Best double snowdrops

[Leena]

I love double snowdrops because they look chunky and round even in cold and cloudy weather, here especially the cold weather may stay long. What are the best/most beautiful doubles in your eyes?

I had a little chat with Paul Barney and Michael Broadhurst about a double snowdrop called 'Rodmarton', of which there would seem to be several forms in circulation.   

Another question about doubles, the quote is from Snowdrop events- thread. What are the differences in those froms of 'Rodmarton'? I planted 'Rodmarton' last summer, so when it comes up in the spring I know what to look for.

[Alan_b]

I think 'Ailwyn', with its perfectly symmetric arrangement of inner petals, is one of the most beautiful doubles for me, although it can be quite slow to bulk-up.

When I get a bit of spare time I will construct a post about why I think there is more than one form of 'Rodmarton' in circulation. 

[Leena]

Thank you Alan. 

[Brian Ellis]

Yes 'Ailwyn' is lovely, also the recent 'Celia's Double' is a very good one.

[Blonde Ingrid]

What are the best/most beautiful doubles in your eyes?

I would go for Mordred and Betty Hansell.

[Jacek]

I know G. nivalis Flore  Pleno is cheap and nothing special. But...

It is with us for 300 years at least - it must be a good plant.

It blooms so long, much longer than fertile nivalis

Last but not least - it was planted in my garden by my grandmother over 50 years ago and survived years of destruction and neglect and it is still with me.

[Leena]

I could find pictures of all but 'Celia's Double'. Brian, do you have a picture of it?

Jacek, it is true that Flore Pleno is good and hardy also here, and readily available. Sometimes it's flowers may seem a little "untidy", at least here, but some established clumps are very pretty.

I'm having trouble telling Greatorex doubles apart (I have 'Cordelia', 'Jaquenetta', 'Hippolyta' (that is easy because it is shorter than the others), 'Lavinia' and G71.
'Ophelia' looks lovely to me, and different than the other Greatorex doubles.

[Graeme]

anyone know the story behind the naming of 'Ophelia' ?

[Maggi Young]

anyone know the story behind the naming of 'Ophelia' ?

Carolyn has a blog on the Greatorex doubles, here :
https://carolynsshadegardens.com/tag/greatorex-double-snowdrops/
 and to quote  Rod Begbie on his site  : ( https://www.galanthus.co.uk )
Greatorex doubles

Double varieties bred by Heyrick Greatorex

"Heyrick Greatorex (d. 1954) was a commissioned cavalry officer in the Great War and captain of the Home Guard detachment guarding Acle bridge in the Second World War. He latterly became very reclusive, leading a new age lifestyle in a converted railway carriage at the bottom of his garden in Brundall, Norfolk.

In the 1940's he used pollen from nivalis flore pleno and crossed it with Galanthus plicatus to produce a range of hybrid doubles. The resulting plants were tall, vigorous and robust and with their large, regular and neat flowers caused something of a sensation; at a time when the only widely available double was the pollen parent (nivalis flore pleno) with its rather muddled flowers.

Greatorex named most of his plants after female Shakespearean characters. Unfortunately, the absence of any clear original descriptions or illustrations, coupled with his secretive distribution methods, means that it is not clear whether some of the original plants have been confused over the years."

[Gail]

anyone know the story behind the naming of 'Ophelia' ?

Ophelia is one of the Greatorex doubles named after the man who raised them, Heyrick Anthony Greatorex. Greatorex (1884-1954) was born in Brixton and went to school in Derbyshire. He joined the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry and was wounded in action at Lagnicourt and awarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal. From 1917 he and his wife lived at Witton in Norfolk where he grew a variety of plants including snowdrops and colchicums.
He is thought to have been the first person to deliberately create hybrids; transferring pollen from the double form of the common snowdrop to the flowers of G. plicatus. Fourteen of the resulting plants were selected and named by Greatorex himself. The majority of these were named after female characters from the works of Shakespeare. ‘Nerissa’, ‘Hippolyta’ and ‘Lavinia’ are known to have been released before 1948 and feature in drawings made by EA Bowles.
 ‘Ophelia’, is the most widely grown of the group, having been first marketed in 1959. It is named for the Shakespearean heroine who was in love with Hamlet. The rounded flowers usually have aberrant segments.
Many of the Greatorex plants look very similar to each other and they are much confused in cultivation, complicated by the inherent variability of this group. Heights can vary with different cultivation conditions and the number of inner segments and their markings is not totally stable. Without having a definite provenance it is something of a gamble to try to identify a particular plant with any degree of certainty.

[Gail]

Sorry, Maggi, you posted while I was typing so I'm basically repeating what you've said!

My most reliable doubles are 'Faringdon Double', an excellent, early and very vigorous one and 'Richard Ayres' which is increasing in a pleasing manner here...

[Maggi Young]

Great minds, Gail!!! 

[annew]

I love the old Hill Pöe.

[Brian Ellis]

and 'Tim's Hill Poe' which is more substantial!

Leena, 'Celia's Double' was named for Celia Sawyer in whose Oxford garden it was found. It is an extraordinary, round-flowered, regular double which appeared among seedlings of 'Diggory' in her garden.  The beauty of 'Celia's Double' is that it observes flowering in two distinct levels in unison - with main scapes forming one tier while second scapes provide another.  Here is a photo from Richard Bashford

[Leena]

Thank you Brian for the info and photo of 'Celia's Double', it really does look impressive.

Anne, I like 'Hill Poe', too.  I will make a note of 'Tim's Hill Poe' for the one to look out.