Galanthus ‘Ophelia’

Following from posting Galanthus ‘Dionysus’ last week, this week is another snowdrop double, Galanthus ‘Ophelia’. G. Ophelia is an elegant double, with stronger green markings than G. Dionysus on the inner petals, and with some lighter green markings on the bottom edge of the three outer petals.

Looking at two snowdrop flowers from the side, planted in a terracotta pot. They have fragrant, nodding, white flowers with three larger, green-flushed, outer petals, and double, strongly marked green-marked inner petals. The green on the inner petals fills up a larger part of each the inner petal, with a white edge around it.

Looking at G. Ophelia from above. Once she gets more sun, the inner petals begin to fan out.

Looking from above, but the sun has hit this flower more and the inner petals have fanned out. You can still see the 3 larger outer petals, with the front one with a light flush of green at the end of the petal.

She has a mild fragrance, though you only really notice it if you get up very close indeed. I like to pick one to have on my desk so I can enjoy her up close without having to kneel down on wet soil!

A single picked flower in a small glass vase. It shows the green flushed edges on the outer petals a bit clearer than in the previous photo. You can also see a bit of orange amongst the inner petals; this is a stamen awaiting pollination.
Looking up from below. You can clearly see the 'double' inner petals, with two rows of petals. On a single snowdrop, there will be only one row of the inner petals.

The easiest way to view the inside of the petals is holding a flower in your hand. You can even see the stamens holding the pollen bees seek.

Some white fingers holding the flower up side down to look at the inner petals and their markings.

And…

This is for comparison with a different snowdrop. It is a single Galanthus Ophelia flower in a small glass vase. It shows the green flushed edges on the outer petals a bit clearly, the strong green markings of the inner petals, taking up most of the petal with just some white edging. There are a couple of orange stamens showing too. The flower is contrasted by a purple pot that is out of focus behind it.
Galanthus ‘Ophelia’

To compare her with G. Dionysus, above is Ophelia, and below is Dionysus. You can see the stronger green markings on Ophelia.

For comparison with the previous photo, this is Galanthus Dionysus, where you can see two of the three white outer petals stretched out like arms, with the inner petals in a bell shape. There are no green flushed markings on the outer petals, and the green markings on the inner petals only take up a third of the petal. Again, the flower is contrasted by a purple pot that is out of focus behind it.
Galanthus ‘Dionysus’

At the moment G. Ophelia is growing in a pot, and it seems to like it as I have more flowers this year. Next year I shall split them and plant some into a border and replant some back in the pot.

I love this pretty, elegant snowdrop. She is a little jewel in the garden.

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