Galanthus 'S. Arnott'
Who will be the first to spot a snowdrop? At Wisley you can easily see this relatively large snowdrop showing off its glistening white flowers in large drifts in the woodland areas of the Wild Garden and Battleston Hill. And don’t miss our Snowdrop Splendour event in the Plant Centre on 29-30 January 2011.
Vital statistics
- Common name
- Snowdrop ‘S. Arnott’
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Height & spread
- 15cm (6in) x 8cm (3in)
- Form
- Bulbous perennial
- Soil
- Moist but well-drained, moderately fertile
- Aspect
- Cool shade
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
Galanthus
Galanthus is a small genus of about 19 species of bulb commonly found throughout Europe and western Asia in upland woodland and rocky sites. It blooms mainly from late winter to mid-spring, though in their natural habitat they often flower just as the snow is starting to melt.
The name Galanthus is derived from the Greek words gala, meaning milk, and anthos, meaning flower, in allusion to the colour of the flowers. The plants are more commonly known as snowdrops, from the German Schneetropfen, and refers to a style of earring popular in the 16th and 17th centuries in Germany.
Galanthus 'S. Arnott'
This snowdrop is vigorous, with narrow, grey-green leaves 7-16cm (3-6in) long. It has large white flowers, which have an inverted V-shaped green mark at the tip of each inner tepal.
They are 2.5-3.5cm (1-1.5in) long, strongly honey-scented and are produced in winter and early spring. They look wonderful planted with dark-leaved plants, like Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' or with bright yellow winter aconites, or carpeting the woodland floor under a flowering witch hazel.
Cultivation
- Snowdrops grow well in cool shade in any humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil that does not dry out in summer.
- They are prone to narcissus bulb fly, which will tunnel into the bulbs and destroy them, and also grey mould (botrytis), which will appear on the leaves but then rot the bulbs.
Propagation
- Sow seed as soon as ripe in containers in an open frame, though as Galanthus species readily hybridise the seed may not come true.
- Propagate by twin scaling in summer. With this technique a bulb is cut into pairs of scales, each of which produces bulblets.
- Lift and divide clumps of Galanthus "in the green", as soon as the leaves begin to die back after flowering. Replant each bulb individually, at the same level as before, in holes sufficiently wide to spread out the roots.
AGM
The RHS Rock Garden Plant Trials Subcommittee awarded Galanthus 'S. Arnott' an Award of Garden Merit.