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Mystery Snowdrop

Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
in Plants
I bought this giant snowdrop about 4-5 years ago, sold as 'woronowii' and posted a picture on a recent thread. I understand that might not be it's correct name so am posting the attached pics to see if it could be positively identified. Any snowdrop sleuths out there?
It's 33 cm  (1ft 1")high, with a big flower about 4cm (1 1/2 ") long.
The inner petals are short, with a green inverted U shape on each.
The leaf is matt green/grey, 18cm (7") long, 2.5cm (1")wide at widest point. 
It has not been very vigorous over the years so a year or so I dug the bulbs up, split them and replanted them separately. I put a couple of the bulbs in a completely different place.
I photographed a smaller common snowdrop next to the big one for scale.

Any ideas please, anyone? Looked through the RHS snowdrop list last night but none are listed as tall as this one, nearest match as 'Atkinsii'

Pics to follow.


North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494

    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Apologies folks, although I resized all the pics, they still seem to have come out as extra large. Don't know how to correct that.
    Looking forward to any comments. Think it might have been @Silver surfer or @Palustris who first commented in an earlier post.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited February 2023
    There are a few bigger Galanthus around. G atkinsii, G. James Backhouse, but the biggest I have ever had was called Colossus. I think that one is the biggest of all. That was a variant of G. elwesii which is the largest of the species.
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    It would appear to be Galanthus plicatus ....going by the leaves.
    However there are now many named cultivars, so couldn't begin to take it any further.

    eg Galanthus plicatus Colossus....but there are other equally tall ones .
    It is often hard to tell one from another.
    Sorry.

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/170365/galanthus-plicatus-colossus/details
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Lizzie27 I am sure it isn't G woronowii, the leaves are a bright green with no hint of grey and shiny. I have grown G plicatus in the past yes a tall snowdrop the leaves seem to get longer after flowering.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited February 2023
    There is another big one called Fred's Giant. I used to grow that one too. But I think the markings are different from yours. Like Silver Surfer, it is hard to go any further as they are all so similar. Odd when I looked these names up before posting they came up as forms of elwesii, but they should have been plicatus. Sorry about that.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Thanks for your comments everyone, very kind.

    I think I'll just enjoy it and not worry about the name! I love it as it's the first snowdrop to bloom in my garden so it's very welcome.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited February 2023

    Lizzie27 said:
    "I think I'll just enjoy it and not worry about the name! I love it as it's the first snowdrop to bloom in my garden so it's very welcome."
    ............................................

    Excellent idea. It is a beauty.

    Galanthus plicatus...Quote Alpine garden society.

    Description

    G. plicatus is larger than the common snowdrop (G. nivalis). Its foliage is broader and characterised by the plication (folding under) of the leaf margin when young. It is this folding and the residual ‘fold lines’ on the mature leaves that give the plant its name: ‘plicatus’ means ‘pleated’.

    .......................................................................


    Definitely not Galanthus woronowii...as GardenerSuze says the leaves of that are green and shiny. Pic below
    Your leaves are blueish.
    Pic below shows Galanthus elwesii Freds Giant.
    Below is Galanthus plicatus Colossus.

    Not a clue which one it might be.

    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    Rather a coincidence, but I have just found Fred's Giant in this garden. I knew we had brought it with us, but the labels have all gone. This one still had the bottom half of the the label so it could be identified. Pleased.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Palustris Always good to rediscover a plant even better when it is a snowdrop.

    I have always thought that snowdrops cross so how can anyone be sure what they have? I guess this is how new ones are discovered? Yet some have been around for many many years and appear to stay the same? Probably a simple answer and Iv'e missed the point but continues to puzzle me.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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