Galanthus elwesii ex ‘ Herbert Ransome’

A particularly handsome, short-growing form of Galanthus elwesii with flowers large in proportion to its stature. The grey-green foliage is compact and upright, setting off the substantial, nodding white flowers. The inner segments carry strong green markings, giving the flower considerable presence despite the plant’s modest height. Reliable, vigorous and very good at making a show without becoming one of the giants of the elwesii stable.

The plants offered under this name derive from Herbert Ransome, the highly influential gardener of the Giant Snowdrop Company at Hyde Lodge, Chalford, Gloucestershire. Ransome worked for Winifred and Leonard Mathias, who ran the Giant Snowdrop Company from 1951 until 1968 and were among the first people to make named snowdrops commercially available on a significant scale. After the nursery closed, Ransome moved many of the company’s snowdrops to Falkland House, helping preserve material that might otherwise have disappeared. 

The important nomenclatural distinction is “ex Herbert Ransome”: this indicates material from Ransome, rather than asserting that ‘Herbert Ransome’ is the cultivar’s established name. Our stock came via Dr R. Mackenzie, who maintained and distributed this distinctive form. 

The ultimate wild collection locality is not securely documented, so it is better not to invent a Turkish provenance for this particular clone. G. elwesii itself is native to parts of Turkey and the Balkans, but that is species-level information rather than evidence for the origin of this individual clone.

Hardiness: H6, –20 to –15°C
Height: 10–15 cm
Spread: 10–15 cm
Flowers: January–March
Species: Galanthus elwesii
Provenance: ex Herbert Ransome; received via Dr R. Mackenzie
Historical association: Herbert Ransome, Hyde Lodge, Chalford, Gloucestershire