A very distinctly neat and regular two-marked pterugiform. The basal mark being smaller and paler. A small but very vigorous plant. Dark leaves with broad margins.

plicatus ‘Fatty Puff’ from the same stable as ‘Diggory’ with puffed petals and a different mark

plicatus ‘Golden Fleece’ the first yellow pterugiform snowdrop, six yellow tips, very vigorous.

plicatus ‘Greengage’ a pterie from Olive Mason with distinctly greener leaves than other varieties.

plicatus ‘Hunton Herald’ Christmas flowering form found by David and Anke Way. Nice markings and ridiculously vigorous.

plicatus ‘Joe Sharman’. The only fully virescent form of subsp. byzantinus. Vigorous and easy.

plicatus, ‘Praying Mantis’ the first plicatus with a scharlockii type spathe, weird and wonderful.

plicatus ‘Richard Blakeway Phillips’ a superb byzantinus which is early and has huge flowers. Often two flowers per bulb. Stands out amongst the crowd.

plicatus ‘Seraph’ a fully poculiform byzantinus, with broad glaucous leaves

 

REGINAE-OLGAE

reginae-olgae ‘Pink Panther’ the first pink-flowered snowdrop to be made available. Reliably pale pink and flowers end September. Needs lots of leaf mold in part shade.

reginae-olgae ‘Uranium’ the first where the white petals are a soft pale yellowy-green with normal dark green marks.


reginae-olgae ‘Blanc de Chine’an albino form with the tiniest dots on occasion

reginae-olgae ‘Foursome’ always has four in and out on mature bulbs

reginae-olgae ‘Ruby Baker’ the best green-tipped RO so far

rizehensis ‘Margaret Billington’ can have 3x3, 4x4 or 5x5 flowers all in the same clump. Often two flowers per bulb. Greenish leaves.

 

HYBRIDS


‘Bertha’ 
a pterugiform with a very distinctive mark on the inner like an H or a pinafore. Small but very vigorous.

‘Bowles Boys’ A hybrid from Myddelton usually having two flowers per stem. Narrow, blue-grey leaves and fine upright stems. Long flowers with long pale yellowy-green ovaries.

‘Bridesmaid’ allegedly the first hybrid poculiform, doesn’t always behave. Diminutive.

‘Cliff Curtis’ a large vigorous hybrid, a bit like ‘Ketton’ but larger and more elegant

‘David Quinton’ a new hybrid poculiform resulting from a deliberate cross. A large, vigorous plant intermediate between the parents. G. p ‘E A Bowles’ x G. n ‘Poculiformis’ Huge flowers, grey leaves.

‘Dragonfly’ Enormous flowers on long pedicels, complex hybrid from Veronica Cross

‘Eden’ Huge flowers on a large vigorous plant, elwesii x plicatus? from Wandlebury Ring

‘Elizabeth Benfield’ a new gracilis hybrid with a very distinctive mark and very grey, upright leaves. The apical mark is divided into two large dark green spots, the basal mark is paler and more diffuse. Exceptionally vigorous

‘Golden Acre’ A slow and rare selection from Snowdrop Acre in Norfolk with narrow golden leaves and golden yellow flowers. First time offered.

‘Green Man’ the markings resemble a green face on the inner. Dwarf, vigorous.

‘Green Teeth’ Two long diffuse marks at the base of the inner. Short but vigorous. Sea-green leaves.

‘Günter Waldorf’ a superb new elwes hybrid with absolutely massive, long flowers. An intermediate mark. Previously known as ‘Phuq’

‘Joe Spotted’ strongly green tipped hybrid with a very complex green inner mark with two eye spots.

'John’s Y-Fronts’ Small, late, neat, single with a very clearly Y- shaped mark on inner. Grey leaves

‘Midge’ almost the latest to flower. Very grey short leaves. The mark shows byzantinus parentage

‘Miss Prissy’ a new elwesii hybrid, with 2 marks, 3 narrow outers and often semi-spiky.

‘Moortown Mighty’ huge flowers on a stupendously vigorous plant. From David Bromley.

‘Must Have’ an ikariae cross selected by Simon Savage. A large dark heart-shaped apical mark and suffused green below. Pale green leaves with recurved tips.

‘Nothing Special’ a very clean white and wonderfully scented and one of the best forms I have selected. Vigorous.

‘Orleton’ an incredibly vigorous hybrid, clumping ferociously. Plicatus x nivalis.

‘Quatrefoile’. Selected and named by Margaret Owen. A hybrid with 3x3 or 4x4 flowers. Very distinctive.

‘Robyn Janey’ a hybrid with two flowers per bulb, very long pedicels and very long claws. Really distinctive with two elongated eye spots.

‘Seagull’ massive, well-shaped flowers on stout stems. A good, new, vigorous cultivar.

‘Tilly’ A pterugiform hybrid of G. gracilis and G.’Trym’ which turned up with Veronica Cross and is named for the leader of the pack. In appearance is intermediate between the parents,

‘Tom Watkins’ a green-tipped hybrid, probably involving ‘Viridapice’ and a plicate, often with two flowers per bulb. Spathe normal.

‘Trym Baby’ tall, vigorous with small green tips on the slightly pterugiform outers. The result of a deliberate cross between G. p ‘Trym’ x G. n ‘Poculiformis’

‘Uncle Dick’ named by Bowles for Dick Trotter, a plicate hybrid with diffuse basal mark. Chunky.

‘Wake up Call’ a new double elwesii hybrid with nicely-shaped flowers. Early. Variable numbers of inners.

‘William Louis’ an ikariae hybrid with elwesii. It has a good apical mark and a diffuse paler basal mark. Dark green leaves. Slow.