Galanthus bursanus
Galanthus bursanus
Galanthus bursanus was officially described as a new species in 2019, although it had been in cultivation prior to that. I believe the two known sites were discovered in 2014; following a post containing a holiday photograph seen on Facebook. Originating in a very small area of northwest Turkey, it has gradually been introduced into cultivation in the UK and Europe through seed collection and breeding work by various botanists and plantspeople. I would recommend downloading the published paper on the species and reading further. A link to this, along with other links of interest, can be found at the end of this article.
I have been growing Galanthus bursanus for many years now. With the selections I have acquired over the years and, in the future, the seedlings I might produce from them, I’d like to help distribute this species around the UK, as it still seems to be relatively unknown and scarcely grown here.
My first Galanthus bursanus listings this season will be going live through the following link on Friday 23rd October 2026, at midday. There will limited numbers of bulbs available this season but this will increase in subsequent years.
https://www.wrjsnowdrops.co.uk/collections/all
The images of the plants of G. bursanus for sale are of the actual plants you will receive. Once sold, listings will be removed and replaced with further listings, as and when new plants come into flower.
Galanthus bursanus fulfils everything that, I believe, anyone could ever wish for in a snowdrop. It is not just ‘another’ species to me; it is one of the very best. It has performed brilliantly here in the North-West of England in the garden, as well as in pots - it is extremely robust and very vigorous. G. reginae-olgae and G. peshmenii certainly have their absolute charms; I adore both plants and have grown them for many years. However, the larger size, sturdier form, floriferousness (amongst many other things discussed below) sets G. bursanus apart for me.
Scent
It has a divine scent. Although most of my collection is in the ground in the garden, I always keep numerous pots in the greenhouse. When you enter on a warm autumn day, the scent is something else. I mean, you can smell it in the garden beds on a still and warm day but, when a good number of pots are confined to the greenhouse, the perfume really is heavenly.
Multiple flowers
Virtually all of the plants I grow, once mature, send up a second flowering scape (or more) from the same bulb. Often, soon after the first; sometimes a few weeks later. One plant can start its flowering period in September, for example, and come mid-October will be flowering again. So, many G. bursanus bulbs that I grow will happily stay in flower for two or three months; some even longer. Some clones also have a habit of producing a ‘twin’ flower from the same scape. This is a feature that I feel comes and goes in some clones, although I believe is stable in others.
Variation
A final standout thing about this species is the variation within it. There is already almost every variation going within G. bursanus, thanks to the breeding work that has taken place since its original discovery around 12 years ago. Poculiforms, green tips, pterugiforms, yellows, and the list goes on and on…
Galanthus bursanus in cultivation
I’d like to offer a little bit of cultivation advice that has worked for me. I always tend to make the drainage with my autumn snowdrops a little bit sharper than with my ‘normal’ season plants. I grow my G. bursanus in a very well-drained mix which includes general purpose, peat free compost, loam and lots of perlite. This is a mix I’ve used for years and one with which I have had great success. All snowdrops prefer excellent drainage, particularly when in pots. Snowdrops should never be sitting in wet material, particularly when it starts to freeze. You can get away with a lot more when they’re directly in the ground but, with pots out of the soil, you really do have to be almost perfect in terms of conditions. Otherwise, you will start to experience problems in extreme weather.
Position and plants in the ground
I plant my autumn snowdrops in various aspects around the garden. I mainly plant in full sun to partial shade, although I have also grown them successfully against a north facing wall too. I don’t think the aspect itself is hugely important in the UK during the growing season itself but, the dry summer rest is something that is essential in my opinion. Therefore, if you plan to leave your plants in the ground all year round, do choose somewhere that will provide those conditions when they are dormant. That could be somewhere amongst the roots of other plants (herbaceous perennials for example) that will naturally keep them dry, or at the front of a south facing bed. Or, if in pots, allow the potting medium to dry off entirely, maybe in the greenhouse for a week or so. Then store the pots (with the bulbs inside and within the compost) somewhere dark and cool for the summer.
So that’s all; I just thought it was time that I put down a few of my thoughts on this species and let those (particularly those who may not have even been aware of its existence) know that this is a plant that I highly recommend. I believe that, over time, G. bursanus will become a real stalwart in UK gardens. It doesn’t look to replace G. reginae-olgae or G. peshmenii in cultivation by any means whatsoever. But as a really tough and bold and resilient and beautiful addition to the autumn garden, in my opinion, it is an essential addition.
A longer and more detailed version of this article will be printed in the ‘Hardy Plant Society Galanthus Group’ Autumn 2026 newsletter which will be finished this week. If you are not already a member I would highly recommend joining. The group has a number of Zoom talks from prominent people in the snowdrop world this season, and every season. All members also receive two full-colour printed newsletters in the post each year containing articles from lots of very knowledgeable and passionate galanthophiles…. a link to the page for further information can be found here…
Further Links
The published paper on Galanthus bursanus can be found and downloaded, for free, here;
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12225-019-9806-5 )
I recommend reading an article written by Anne Repnow in 2021 for the 'HPS Galanthus Group' newsletter, which is on her website, here;
(https://anne-repnow.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HPS-Newsletter-Autumn21-Gbursanus.pdf)
Tom Mitchell produced an excellent video on G. bursanus in 2021. This is still available on his website, Revolution Snowdrops. For those who may not be aware of his website, Tom’s descriptions of his travels, in blog form, are excellent, and I would highly recommend them all.
(https://www.revolutionsnowdrops.org/galanthus-bursanus/ )
A link to my sales pages can be found here. Galanthus bursanus will be available for sale on my website every year around mid to late October. You may wish to subscribe to my emails, using the box at the bottom of any page on my website, to be updated on any future sales or news.
(https://www.wrjsnowdrops.co.uk/collections/all )
