Snowdrops from Seed - Lucy Tyler
Snowdrops from Seed - Lucy Tyler
(Originally published in the HPS Galanthus Group Newsletter, No. 28 - Autumn 2025 - published again here with permission from the author; Lucy Tyler)
Anyone who loves plants has most likely grown them from seed. I am no exception and it’s a method of propagation I’ve done a lot of over the years for all sorts of plants including Galanthus. It is always an exciting challenge.
As we all know, snowdrops can take on all sizes, shapes and forms. Even if you have a modest collection, there will be obvious differences in the physical appearance between different cultivars. Think of the green streaked outers of the virescents, yellow snowdrops, the pagoda shaped flowers of the inverse poculiforms or lantern shape in the case of ‘Diggory’.
Seeds contain a unique combination of genetic traits from both the seed parent and the pollen parent. The range of inheritable traits or visual characteristics in snowdrops is huge; flower form, colour and markings are the obvious ones. There are literally millions of different ways these traits from both parents can combine, so the potential for variation is huge.
That is the attraction of growing them from seed; even more so if you hand pollinate them. You never know what you will get when you cross two snowdrops; how they will combine and what the seedlings will look like.
A knowledge of some genetics is useful if you plan to go for a deliberate cross as many desirable traits are recessive. I am lucky that I studied Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance whilst at school (a long time ago!) and how traits are passed on from parent to offspring. I think about these principles if I want to breed for a certain type and often discover things as I go along.
Most snowdrops are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes one from each parent. Some though can be triploid (3 sets) or tetraploid (4 sets). Visual characteristics or traits are determined by the complex interplay of dominant or recessive genes held in the pairing of these chromosomes. However, it is worth noting that some characteristics which may appear dominant can be a combination of several others which are neither dominant nor recessive. So, it’s not always that straightforward! But as a rule, the normal flower type is dominant (your typical ‘S. Arnott’ type flower) and so is the colour green.
Pollination
In the open garden you can let the bees do it for you. They are very efficient moving pollen about, but in my experience many snowdrops pollinated by bees will produce seedlings which are not noticeably different. Lots of green plicatus hybrids springs to mind! However, sometimes you are lucky, and a chance seedling of interest pops up especially if you have a diverse collection of interesting hybrids planted close together. Personally, I’ve not been that lucky and I feel you need to grow on a lot of seedlings to get anything distinctive. That requires a lot of space and time and it all becomes a bit of a numbers game.
Hand pollination gives the greatest amount of control over the genetics in your hybrids. It does not guarantee that you will get a beautiful new variety, but it does give you some certainty that you are combining traits from two specific parents instead of the random genetics you would get from bee pollinated plants. It is more targeted, and you don’t get so many seedlings. Most of all it’s a lot of fun thinking and planning different combinations to see if you can get something different.
When I hand pollinate, I find it useful to have a goal or objective. What sort of seedlings do I want to produce; interesting ipocs, yellow snowdrops, inter-species crosses? This helps me focus on choosing the best parents to obtain what I want.
Pollination Technique
I find the best results from hand pollination are done undercover where you can control the process and keep an eye on the plants easily. Hand pollinating outside is more hit and miss. If it is raining, wet pollen isn’t viable. Pollen blows away or the bees have already beaten you to it! Besides, it’s far from comfortable grovelling around at ground level in the freezing cold. But we have all done it and are probably familiar with that, I guess. Snowdrop people spend a lot of time at ground level!
Most of my stock is growing outside, so during the summer months I dig up the bulbs I have ear- marked as parents. These may be my own seedlings or named varieties. In my opinion you don’t need lots of expensive new novelties to breed interesting snowdrops so my actual “named” collection is probably quite small in comparison to many. The chosen bulbs are then potted up and brought into the greenhouse.
The following season, as flowering approaches, I look at them regularly keeping an eye on bud development and rising temperatures. I tend to pollinate my seed parents early in the cycle and try and catch them on the day or day after the flower opens naturally. If I have time I might go back and do them again a couple of days later but in most cases, it is just once.
When the flower is ready, I remove the segments with tweezers. I rarely remove the stamens/ anthers as sometimes my eyesight isn’t that good, and it’s very easy to nick or damage the style in the process. Keeping the anthers on the plant runs the risk of self-pollination which is why I pollinate them early; hopefully I will have got there first. Also, snowdrops are rather promiscuous and prefer to cross pollinate in my view, even if there is some of the plant’s own pollen flying about.
I collect pollen from the pollen parent using a small square of tin foil or clean white paper so I can see the pollen grains clearly. I then gently raise the paper/foil towards the flower of the seed parent and lightly touch the end of the stigma where I can see the pollen grains. So the only time I handle the flower is to remove the segments and tie a label around the stem detailing the cross I have made and the date.
My approach is therefore one of minimal intervention and handling of the seed parent, which can damage the delicate parts and knock pollen out of the anthers. Everyone has their own way of doing things. My method may not be as controlled as some people’s approach and is less time consuming. However, it works for me since I need to fit the snowdrops around my job and other commitments.
Some of my seedlings
You can spend a lifetime experimenting with different species and cultivars but I have tended to concentrate on traits and qualities that I personally find attractive and interesting.
Yellows
I do love yellow snowdrops and over the years I have experimented with all sorts of crosses. The trait for yellow is recessive so the most straightforward cross to get yellow seedlings is to use two existing yellow snowdrops. Initially, I used “Wendys Gold” as the seed parent and “Tim’s Sandersii” as the pollen parent. The resulting seedlings are x valentinei hybrids (plicatus x nivalis).
I’ve done this cross three times and had yellow offspring every time. However, the “OS” batch of seedlings (seedlings from an earlier cross in 2017), are by far the best. This produced 4 seedlings which were all yellow and with a nice substance and flower shape. Two of them grew to be short and sturdy, flowering low to the ground with relatively large flowers for the height of plant. They were trialled for several years in my own and other people’s gardens where they proved to be robust and vigorous. So far, I have named and registered one of them; “Elena Lucy”.
Another yellow I call little gold, is also a favourite, which involved gracilis as pollen parent and I have also bred some very pale nivalis types which are almost albino.
Blonde Inge/ Midas Types
This term describes those seedlings with a green ovary and yellow mark. It’s a group I am personally very fond of since I like the combination of two colours which gives some very distinctive types. Some of them are colour changers but not all. Often the seedlings are marked with yellow high up to the base at least on the reverse, which gives the flower a lovely creamy glow both in bud and on opening. I find them all very beautiful plants.
Initially, G. nivalis “Blonde Inge” was the only snowdrop I had with this colouration so early crosses included it, either as seed or pollen parent. I don’t know whether the trait is a dominant or recessive but I have not found it to be particularly inheritable. Many of the resulting seedlings are all green.
One of the nicest seedlings I’ve produced was from a “Wendy’s Gold” and “Blonde Inge” cross. Named and registered “Pastiche” the plant is of medium height with a creamy, glowing flower and long outer segments, topped off by a curved spathe that arches over the top of the green ovary. It’s a very pretty and strong growing plant.
Since then, I have acquired “Mother Goose” in my collection which also passes on the trait for green ovary/yellow mark, giving some interesting Midas type seedlings. These have arisen from crosses with green ipocs. However, this trait I find is far more likely to arise from crosses with a yellow and “Blonde Inge” or similar. Interestingly a smaller hybrid arose from a cross between two yellows; “Wendy’s Gold” x “Sandersii” which may suggest that the genes for yellow and “Blonde Inge” traits are linked or located close together on the same chromosome.
IPocs (Inverse poculiforms)
Over the years I’ve had all sorts crop up; short and stumpy, flyaway\y, pixie hats, paddle shaped and textured. There’s quite a list of them! Inheritance of this pagoda flower shape varies depending on which parents you use. It is viewed as a dominant gene and some breeders experience a high number of the ipoc offspring in their seedlings. In my own experience though, the normal flower type is usually the most prevalent. This might be because I’ve never actually used “Trym” but associated seedlings or hybrids of it.
Amongst the numerous seedlings I have, there are a few which I really like. A very robust textured type derived from a cross with ‘Priscilla Bacon’ which refuses to blow over even in the strongest gale, which you can’t help but notice! The Midas types as previously mentioned, interspecies crosses and yellow ipocs which are in various stages in the pipeline.
All in all, you can have a lot of fun breeding for ipocs! At their best they can be very distinctive, and the seedlings often have a lot of character.
G. gracilis hybrids
My all-time favourite species with its distinctive double mark, elegant demeanor and wonderful twisting leaves. Crosses with ‘Philippe Andre Meyer’ have resulted in some nice ipoc hybrids which are currently being trialled for longevity and garden worthiness. In the meantime, there are the F2 second generation crosses coming along; hopefully to obtain yellow hybrids. That’s the plan anyway!
The Next Stage
The bar for introducing new snowdrops is very high these days. There are so many named varieties already out there, so I feel a seedling really needs to really stand out from the crowd to consider giving it a name. I always try to get a second opinion on my babies as I do get attached to them and what I might consider to be a swan is actually an ugly duckling! So, I ask people to look at them and give me their honest opinion.. which they do!
Secondly, seedlings need time to settle and develop to show their true attributes. First flowers are not really an indicator of quality and how the plant may look like when it’s fully mature. It needs to survive and flourish in a garden. Can it cope with the challenges of an ever-changing climate? Does it have good disease resistance, and can it build up a good clump? After all, no one wants a snowdrop that keels over with the first whiff of garden soil or sits and sulks as a singleton for years on end!
With all this in mind, I try and get them trialled in as many gardens and settings as possible over a period of years. Sharing them around is also a great insurance policy in case I lose my own bulb.
Over the years, I’ve bred many seedlings and some of them have not come through. They’ve either succumbed to disease or steadfastly refused to increase. It’s disappointing but some snowdrops just aren’t meant to be. I’m pragmatic about these things and it’s much better that I find this out rather than pass on the disappointment to other people, not to mention investing more time on them.
However, if all goes well then you can look at distributing them more widely. Chipping to increase your numbers and so forth. With a few exceptions though many of my seedlings will simply stay in the garden to increase happily on their own or get passed around for other people to enjoy.
It’s nice to bring them to market but for me this is not why I do it. It’s simply a fascinating hobby. Creative with a bit of science, accepting that often nature will do what it wants anyway no matter hard you try. Making new plants is a lot of fun even if they don’t necessarily turn out to be what you wanted them to be. It’s mostly about the journey, but at its best, when the stars align and your seedling is exactly what you planned 4 years ago it’s an incredible thrill!
