Shakespeare's Snowdrops: Galanthus Bred by Heyrick Greatorex

A list of snowdrop varieties named after Shakespeare’s heroines and a bit about the famous hybridizer of double snowdrops

Jan 05, 2025

Image: *Dish by A. & H. L. Hopkins, 1916. Victoria & Albert Museum*

To kick off the year and with snowdrop season upon us, I thought it would be fun to share a list for the budding galanthophile and/or Shakespeare enthusiast. As I was finalizing this post, Plant Heritage announced two new National Plant Collections of Galanthus: one featuring Greatorex Doubles in the orchard and kitchen garden of Walmer Castle in Kent, and another in a private garden in Gloucestershire. The timing couldn’t be better, as we’ll be exploring eight of these Greatorex Doubles in this post.

Heyrick Greatorex is celebrated as one of the earliest snowdrop breeders. In the 1940s, he pioneered the cultivation of double form snowdrops in his garden, aptly named Snowdrop Acre (Rushton, 2019). Greatorex cultivars are reportedly difficult to distinguish. Adding to the challenge, he left no descriptions or illustrations of his varieties, leaving galanthophiles with a touch of uncertainty when identifying his creations.

A cavalry officer in World War I and a defender of Acle Bridge during World War II, Heyrick turned to snowdrop breeding in the 1940s. He began by crossing Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’—an heirloom double snowdrop known for its delicate, green-tipped, milky-white flowers and remarkable naturalizing ability (dating back to 1731)—with Galanthus plicatus, the pleated snowdrop. His goal was to produce hybrid doubles, a project he continued until his passing in 1954. Over a decade, he developed at least 14 distinctive snowdrops, many named after Shakespearean heroines.

Though Shakespeare himself never referenced snowdrops, he was likely familiar with them. These delicate blooms were well-known in the countryside and featured in John Gerard’s The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597)—a work Shakespeare is believed to have drawn upon for botanical references. Gerard described the snowdrop as “Leucojum bulbosum praecox minus. ‘Timely flouring bulbous Violet’”.

“John Gerard, a noted herbalist and botanist during the Elizabethan Era, referred to the snowdrop as a white violet and noted their lack of medicinal properties (Schramm 2016).” -

The Pleasaunce

, In the Pleasaunce with Snowdrops

*The Herball, or, Generall Historie of Plantes*, 1597

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens, the only seller of rare snowdrops in the US that I could find, notes that Titania is one of the rarest and most easily recognizable snowdrop cultivars, distinguished by its distinctive horseshoe marking on the inner perianth segments. Priced at $42 per bulb, Titania has already marked “sold out” on Carolyn’s Shade Gardens’ 2025 catalog. This RHS video beautifully highlights seemingly subtle differences between snowdrop cultivars and the reason for such rarity for certain varieties.