Galanthus hybr. ‘Franz Josef’

The regular double snowdrop variety ’Franz Josef’ was found by Michael Dreisvogt around 1999 in a park in Munich, Germany. To his request, the responsible gardeners gave him some bulbs. The original plant is probably still there today.
The snowdrop collector Dreisvogt is the technical director of the Arboretum Park Härle Foundation in Bonn-Oberkassel in Germany. Since the thick, round flowers of this snowdrop reminded him of the Bavarian politician Franz Josef Strauss, he initially named the snowdrop 'Franz Josef' just for fun. In the following period, Dreisvogt sent bulbs to Joe Sharman, Avon Bulbs and Wol Staines for propagation in England. The first plants were sold through the Monksilver Nursery.

Galanthus ‘Franz Josef’ is one of the most attractive double snowdrops, with well-defined green spots on the pointed outer petals. The markings on the inner petals can be either connected or split in an upper and lower mark.
Although the variety is still quite rare in collections and is one of the most expensive double snowdrops, it multiplies well and is generally vigorous, provided that it likes the location.
There is some confusion as to the genetics of this Galanthus ‘Franz Josef’. It can often be found listed as pure Galanthus elwesii, but this cannot be due to its overall characteristics. Nonetheless, this hybrid undoubtedly has a very high percentage of elwesii blood.