Every year, as winter tarries a bit too long in my garden, I am heartened by the sight of snowbells (Galanthus) nodding their bell-shaped heads above the frozen earth. The snowbells were planted by the original owner of our house, an avid gardener and garden club member, back in the 1960s. Since then they have multiplied and spread far and wide. I do nothing for them except to admire them, which seems to suit them nicely.
A recent article in Horticulture magazine opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of the snowdrop. While I gaze contentedly on my drifts of snowdrops, troops of Galanthophiles from all over the world are gathering each February at special gardens in the United Kingdom to admire rare species of Galanthus that can fetch prices of more than $1,000 (yes, for a single plant!).
According to Horticulture, Galanthus fever is growing. Gardens such as Colesbourne Park in Gloucestershire, Chelsea Physic Garden in London and Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire attract thousands of visitors every year. Sixty gardens in Scotland alone participated in the 2007 Snowdrop Fest. There is a major snowdrop fair at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Early Spring Plant Fair in February, where the newest cultivars are unveiled to great excitement.
The article piqued my interest in Galanthus, which I had always considered a stalwart but lowly seasonal harbinger. The first written record of the plant was made by the Greek botanist and scholar Theophrastus of Eresus around 300 BC. A student of Plato and Aristotle, his interests ranged from plants to physics and metaphysics and ethics. Theophrastus wrote two major treatises on plants and is considered the Father of Botany.
Theophrastus called the plant “white violet.” The genus was formally named Galanthus and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The name was derived from the Greek gala meaning milk and anthus meaning flower. It has many vernacular names including Candelmas Bells, White Ladies, Perce-Neige (pierce the snow), and Schneetropfen, for the pearl drop earrings that were popular in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. (The pearl earring in Vermeer’s famous 1665 painting “Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a Schneetropfen.)
The genus Galanthus is native to Europe and the Middle East, ranging from the Spanish and French Pyrenees to Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Syria. Galanthus is not native to North America or the U.K. There are more than 20 species of the plant and more than 3,000 named cultivars. It grows in woodlands, in alkaline or acidic soil, and does well in rocky places. It spreads by forming bulb offsets underground and also by dispersal or seeds. It is mostly impervious to deer and rodents, although rodent activity can also spread its bulbs.
A fascinating 2015 article in Discover magazine by science journalist Matt Kaplan suggests that Galanthus was the source of the Greeks’ magical herb “moly.” In Homer’s The Odyssey, the god Hermes gave Odysseus moly to counteract the amnesiac poison given to his sailors by the sorceress Circe. Kaplan argues that Circe’s poison was derived from Jimson weed, which causes delirium, hallucinations and amnesia when ingested. (I remember hearing about people dying after trying to bend their minds with Jimson weed. I hope that people have stopped trying this.)
Kaplan explains that Galanthus contains an active substance, the alkaloid galantamine, which would indeed be likely to counter the effects of Jimson weed. (I won’t go into the details, which involve protection of neurotransmitters in the brain from harmful substances.) In the early 1950s, a Russian pharmacologist discovered that people in the Ural Mountains used ground-up Galanthus for a variety of medical purposes, including as a topical pain reliever. Subsequent research has revealed that galantamine can counteract the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and it is now being used for that purpose.
But the Galanthus bulbs that sell for more than $1,000 apiece are valued not for their medicinal use, but rather for their rarity. Galanthus are now threatened in their wild habitats due to habitat destruction, illegal collection and climate change (Galanthus does not tolerate warm winters). Galanthus is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which severely limits their collection and exporting.
The snowdrops we commonly see in the U.S., including G. nivalis, G. woronowii or G. elwesii, are propagated by nurseries and not subject to CITES regulations. Galanthophiles revel in the more unusual varieties of Galanthus, which have been cultivated in the U.K. by specialist breeders since the late 19th century. These include ‘Magnet,’ ‘Merlin’ and ‘Robin Hood.’ Sometimes new cultivars are the result of random hybridization by bees and other garden pollinators. Hybrids discovered in churchyards carry names such as ‘Grave Concern’ and ‘Phantom.’ Galanthus breeders continue to develop new cultivars, which go on the market each year with much hullabaloo.
Unusual cultivars might look like plain old snowdrops to the uninitiated, but they vary in size, shape and even color. Some are pale apricot in hue, others sport unusual green markings. Some, like ‘Wasp,’ have narrow, drooping petals, while others, like ‘Lord Lieutenant’ are shaped more like open umbrellas.
As winter wanes, take some time to admire your humble snowdrops and recall Odysseus’s stupefied sailors being treated with moly. You might even imagine yourself standing ankle-deep in a drift of British snowdrops. This time of year, a February garden trip to England sounds like a wonderful idea.
Hadley Garden Center’s clinic Saturday will feature Master Gardeners Larri Cochran and Peggy MacLeod from Western Mass Pollinator Networks. They will discuss ways of tweaking your home garden design to serve the needs of native bees and butterflies year-round. It begins at 1 p.m. at the center located at 285 Russell St. (Rte. 9) For more information, call (413) 584-1423. The sessions are free but fill up fast.
On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Berkshire Botanical Garden will host a workshop on brewing beer with botanicals. This beginner-level class introduces the art and science of home brewing. Participants will go through a full brew day, learning about the four main components of beer: malt, yeast, hops and water; the brewing process; and how to avoid and troubleshoot the most common problems. Participants also will get to taste complimentary samples of home-brew from Beerology in Northampton. Mike Schilling and Jordana Starr, the husband-wife team behind Beerology, are passionate about beer and cider and have been home brewing for seven years. Members: $35; nonmembers: $45. For more information and to register, go to berkshirebotanical.org
Speaking of beer, help Kestrel Land Trust celebrate the Pioneer Valley’s farming heritage with the rebirth of a historic craft beer, brewed to benefit Kestrel. Farm to Trail Ale, a unique Roggenbier style of rye ale, is being brewed by Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton, using a historic recipe created by Beerology in Northampton, and made from local rye and barley malted by Valley Malt in Hadley. You can enjoy this new local brew at the Farm to Trail Ale Release Party on Sunday, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Beerology, 342 Pleasant St.. You’ll also learn about the history of this historic beer and get some tips on the techniques of beer tasting. An appetizer buffet is included, as well as a chance to win great door prizes. Space is limited; registration is required. Fee is a sliding scale, $10 to $20. For more information and to register, go to: kestreltrust.org.
The salamanders are coming! Come out and help get ready for their annual spring migration by taking part in the annual Amherst ritual of maintaining the salamander tunnel in North Amherst. The workday will take place on one weekend day in March; the timing depends on weather conditions and snow cover. The group will gather on Henry Street in North Amherst to rake out the tunnel entrances, repair the drift fences that direct the animals into the tunnel entrances, pick up litter and more. Wear work gloves and come prepared to get dirty. There will be a presentation on the salamanders’ amazing lives during a work break. To be notified of the date, go to hitchcockcenter.org/programs, find the Salamander Tunnel announcement and sign up to receive notice in advance.
Mickey Rathbun can be reached at foxglover8@gmail.com.