CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS

The Garden Tourist’s Mid-Atlantic

Posted in garden to visit, Garden Tour, landscape design with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, Jana Milbocker, The Garden Tourist, The Garden Tourist's Mid-Atlantic on April 30, 2024 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

The cover of The Garden Tourist’s Mid-Atlantic by Jana Milbocker features the Historic Rose Garden at Hershey Gardens in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a garden I have always wanted to visit.

Our 2024 Hosta Catalogue is posted on our website, to read it click here. We are currently taking orders.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops, hellebores, and/or hostas. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has been selected as one of the 90 must-visit destination gardens and nurseries in the Mid-Atlantic United States in the wonderful new guidebook The Garden Tourist’s Mid-Atlantic by Jana Milbocker. This book is a more in depth guide to gardens in our area than Jana’s original 2017 book, The Garden Tourist, which covered 120 gardens from Maine to Pennsylvania. To read my review of the original book and see many beautiful photos of Carolyn’s Shade Gardens through the seasons, click here.

.The page introducing the New York section of the book shows the names and locations of 25 gardens on the right and suggested daily itineraries, each with a stop for lunch, on the left.

This book is a great resource for those of us who love to visit gardens as it covers each garden in depth and includes contact information, photos, hours, admission prices, amenities, suggested daily itineraries, and recommended restaurants for lunch. The Mid-Atlantic guide also greatly expands the number of gardens in each state, for example, the original book covered 12 Pennsylvania gardens and this book describes 36.

You can purchase The Garden Tourist’s Mid-Atlantic on the author’s website here (shipping is free), at Main Point Books and Valley Forge Flowers in Wayne, Pennsylvania, or Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, if you are local, or on Amazon here.

.Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware, is a garden I visit every year.

I have visited, photographed, and written about many of the destinations included in the book, so, from personal experience, I can say that they are well-chosen. All my favorite Pennsylvania gardens are included: Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Bartram’s Garden, Laurel Hill East and West, Morris Arboretum, Stoneleigh, Chanticleer, Jenkins Arboretum, Scott Arboretum, Tyler Arboretum, and Longwood Gardens. And I have already added several of the profiled gardens to my must visit list, including Andalusia, Wyck, and Hershey Gardens, based on the descriptions in the guide.

The Carolyn’s Shade Gardens page from The Garden Tourist’s Mid-Atlantic.

We are so honored to be included in this wonderful garden resource. Many of our customers purchased the original guide and really enjoyed using it. One longtime customer even brought his copy over so I could autograph the Carolyn’s Shade Gardens page! Autographs are free with hosta orders 😊. Enjoy!

Carolyn.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

Snowdrops: Live Radio Interview

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, Eranthis 'Richard Bish', galanthophile, Galanthus 'Peter Gatehouse', galanthus spindlestone surprise, Leucojum 'Null Punkte', snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US on March 20, 2024 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

This beautiful yellow snowdrop, ‘Spindlestone Surpise’, will be available in the 2025 Snowdrop Catalogue—no advance orders please.

For our current Snowdrop Catalogue, click here. If you want to be notified about the next snowdrop catalogue, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com, and specify snowdrops.

The final snowdrop shipment of the 2024 season was sent out on Saturday. Now we turn to preparing all the wonderful snowdrop cultivars that will appear in the 2025 catalogue, including ‘Spindlestone Surprise’ above.

The very rare snowflake, Leucojum ‘Null Punkte’ will also be offered next year.

I have found that for the health of the plants, all dividing and transplanting must occur before April 1. Plants dug up after that date do not fare well. The weather in the midAtlantic is perfect right now with very cool nights and highs in the mid-40s.

I finally have enough of the double winter aconite, Eranthis ‘Richard Bish’, which I grew from seed, to include it in 2025.

On February 21, I did a live radio interview on snowdrops for a regional radio show called “Into the Garden”. You can listen to the interview here, which provides useful information on snowdrops and even covers hellebores and Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.

The lovely fall-blooming snowdrop, ‘Peter Gatehouse’, will also be available next year.

Thanks to all of you who ordered snowdrops this year, we had the most successful snowdrop sales in the history of our business. As always, your support of our small, family-owned and -operated business is very much appreciated.

Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments. Scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Comment” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

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My Favorite Snowdrops

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags Alan Street, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, galanthophile, Galanthus 'Fly Fishing', Galanthus 'Lady Beatrix Stanley', Galanthus 'Madelaine', Galanthus 'Potter's Prelude', Galanthus 'Xmas', Galanthus Diggory, Galanthus Godfrey Owen, galanthus trumps, Galanthus Viridapice, John Morley, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US on January 2, 2024 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘Trumps’: has it all—vigorous, unique, beautiful; selected at the nursery of the wonderful John Morley, more here.

Our current snowdrop catalogue, featuring several of the snowdrops in this post, is on line here, and we are taking orders.

I have considered writing this post many times, but always felt that picking my favorite snowdrop is like choosing your favorite child. I always tell my three sons that I don’t have a favorite—I love them all equally but for different reasons. However among my snowdrops, I do have favorites, and I know the reasons, which I will share with you along with photos of some of my most-liked Galanthus.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

‘Diggory’: totally unique flower; beautiful pleated leaves with a stripe; multiplies well.

I have a modest collection of snowdrops by English standards and even compared to many of the larger American collections. This is intentional—although I have an extensive wish list in my head, I want to build my collection slowly and knowledgeably. This allows time to care for the existing collection, including dividing, fertilizing, mulching, relocating, disease prevention, record keeping, and labeling, etc. My current project is to have each snowdrop in two locations in my garden: an heir and a spare so-to-speak.

. ‘Viridapice’: tall and elegant with beautiful green markings; vigorous and easy.

When Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Bishop, Davis, and Grimshaw was reprinted in 2006, it covered around 500 named snowdrop cultivars. It was possible, if you could locate them, to have all these snowdrops in your garden. When the second edition of A Gardener’s Guide to Snowdrops by Freda Cox was published in 2019, it described 2,400 named cultivars. Freda Cox’s companion volume More Snowdrops, issued in May 2023, profiles over 700 additional cultivars. It is not possible, nor do I think it is advisable, to collect all the existing snowdrops. A collector must be discriminating. To help you with your choices, I have come up with six reasons why I prize a snowdrop over many other contenders.

‘Godfrey Owen’: absolutely unique and beautiful from above and below; vigorous and early-blooming; selected by famous galanthophile Margaret Owen and named for her husband.

First, the flower must be beautiful and/or interesting. Among other characteristics I consider is the flower shape and size. I am partial to large, rounded flowers with spoon shaped outer segments. Although I generally prefer single flowers, in peonies for example, I also like double snowdrops—although many galanthophiles look down on them—because they bloom longer and, for me, are more often purely beautiful. The texture of the outer segments varies, and I am drawn to thick texture, which means the flower lasts longer, and I favor a pleated look. The color and placement of the marks is very important. I am partial to yellow snowdrops, dark emerald green marks, two-tone inner marks, and marks on the outer segments, especially virescent (green-shaded) outers.

.‘Madelaine’: the best and most vigorous yellow in my garden—there are many yellows but a lot do not multiply well; selected by the famous Joe Sharman at Monksilver Nursery.

Second, every snowdrop on my favorites list must be easy to grow and must multiply vigorously in my garden wherever I decide to place it. I do not treasure a snowdrop that doesn’t grow well for me no matter how much it thrives in other people’s gardens. And there will be no coddling of a picky snowdrop no matter how beautiful or rare. I will, however, move a snowdrop to a new location if it is doing OK but not thriving, if I have time….

.‘Fly Fishing’: the name chosen by my sadly missed friend Alan Street is perfect; would recognize it anywhere; very vigorous.

Third, I must be able to recognize a favorite snowdrop without looking at the label, not only in my garden but in larger collections. This is a tall order in a field of over 3,100 named cultivars, many of which have very little to set them apart. However, through a combination of flower shape and markings, leaves, habit, and bloom time, all my favorites stand out.

.‘Xmas’: large, elegant, upright flowers with gracefully curved spathes and wide blue leaves; early bloomer; selected at the US Botanic Garden and named by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.

Fourth, the habit and individual parts of a snowdrop can add greatly to its desirability. I am partial to tall and upright snowdrops with large flowers held well above the leaves. My favorite leaves are wide and generally blue, which is characteristic of Galanthus elwesii, but I also love the elegantly pleated foliage of Galanthus plicatus, especially if there is a pronounced white stripe. Ovaries (the little cap above the flower) with pleasing and compatible shapes, spathes (the bud covering) that arch elegantly over the flower, and pedicels (the flower stem) that hold the flower just so can add to a snowdrop’s allure.

‘Potter’s Prelude’: large and elegant flowers; best November-blooming snowdrop in my garden; named by my dear friend Charles Cresson.

Fifth, I lean toward snowdrops that bloom early, especially in November and December. As I describe more fully in my post December Blooming Snowdrops, click here to read, this is the time of year when I can most appreciate flowers of all kinds and not many snowdrops bloom then so the ones that do stand out. I would consider this a purely personal consideration, but it is a preference shared by the majority of my customers so I have to think it is widespread.

‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’: beautiful; no other double has the two elegant dots on the inner segments; multiplies rapidly; grown by Lady Beatrix Stanley (1877-1944) at Sibbertoft Manor.

Finally, I love snowdrops with history behind them: who selected them, where, why? Unlike most other plants, we can often answer these questions about snowdrops and our relation to the plant is the richer for this added dimension. That is why I always provide snowdrop history in my catalogue and in blog post profiles of new snowdrops.

The snowdrops pictured above were chosen from the favorites in my collection because they illustrate the points I am making and meet most if not all of my criteria. However, I grow many more snowdrops that qualify as favorites and could have been included here. And I grow others that don’t make the grade, usually due to their slow growth, but which I still treasure.

Blogs are a lot more fun for everyone, especially the writer, when readers leave comments. Scroll down to the end of the page to the box where it says “Leave a Reply” and start typing—-it’s easy!

Carolyn

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December Blooming Snowdrops

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags Alan Street, Anne Repnow, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, galanthophile, Galanthus 'Potter's Prelude', Galanthus 'Standing Tall', Galanthus 'Xmas', Galanthus Three Ships, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US, Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble on December 20, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Galanthus bursanus, the newest snowdrop species, blooms earliest in my collection

Our current snowdrop catalogue, featuring several of the snowdrops in this post, is on line here, and we are taking orders.

I really appreciate the appearance of the earliest blooming snowdrops in my garden: Galanthus bursanus and Galanthus reginae-olgae and their cultivars, at the beginning of October. They remind me that the much treasured snowdrop season is starting and will continue through March. However, there are so many other plants performing then with flowers, berries, fall color, and seeds, not to mention all the work we need to do to get our garden ready for winter that I only notice the October snowdrops in passing. Likewise, although I love all my snowdrops that begin flowering in January, which is the early main season for snowdrops, there are so many of them.

It is the snowdrops that reach their peak in December that I most treasure. I realized that I have never done a post featuring those snowdrops so here I will talk about my four favorites plus a peak at a potential newcomer.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

‘Potter’s Prelude’ is an elegant snowdrop with a bold mark.

‘Potter’s Prelude’, a cultivar of Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus, is a rare American snowdrop selected in the 1960s by Jack Potter, the former Curator of the Scott Arboretum in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. It was registered in 2004 by noted regional horticulturist Charles Cresson and introduced in 2010 by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens.

This clump of ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is ready for dividing.

‘Potter’s Prelude’ is a free-flowering and vigorous snowdrop with wide, recurving, very blue leaves. Its flowers are large and elegantly formed with a bold dark green mark. They begin blooming in mid-November and continue into January with December being their peak. Be aware that some snowdrops sold under this name are inferior seedlings. International snowdrop expert Alan Street told me that the flowers shown in the top photo, which he much admired, are far superior to the form circulating in England. ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is featured 0n page 77 of Anne Repnow’s book Some Snowdrops, an excellent reference guide.

‘Standing Tall’

‘Standing Tall’ is an American Galanthus elwesii cultivar selected and named by Charles Cresson. It was introduced for sale for the first time by Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in 2013. Although it can reach 12″ tall, it was primarily named for its very upright habit and unmistakable, commanding presence in the garden. Its name also reflects its ability to flop down when its cold like all snowdrops do and stand back up perfectly straight as if nothing has happened. My unofficial observations also indicate that it remains upright at much lower temperatures than other snowdrops.

‘Standing Tall’ in the Cresson garden.

‘Standing Tall is at its peak right now, although my main patch was divided last year and does not look as full as most years. However, like all the snowdrops featured in this post, it is very vigorous and will quickly fill back in and look like Charles Cresson’s patch above. It starts blooming between the the last week of November and the first week of December and continues through January. It is featured on Page 83 of Anne Repnow’s excellent book Some Snowdrops.

.. ‘Three Ships’ has the very full outer segments sometimes associated with G. plicatus.

‘Three Ships’ is a cultivar of Galanthus plicatus selected in England by the famous John Morley of North Green Snowdrops in Suffolk in 1984. He named it for the Christmas carol “I Saw Three Ships”.

‘Three Ships’ multiplies well in my garden.

‘Three Ships’ is quite striking in the garden and cannot be confused with any other snowdrop. It has an ethereal glow that is whiter than white and large, bowl-like and deeply puckered outer segments with a wide and attractive green mark on the inner segments. It blooms reliably about a week after ‘Standing Tall’ in mid-December, although I find that this is location specific. One of my three patches bloomed on November 26 this year, while the other two followed the regular pattern.

‘Xmas’ has large and elegant flowers with gracefully curved spathes.

‘Xmas’ was selected many years ago by a gardener at the US National Botanic Garden from a patch of normal Galanthus elwesii growing in the parking lot and passed through many hands to me. Carolyn’s Shade Gardens first introduced it for sale as ‘Xmas’ in 2016.

‘Xmas’ is at least twice the height of ‘Three Ships’, which blooms at the same time. It is shown here with the flowers of fall-blooming camellia ‘Winter’s Joy’.

‘Xmas’ has very large and beautiful flowers with long, bowl-shaped outer segments and a distinct X mark on the inner segments. In the Delaware Valley, it usually comes into flower in mid-December at the same time as ‘Three Ships’ and is fully out around the holidays when there is often a lull in snowdrop activity. It also goes on blooming for about a month after ‘Three Ships’ as its flowers are particularly durable and long lasting. When my dear friend Alan Street saw this photo he was impressed with the height and fullness of the flowers. Unfortunately, he never saw ‘Xmas’ in person as it makes quite an impression when you see it in the garden.

. A new December-blooming Galanthus elwesii under consideration.

I have been observing this snowdrop, which appeared in my oldest patch of straight species Galanthus elwesii. It blooms in late November/early December and has lovely, full flowers with a solid green inner mark from apex to base. It will take more years of observation and building up stock before I decide if it merits a name. Meanwhile, I would be grateful if any reader would let me know if they have seen a similar snowdrop blooming in early December.

The inner segments are entirely green.

The snowdrops profiled here are some of my favorites. I have lined my front walk with large clumps so I can enjoy them every day this time of year, and all four appear in more than the two standard locations in my garden (one for display and one for back up). In fact, ‘Xmas’ is in six locations, ‘Potter’s Prelude’ is in five, while the others are in three.

Carolyn

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New Snowdrops for 2024: Part Three

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags Alan Street, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, galanthophile, Galanthus 'Big Eyes', Galanthus 'John Gray', Galanthus 'Marjorie Brown', Galanthus 'Trumpolute', Galanthus Fenstead End, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US on December 3, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

It was this view of a sweeping stand of ‘Marjorie Brown’ at Glen Chantry Nursery in England that made it a must for my collection (photo taken at Glen Chantry 2/2023).

Our current snowdrop catalogue is on line here.

Seeing the emerging green tips appearing in almost every snowdrop location in our garden never gets old. The anticipation and promise that those tips represent propel me happily through fall garden chores. In addition, ‘Three Ships’ celebrated the emerging season by “sailing in” almost three weeks early on November 26.

This is part three of a three-part post on the new snowdrops that will be offered in our 2024 Snowdrop Catalogue. To read part one, click here, and part two, click here. As usual, the catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December. Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at five more special, new snowdrops that will be available for order in December. Enjoy!

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Marjorie Brown’ has large, well-rounded flowers and very blue leaves (photo taken at Winterthur 3/2019).

‘Marjorie Brown’ is a G. elwesii cultivar with clear white, large, round, well-proportioned flowers. It is late-blooming and vigorous, forming large bulbs. Its leaves are wide with a very distinct bluish tinge compared to other giant snowdrops, G. elwesii. According to Snowdrops, which calls it “highly garden-worthy” (Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis, and John Grimshaw Timber Press 2006, page 176), Ruby Baker found it in a flower arrangement entered in a March 1987 flower show. The exhibitor, Marjorie Brown, told Ruby that the flowers were from bulbs purchased in 1958 from Van Tubergen.

‘Fenstead End’ in a snowstorm at North Green Snowdrops (taken 2/2017)

I first saw ‘Fenstead End’ when I visited John Morely at North Green Snowdrops during a snowstorm in February 2017. I admired its long, tapering outer segments and bright green coloring, but the flowers weren’t open (to read about that visit, click here).

. ‘Fenstead End’ puts a smile on my face every time I see it (photo taken at the RHS Show 2/2017)

Later that month, at the RHS Show in London, I saw it with its outer segments raised up to reveal the lovely, white-edged bright green skirt underneath (see the flower in the upper left of the photo for the full effect). I had to have it for my collection! It was discovered by Charles Grey-Wilson in Fenstead End, Suffolk, in 1987.

‘Trumpolute’ is rarely offered for sale (photo taken at Anglesey Abbey 2/2023).

‘Trumpolute’ has large, boldly marked and gracefully recurved outer segments. The bright green outer markings are repeated on the inner segments. It has the classic pagoda shape of an inverse poculiform snowdrop (all the segments are inners) and resulted from a cross between G. plicatus ‘Trym’ and G. elwesii. It was found at North Green Snowdrops in 2001 by John Morley who gave it its name because the flowers look like ‘Trumps’ and the leaves are convolute (wrapped around each other, also called supervolute).

‘Big Eyes’ peer out from between the outer segments (photo from Chris Ireland-Jones).

‘Big Eyes’ has beautifully rounded, balloon-like flowers, reminding me of one of my favorites, ‘Melanie Broughton’. Because the outers are spoon-shaped with long claws (claws attach the outer segments to the ovary), you can see the two large eyes looking out with the down-turned mouth below.

‘Big Eyes’ (photo from Chris Ireland-Jones)

When my dear friend Alan Street saw it for the first time he proclaimed “what big eyes you have!” just like Little Red Riding Hood and so it was named. It is a hybrid between the common snowdrop, G. nivalis, and the Crimean snowdrop, G. plicatus. Alan found it in a naturalized colony in Berkshire around 2000.

.‘John Gray’s’ outstandingly large flowers (photo taken at Colesbourne Park 2/2023)

‘John Gray’ is a member of the much sought after Mighty Atom Group. It has huge flowers on widely arching pedicels (flower stems), causing it to dip towards the ground. This very beautiful, early-blooming snowdrop was selected by famous horticulturist E.B. Anderson for its “outstandingly large flower” from the Benhall, Suffolk, garden of John Gray in 1951 (Seven Years or Sixty Years of Gardening by E.B. Anderson, Joseph Publishing 1973). It was first offered for sale by the Giant Snowdrop Company in 1967. It is one of only 28 snowdrops to receive an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

Carolyn

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New Snowdrops for 2024: Part Two

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags Alan Street, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, galanthophile, Galanthus 'Big Bertha', Galanthus 'Excelsis', Galanthus 'Ivy Cottage Corporal', Galanthus 'Washfield Colesbourne', Galanthus Miss Prissy, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US on November 28, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

One of ‘Miss Prissy’s’ best attributes is that the flowers face outward so you can see the inner segments (all photos in this post were taken by me at Avon Bulbs 2/2023).

Our current snowdrop catalogue is on line here.

I travel to England to view snowdrops in person rather than relying on on line photos to choose what to offer in my catalogue. I am looking not only for snowdrops that stand out for their markings, but also for cultivars that are vigorous and beautiful whether rare or not. All the snowdrops in this post stood out when I photographed the hundreds of snowdrops in bloom at Avon Bulbs in Somerset last February!

This is part two of a three-part post on the new snowdrops that will be offered in our 2024 Snowdrop Catalogue. To read part one, click here. As usual, the catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December. Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at five more special, new snowdrops that will be available for order in December. Enjoy!

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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‘Miss Prissy’ also has green tips on the outers.

‘Miss Prissy’ is a very neat, outward-facing double snowdrop. The outer segments have prominent green tips and the inner segments are very green with sparkling white edges. It is a hybrid between the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii, and the double common snowdrop, G. nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’, selected by Stephen Jackson and registered in 2017. It is named after the spinster hen in the Looney Tunes cartoon.

. ‘Excelsis’

‘Excelsis’ arrived in my garden by mistake last year, and I was so taken with it that I ordered more so I could include it in the catalogue this year. International snowdrop expert Alan Street discovered ‘Excelsis’ as a seedling at Avon Bulbs in 2015. He was immediately dazzled by its long, shapely outer segments and the heavenly marked green inners, hence the name. A dark green V extending from the apex joins a lighter green V from the base, creating an elegant and unusual mark.

‘Excelsis’ has an unusual inner mark.

‘Big Bertha’ is rarely offered for sale.

‘Big Bertha’ has huge, round flowers with dark green tips on the ballooning outer segments and a prominent dark green mark on the inners. Its habit is distinct with widely splayed leaves at ground level and very upright flowers and scapes (flower stalks). All these characteristics together make it instantly recognizable in the garden.

‘Big Bertha’s habit is very upright.

‘Big Bertha’ is a vigorous cultivar of the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii. It was discovered around 2004 in a bulk purchase of bulbs by Gill Richardson, Manor Farm, Lincolnshire.

‘Washfield Colesbourne’

I saw ‘Washfield Colesbourne’ for the first time at Avon Bulbs during my February 2023 trip to England and had to have it. As Gardens Illustrated says in its January 2023 article, click here, it is tall and majestic with large flowers and incredibly dark green inner segments. The snowdrop bible calls it a “magnificent hybrid” (Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis, and John Grimshaw Timber Press 2006, page 266).

A group of ‘Washfield Colesbourne’ really stands out.

‘Washfield Colesbourne’ was found at Elizabeth Strangman’s famous Washfield Nursery in Hawkhurst, Kent. It is a seedling of the snowdrop ‘Colesbourne’, and much more vigorous than its parent.

‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’

‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’ has long, elegant, and full outer segments. The inners are boldly marked with the double chevron insignia found on a British corporal’s uniform. It is a vigorous hybrid and produces many flowers. Probably a G. nivalis x G. plicatus cross, it was discovered by Michael Broadhurst in 2013.

‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’ displays its well-shaped outer segments.

‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’ is highly praised in my favorite snowdrop reference Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne Repnow. It was also profiled as a favorite in the January 2023 Gardens Illustrated article on snowdrops in Margery Fish’s garden at East Lambrook Manor, click here. The photos in the article are taken by photographer Jason Ingram and are quite lovely—be sure and scroll down to see ‘Ivy Cottage Corporal’.

Look for Part Three of this post profiling five more new snowdrops from our 2024 catalogue soon.

Carolyn

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New Snowdrops for 2024: Part One

Posted in bulbs for shade, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags Alan Street, Anglesey Abbey, Anne Repnow, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, Colesbourne Park, collecting snowdrops, David Jordan Anglesey Abbey, galanthophile, Galanthus 'Anglesey Candlelight', Galanthus 'Franz Josef', Galanthus 'Phil Cornish', galanthus daphne's scissors, Galanthus George Elwes, Gardens Illustrated snowdrops, Lady Carolyn Elwes, Phil Cornish snowdrops, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop plants, snowdrops for sale, snowdrops for sale in the US, snowdrops in the green, snowdrops in the US, Some Snowdrops, Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble on November 26, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

‘Anglesey Candlelight’ has an orange glow on its inner segments (photo by Chris Ireland-Jones, thanks Chris!).

Our current snowdrop catalogue is on line here.

Fall color has been glorious this year and continues on for a little while longer. It has also been a great fall for working outside, and I have been busily cleaning out around the snowdrops and checking their stakes and their labeling. Each clump then gets a small layer of compost and a thin covering of ground leaves. They will also be fertilized with liquid fish emulsion. It has been very dry but that thankfully ended this week with 2″ of much needed rain.

As usual, the 2024 Snowdrop Catalogue will be posted on our website in the first half of December. Meanwhile, this post will give everyone an advance look (sorry, no advance orders) at some of the special, new snowdrops that will be available in the catalogue. Enjoy!

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.
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In February, Michael and I toured Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, England. It is one of the most visited National Trust properties, and I can see why after experiencing its beautiful winter gardens. We were given a private tour by Senior Gardener David Jordan, the resident snowdrop expert among other responsibilities. The tour included the extensive snowdrop collection where we saw ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ for the first time.

I am a sucker for a snowdrop with a face and find ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ charming (photo taken at Avon Bulbs 2/2023).

‘Anglesey Candlelight’ is a very rare snowdrop with large flowers featuring an expressive face and a tinge of pale orange on its inner segments. Its leaves are a light, lettuce green. David Jordan spotted it about ten years ago while out looking for unique snowdrops among the thousands of specimens in the garden. He noticed its light green leaves and moved it to the collection area for evaluation. When it flowered the next year, he saw the orange shade on the inners and “named it ‘Anglesey Candlelight’ as it described the flower and the way it glows like a candle.”

If you go to England during snowdrop time, I highly recommend visiting Anglesey Abbey, click here. Be aware that to see the specialist collection of rare snowdrops, you need to book a guided tour far in advance. Thank you, David, for one of the best snowdrop days we have ever spent!

.‘Phil Cornish’ is one of the most highly praised inverse poculiform snowdrops (photo from Anne Repnow, Some Snowdrops, thanks Anne!)

In 2017, we had the great pleasure of visiting the well known galanthophile and discoverer of many fine snowdrops Phil Cornish in his Gloucestershire garden. The much sought after snowdrop ‘Phil Cornish’ was discovered there in 2002. It is an inverse poculiform (all the segments are inners) with the classic pagoda shape and G. plicatus ‘Trym’ as a parent. This upright and early-flowering selection has stunning markings: almost all green inner segments and outers heavily marked with a dark green heart at the apex and a paler green patch at the base.

‘Phil Cornish’ has the classic pagoda shape (photo from Anne Repnow, Some Snowdrops).

‘Phil Cornish’ is highly praised in my favorite snowdrop reference Some Snowdrops: A Photographic Ramble by Anne Repnow. It was also profiled as a favorite in the January 2023 Gardens Illustrated article on snowdrops in Margery Fish’s garden at East Lambrook Manor, click here, (scroll to the end for their top picks). The photos in the article are taken by photographer Jason Ingram and are quite lovely—be sure and scroll down to see ‘Phil Cornish’.

‘Daphne’s Scissors’ sparkles in the winter sun (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 3/2015).

‘Daphne’s Scissors’ is a cultivar of G. elwesii, the giant snowdrop. English galanthophile Daphne Chappell found it in her garden in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, in 1985. She named it for the scissor-shaped inner segment mark. It is an upright plant with large flowers. Evidently, the presence of the bold green mark on the outer segments varies in England, but on my plants it is present every year (see photo below).

‘Daphne’s Scissors’ thrives in my garden (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2023).

‘Franz Josef’ shows its strong, emerald green markings (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2022).

‘Franz Josef’ has eye-catching, very large and full double flowers with inner segments tightly packed to bursting. The narrow outer segments with bold green tips fully expose the deep emerald green cross on the inners. Its elongated and cone-shaped ovary (the cap above the flower) is also unusual.

Avon Bulbs featured ‘Franz Josef’ in its gold-medal winning display at the RHS Show in February 2017 (photo taken at RHS Show 2/2017)

This neat and handsome double is a cultivar of the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii. Although it was discovered by Michael Dreisvogt in a Munich Park in 1999, it remains rare.

‘George Elwes’ (photo taken at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens 2/2023)

The snowdrop bible names ‘George Elwes’ the “finest” G. elwesii x G. plicatus hybrid (Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis, and John Grimshaw Timber Press 2006, page 265). It earns this praise because it is a tall and upright snowdrop with large flowers. The long, elegant outer segments compliment perfectly the fully green inner segments. I especially like the long curved spathe encircling the ovary (the cap above the flower). It was selected in 1979 by my dear friend Carolyn Elwes at Colesbourne Park and named after her late son.

Snowdrop expert Alan Street considered ‘George Elwes’ special enough to give it a prominent location in the Avon Bulbs display at the February 2018 Royal Horticultural Society Show (photo taken at the RHS Show 2/2018).

Look for another post profiling more new snowdrops soon.

Carolyn

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Wandlebury Ring

Posted in garden to visit, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags Bill Clark Wandlebury Ring, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, Galanthus 'Bill Clark', Galanthus 'Wandlebury Ring', Galanthus 'Wendy's Gold', seeing snowdrops in England, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop garden, snowdrop plants, snowdrops, snowdrops for sale U.S., snowdrops in the green, Wandlebury Ring on November 19, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

The stable block at Wandlebury Ring was built for James II in the late 17th century and later housed the famous Godolphin Arabian.

On our way back from Bennington Lordship (to read about that garden, click here), Michael and I visited Wandlebury Ring, an Iron Age hillfort outside Cambridge in the Gog Magog Hills, Cambridgeshire. The hillfort was constructed by an ancient British tribe in 400 BC and later inhabited by the Romans. In the late 17th century, the inner ramparts and ditch, which circled the fort, were leveled to make way for racing stables for King James II. A mansion and gardens were also constructed, but all that remains now is the stable block and the fort’s deep, encircling outer ditch. The site is now a country park owned by Cambridge Past, Present & Future. For more historical details, click here .

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

The very famous yellow snowdrop ‘Wendy’s Gold’ was first observed in the park in 1974 by Bill Clark, the Warden of Wandlebury Ring, but wasn’t introduced until the early 1990s. It is a beautiful, bright yellow in our winter sunshine and vigorous in my garden.

Although the history of Wandlebury Ring is quite interesting, the real reason for our visit was to see the naturalized G. plicatus that thrives inside the Ring. It is from this population that Bill Clark, the Warden of Wandlebury Ring from 1973 to 1998, selected the iconic ‘Wendy’s Gold’, which is named for his wife. The famous ‘Wendy’s Gold’ was later followed by further, well known yellow selections: ‘Bill Clark’ and ‘Wandlebury Ring’.

‘Bill Clark’ is an even brighter yellow, which colors the scape, spathe, and pedicel. However, it is not as vigorous as ‘Wendy’s Gold’ in my garden.

The last of the famous trio, ‘Wandlebury Ring’. I don’t grow this snowdrop so the photo was taken in England where lack of winter sun often makes yellow snowdrops have an olive caste.

Wandlebury Ring is a beautiful setting in which to view snowdrops, which occur in sweeps around the mature trees inside the walls:

Michael stands in a field of Galanthus plicatus with the wall of Wandlebury Ring in the background.

The setting is very natural with thousands upon thousands of snowdrops in among the grass and winter aconites.

G. plicatus exhibiting its very distinctive pleated leaves with a whitish center stripe.

A large beech surrounded by winter aconite and G. plicatus.

Bill and Wendy Clark still live at Wandlebury Ring. I have corresponded with Bill extensively about the history of the yellow G. plicatus at Wandlebury, which is fascinating. Unfortunately, unforeseen events prevented us from getting together when Michael and I were there. However, Bill still roams the area looking for unusual snowdrops and sent me photos of his recent discoveries:

A snowdrop with four outer segments instead of the usual three.

A very elegant snowdrop with twin flowers.

A new yellow clone.

Thank you, Bill, for the help you have given me in untangling the origins of the Wandlebury snowdrops—you are an inspiration. This post is dedicated to you!

Carolyn

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Snowdrops and History at Benington Lordship Gardens

Posted in garden to visit, snowdrops, winter garden, winter interest with tags Benington Lordship, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, collecting snowdrops, seeing snowdrops in England, snowdrop bulbs, snowdrop catalogue, snowdrop garden, snowdrop plants, snowdrops, snowdrops for sale U.S., snowdrops in the green on November 11, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Benington Lordship is a Georgian manor house constructed in the 1700s near the ruins of a Norman castle built around 1130.

Michael and I have traveled to England many times for work and pleasure, but we had never been to Cambridge. In February 2023, we spent four nights there touring the city and visiting snowdrop venues. It is a wonderful city and a great place to visit gardens. We packed a lot in, including Benington Lordship Gardens in Benington, East Hertfordshire, which is about 45 minutes from Cambridge.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

As you come up the drive, the first thing you see is the Folly built in 1832 with snowdrops on the left cascading down the hill to the moat.

Benington Castle was originally built around 1130 by the de Valogne family. It was destroyed in 1212 leaving only the bottom courses of the keep. In the 1700s, the Caesar family built a Georgian manor house, Benington Lordship, adjacent to the ruins of the Norman castle keep. In 1832, the Folly was added to join the manor house to the Norman ruins. It consists of a neo-Norman two-story gatehouse with an arch and two circular towers plus a wall and a summer house.

The Folly joins the manor house—on the right side, you can just see the tower—to the Norman ruins.

Looking through the arch towards the interior courtyard.

Detail on the arch

The gatehouse viewed from inside the courtyard.

The summer house—as you can see, snowdrops are everywhere in the gardens.

To the untrained eye, the gatehouse looks quite authentic down to the crumbling towers.

The actual Norman ruins are in the back left of the snowdrop and aconite bed with the gatehouse peeking out behind them.

There is no brochure explaining the history of Benington Castle so it wasn’t until I researched Benington Lordship that I understood the provenance of all the buildings. For history buffs, Historic England gives a very detailed account of the site here.

After viewing the Folly, we descended some stone steps into the moat.

The moat is a narrow path with both of its very steep sides filled to the brim with snowdrops.

The snowdrops are mostly G. nivalis, the common snowdrop, and its double form ‘Flore Pleno’.

The back wall of the moat.

Double common snowdrop, G. nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’

There were some beautiful vistas of snowdrops mixed with winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis.

A lovely clump of G. plicatus, sometimes called Crimean snowdrop.

Although there was an area of the garden with named snowdrop cultivars, there was nothing that you won’t see in more impressive collections. It is the picturesque buildings and the snowdrops lining the moat and surrounding the Norman ruins that made Benington Lordship worth visiting. For details about visiting during snowdrop season, click here.

Carolyn

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Wisley’s Winter Garden

Posted in garden to visit, landscape design, Shade Shrubs, shrubs for winter, winter, winter garden, winter interest with tags 'Mount Aso' pink pussy willow, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, edgeworthia 'Winter Liebe', Frostkiss 'Anna's Red', Frostkiss 'Molly's White', golden willow 'Golden Ness', golden willow 'Yelverton', Hamamelis x intermedia, Helleborus 'Ice 'n' Roses White', hybrid witch hazel, hybrid witchhazel, Magic Flame dogwood, RHS Garden Wisley, Salix gracilistyla 'Mount Aso', Wisley on November 5, 2023 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

At Wisley, red-flowered hybrid witch hazel ‘Ruben’ provides a vivid contrast to a gold needled conifer and blooming heath.

The day after we visited the Savill Garden last February, we faced a long drive to Avon Bulbs in the south of England. However, at the suggestion of John Anderson, we decided we would visit RHS Garden Wisley, the flagship of the Royal Horticultural Society’s gardens on our way. When we arrived, we had one hour for touring the 240 acre garden and decided to do the Winter Walk though we wish we had had more time to visit other areas.

Nursery News: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops within the US. For catalogues and announcements of local events, please send your full name, mailing address, and cell number to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com and indicate whether you are interested in snowdrops. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

Hybrid witch hazel ‘Pallida’ with a blue needled, creeping juniper.

The Wisley website provides an excellent overview of the the highlights of the Winter Walk with in depth descriptions and photos of 10 locations. Included at the end is a Winter Walk planting list with clickable entries containing photos and details about each plant. You can read it here. During our hurried visit, I captured a random sample, which I will share below.

The amazing silver buds of ‘Winter Liebe’ edgeworthia underplanted with winter-blooming daffodils.

I was very impressed with the witch hazels at Wisley, here the hybrid ‘Harry’. They provide a multitude of brightly colored flowers in the winter landscape.