The Itch

The dirge of winter is beginning to press in and all those qualities that you like to discourage start mounting: itchiness, impatience, fresh air starvation... the very notion of renewal is yet nowhere to be seen. Not a snow drop in my yard.But in my mailbox, a most extraordinary Snowdrops catalogue, or rather a little pamphlet printed on quality paper, the kind Glenn Horowitz (the great rare book dealer) might use to catalogue the handwritten poems of Vita Sackville-West or sell manuscripts from the typewriter of Cormac McCarthy. Not only was the envelope hand-addressed in a flourish with real ink, but the photo on the front is even "tipped in." How can I resist couture snowdrops? I cannot.
I might have to settle for just a few 'named ones' and a few ordinaries because the prices are, well, extraordinary. From Van Engelen you can get 50 Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno' for $28.75 --- as bulbs delivered in autumn to be planted then and bloom in spring. From The Temple Nursery, a Galanthus specialist extraordinaire, you will get 3 for $18; but your bulbs will arrive 'in the green' this spring freshly dug and in full-growth.I am used to shelling out $20 or $30 for one desired Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but $10, $30 - even $50 for one snowdrop is totally beyond my ken. I have found one described as eccentric for $7 each and I'll go for a few of those and maybe one or two things more. Really, I can't resist.The descriptions and the language of the 'How to Grow' part are ...really...priceless.
Niether phone nor email address, just the good old way, please send $3 for catalogueThe Temple NurseryBox 591Trumansburg, NY 14886