It's happened again; one bulb of Galanthus plicatus 'Golden Fleece' has sold for £1,390, breaking the previous record for the most expensive snowdrop on Ebay by a considerable amount!
Here's the proof: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galanthus-plicatus-Golden-Fleece-snowdrop-/141578093841
While the horticultural world (myself included) scoffs at the madness of someone paying so much money for one bulb, maybe we're missing a bigger point?
We all know what you could spend £1,390 on. You could buy a 'runaround' secondhand car for that in many areas, or book a week away. You could buy a specimen shrub, or even a fairly big greenhouse if you bought it from a DIY store.
You could buy a fairly basic Cartier wristwatch for around the same amount. You could buy a medium sized Givency handbag for only a few pounds less, and be in the same region as a pair of leather shoes from Gucci... this list could go on!
Although the final price of this snowdrop (which is very nice and distinctive) has raised eyebrows, it's not really the amount of money that has caught people out; no, it's the fact that someone has spent that much money on a mere snowdrop.
Like collectors of anything, hardcore galanthophiles will make their own judgement on what they feel is a reasonable amount of money to spend on something for their collection. Also as with collectors of other things, such as silverware for example, the majority of collectors will have to collect within their price range while some people are lucky enough to be able to spend much more on their hobby.
Maybe we're all a bit jealous? Maybe secretly we'd quite like to be the one making that much money from selling spares from our gardens and plant collections? I know I would!
We should change our outlook and stop focusing on the £1,390 spent on a single bulb, and instead be glad that there are people out there who love gardening so much that they will spend this much money on their plants!
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