Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus ‘Blewbury Tart’

A snowdrop that has never subscribed to the idea that flowers should hang politely downwards. ‘Blewbury Tart’ is an irregular double with unusually upright to outward-facing flowers, its narrow outer tepals surrounding a wonderfully untidy mass of heavily green-marked inner segments. The result is distinctly tart-like—and wonderfully eccentric. The RHS describes the flowers as irregularly double, with pale green-streaked outer segments and inner segments heavily marked green. 

Origin: Found as a single clump by Alan Street of Avon Bulbs in 1975, growing in the churchyard at Blewbury, Oxfordshire, where it was an obvious oddity among ordinary Galanthus nivalis. It was later introduced by Avon Bulbs, first listed commercially in 1992. 

In the garden: A vigorous, distinctive snowdrop that makes an excellent collector’s plant. Its flowers face upwards or outwards, displaying their curious green interior rather than hiding it under the foliage. It is reported to be sterile, so propagation is by division and offsets rather than seed. 

Height: Up to 10cm
Spread: 10–50cm
Flowering: February–March
Hardiness: H5 (−15 to −10°C)
Aspect: Sun or partial shade
Soil: Moist, humus-rich, well drained