A very welcome white-out

It's a good time for galanthophiles – snowdrop growers to you and me – and for us, as we enjoy their crop, writes FIONNUALA FALLON

HAVING HAD the pleasure of being introduced to Lady Beatrix Stanley last week, I can tell you she still looks quite exquisitely beautiful, despite her not inconsiderable age. Just next to her I met the venerable Neill Fraser (disappointingly ho-hum-ish), Bertram Anderson (rather rounded), and Big Boy, whom appeared to have quite a bit of growing to do before he earned such a weighty moniker. Also present was Helen Tomlinson (large but shapely), Penelope Ann (on the small side) and Diggory (rather fat-bottomed). I was, sadly, too early for Green Lantern, and saw no sign of Santa Claus, Lady Elphinstone or Mr Blobby, while somehow or other Reverend Hailstone got lost in the throng . . . I am, by the way (and as dedicated galanthophiles will already know) referring to just some of the many different snowdrop cultivars that are presently flowering in the main gardens attached to Altamont House in Co Carlow, as well as in Robert Miller’s wonderful treasure trove of a nursery (Altamont Plant Sales) in the adjacent walled garden.

This very lovely Carlow garden’s long association with snowdrops goes back several decades to when its late owner, Corona North, first began her very own Galanthus collection by scouring old, neglected and abandoned gardens for half-forgotten cultivars and interesting hybrids. By the time of her untimely death in 1999, the Altamont snowdrop collection had grown to include roughly 80 different snowdrops, including many of Irish origin. Since then, under the careful guardianship of OPW head gardener Paul Cutler, that number has increased to more than 140, while Miller’s own separate snowdrop collection in the walled garden is also growing apace.

“I was never that interested in snowdrops in the early years of establishing the nursery,” admits Miller. “And then after I bought my very first snowdrop – the variety ‘Atkinsii’ from Robin Hall of Primrose Gardens in Lucan – I suppose that I kind of got hooked . . .” So hooked, in fact, that last autumn this nurseryman spent a small fortune on acquiring some of the very rarest Galanthus cultivars from specialist bulb nursery Avon Bulbs. Not only that, his dedication to the Galanthus genus is now such that, along with Hester Forde of Coosheen Gardens, Miller is also one of the organisers of Ireland’s very first snowdrop gala, an event that takes place next weekend in nearby Sandbrook House.

As to what qualifies a gardener for the title of full-blown galanthophile, Miller’s answer is very simple: “I think it’s anyone who grows more than one type of snowdrop and who can easily tell the difference between them. The thing to remember is that it’s all in the detail – things like the size, the colour and the shape of the leaves, the markings on the inner petals , the colour of the ovary or the shape and length of the pedicel as well as the shape of the flower, its overall height and flowering period. For example, G ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ is known for its double flowers, while G ‘Wendy’s Gold’ has a distinctive golden ovary and yellow markings on the inner segments. G ‘Magnet’, on the other hand, is single-flowering with this beautifully curving, elongated pedicel, while G ‘Lapwing’ is another lovely cultivar with glaucous-blue leaves and x-shaped markings.”

For gardeners who are tempted to begin their very own snowdrop collection, Miller and Cutler have some excellent words of advice. “Snowdrops are woodlanders that like light shade and a well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline soil – I always add plenty of homemade leaf mould and coarse grit to help with drainage, as they really hate any kind of wet ground. Ideally, lift, divide and plant them in late spring, when the leaves are beginning to yellow, although at a push you can also transplant them ‘in the green’ after they’ve finished flowering. If you’re serious about building up a collection, then it’s also really important to label each cultivar from day one – I recommend drawing a map of the garden to remind yourself of where they are. That way they can’t disappear,” says Miller.

As for what particular snowdrops to look out for, try starting with some of the highly regarded Irish cultivars. The Waterford-based galanthophile Paddy Tobin, who has researched and written on the subject and history of Irish snowdrops in some depth and who has built up much of his own galanthus collection through swaps or as gifts from fellow gardeners, suggests any of the following, all of which are available from specialist nurseries: G ‘Cicely Hall’, G ‘Castlegar’, G ‘Kildare’ G elwesii ‘David Shackleton’, G ‘Straffan’, G Hill Poë, G ‘The Whopper’ and G ‘Woodtown’.

Finally, a word of warning; don’t call yourself a “snowdropper”. According to John Grimshaw, one of the authors of the definitive guide Snowdrops, this term is “used by police to refer to the theft of underwear from washing lines by fetishists”. Not the impression any aspiring galanthophile would want to give . . .

Snowdrop dates

Sandbrook House in Co Carlow will host Ireland’s first snowdrop gala next Saturday (€60), an event that includes lectures, lunch, specialist plant sales and a tour of nearby Altamont Gardens’ snowdrop collection given by its head gardener, Paul Cutler. Contact Robert Miller, tel: 087-9822135. See snowdrops at Altamont Snowdrop Week (February 20th-26th); Primrose Hill, Lucan, Co Dublin (all of February, from 2pm till dusk) Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Co Wicklow and Coosheen Gardens, Glounthane, Co Cork (by appointment)

This week in the garden

Plant bare-root trees and shrubs.

Give your glasshouse/polytunnel a good clean-out.

Winter-prune apple and pear trees.

Order seed.

Order early varieties of seed potatoes and begin chitting them indoors to encourage a particularly early crop.

Sow (in gentle heat indoors) seed of onions, early leeks, some brassicas.

Net brassica crops against pigeon damage and also net fruit bushes and fruit trees against bullfinch damage.