Galanthus 'Backhouse Spectacles'
7th February 2014
An undistinguished member of the 'Atkinsii' group. I have had it since the late 1980's but it languishes in a corner
and is a bit uninteresting so I overlook it. When it is good it is perfectly serviceable but it has
the tall growth of 'Atkinsii' and the same mechanical triangularity of the flowers without the lush
tubby enthusiasm of G. nivalis which makes it a larger, lesser plant.
When you see re-imaginings of mediaeval monks copying manuscripts with goose-feather quills there is a
candle-lit opulence about the scene. In reality the smooth vane of a goose quill is split by the slightest
touch into sections (trust me, I've handled some geese in my time, tuck them under your arm or they'll shit
down your trousers). Those same monks had a pot with a bundle of manky feathers spattered with ink
and whatever filth a mediaeval monk was coated in. It wasn't pretty, stylish or opulent.
Neither is 'Backhouse Spectacles'.
19th January 2017
12th January 2021