Rising from my sickbed after a week out of action, I find the world has gone mad - or has it? Thompson & Morgan have just spent £725 - that's $1146 - on one snowdrop. I'm pasting in their press release below so you can see what they say about it. Sounds astonishing - or "completely mad" as one garden writer as already said - but T&M's Paul Hansord is a smart guy. I've known him for decades, he knows what he's doing. And it does look gorgeous (left, click to enlarge). Here's todays's press release in full.

"On Thursday 16 February at 14:40 after a bidding frenzy of over 30 bidders Thompson & Morgan, the Ipswich based mail order plant and seed company, acquired the world’s most expensive snowdrop Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ for £725.  This is a unique striking variety with a golden yellow ovary and yellow petal markings.

"The price is almost double the previous world record price for a single rare bulb of Galanthus ‘Green Tear’ sold for £360 last year. 

"Over the last few years the amount paid for unique Galanthus bulbs has been steadily rising as they have created more interest and in 2008 a single rare bulb fetched £226. 

"Thompson & Morgan hopes to be able to produce this variety and bring pleasure to as many gardeners as possible.  These unique Galanthus are notorious for their slow rates of multiplication but we hope to be able to look into commercial production via tissue culture, which will be the most time consuming and expensive part of the venture – buying the bulb was the easy part!

"When Thompson & Morgan purchased the world’s first Black Hyacinth ‘Midnight Mystique’ in 1998 for £50,000 a bulb, it took 15 years before it was available to the general public and demand has always outstripped stock. 

"We anticipate this beautiful snowdrop will create interest amongst enthusiasts and home gardeners alike, thanks to the ‘snowdrop mania’ that has descended on the UK in recent years.  What a welcome sight snowdrops can be at the start of spring.

"Last year we sold over 1 million snowdrops and have tried for many years to source the right golden variety in order to bring a wider range of unique snowdrops to the home gardener.

"The stunning snowdrop Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ was named after the owner of the garden where it first appeared as a seedling in a Scotland a few years ago and it has not been identified growing anywhere else.

"To celebrate this ‘snowdrop mania’ Thompson & Morgan are offering customers the chance to buy 75 single snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) bulbs at less than half price for £7.99 code YP05902 available on our website www.thompson-morgan.com. (UK customers only)."

I wonder how long it will be before we see Galanthus woronowii ‘Elizabeth Harrison’ in the Thompson & Morgan catalog...