About
Based in the North West of England, I run a very small nursery based at home. I have a passion for many many different plants, but Galanthus is just a genus I really fell in love with around ten years ago. I adore my snowdrops and have spent many years working with them, propagating them and just enjoying them. I have tried my hand at breeding over the years with many successes. I am very excited to be able to say that I will introduce my own plants in the future. But this takes a lot of time in testing and assessing, in order to ensure only the best and most unique, stable and garden worthy plants enter general cultivation.
My season normally starts around September and, in the past, would continue well into April. With our changing climate, however, I think March is the cut off now for the later flowering plants.
Please feel free to contact me via the 'Contact' page on my website if you have any questions. However, I think everyone who knows me knows how much of a nightmare I am in replying to emails, so do include a phone number if you can, as I may prefer to call you, depending on your query. Everything within my business is done by me, as well as having two young children, which means I rarely get much spare time, but will always come back as quickly as I can. I always prioritise sending orders to customers so don't worry about that - your order will normally be posted the next day or, even the same day if ordered early enough. If this is ever not the case you will be contacted and kept updated. Every order is picked and packed by me too and nothing leaves here that I wouldn't be delighted to receive myself.
I will try to post on my 'Blogs' page during the season and beyond. My friend, Lucy Tyler, gave me permission to post an article she had written last season. An extremely interesting and detailed account of her snowdrop breeding work over many years. Lucy has some new introductions that are currently being trialled. All will be available through Lucy directly and through my website, on her behalf, in the future. Some wonderful and exciting plants to look forward to...
All photographs on all pages within this website were taken by me and are of plants within my collection. I hold copyright for all images and they should not be downloaded and used anywhere else without my express permission please. I am quite open to allowing people to use them for various purposes, as long as they are always published with a credit to me or my website. However, please always contact me first to ask.
I wanted to give a bit of info about two groups I'm involved with. Most of my friends in my personal life have very little interest in plants (something I am gradually trying to change!) so meeting so many people over the years through these groups, who have a real passion for plants, has certainly enriched my life significantly. I have met so many wonderful people and learned so many things because of these groups and, as such, I would highly recommend them to anyone.
Hardy Plant Society Galanthus Group
If you love snowdrops; in fact, even if you just 'like' snowdrops, you should become a member of this group. I am on the committee and edit the newsletter for the group, which is physically sent out to all members twice per year, as a full colour A5 booklet. An annual study day is held at various locations around the country with plant sales and lectures from people well-known within the snowdrop world. Zoom lectures during the season also take place so you can watch and listen from the comfort of your living room. All this for a very small membership fee. You do have to be a member of the HPS National Group but that, in itself, offers many benefits to its members, including its excellent seed exchange.
Alpine Garden Society East Cheshire Group
https://alpinegardensociety.net/ags-group/east-cheshire-ags-group
I have been a member of this group for a good few years and I am currently on the committee. If you live within travelling distance of Wilmslow, Cheshire, meetings are held on a Monday evening from September to April, with our group show in May. A speaker attends each meeting to lecture on a different topic each month, and there are always great member plant sales too. Social activities and garden visits also take place during the summer. An excellent and very friendly group of people with some extremely knowledgeable members. As with many plantspeople, they are always happy to share that knowledge with anyone who asks. It would be great to see some of you there if you can make it and you'd be most welcome. If you're further afield, I would certainly recommend joining an AGS group local to you. There are many of them all over the country.
Anyway, that's all for now. I will update this page properly in due course. For now though, I just wanted to get my website live. Autumn flowering snowdrops will be available here around mid to late October. I intend to start listing my main-season plants around mid to late November. I will update with more information soon.
I will also be selling plants on eBay most years. This is mainly to help drive traffic to my website for people who are not aware of it and only tend to shop on eBay. Just so you know it's me, my eBay name is 'willphoto82'.
I wish everyone the very best for the upcoming snowdrop season and I hope I can provide you with some beautiful plants for your garden now and into the future.
All the best
Will