Hitch Lyman, Trumansburg, NY

“My garden tells the story of obsessive compulsive behavior! It is a collector’s garden, the result of passion. I’ve gotten a lot of plants. I’ve also killed a lot of plants. It is all experimentation and this is my laboratory.”

Garden designer, nurseryman, and artist Hitch Lyman is a true collector. His garden features more than 500 varieties of snowdops (Galanthus)—one of the largest collections in the US—which typically begin blooming while snow still covers the region. Launching the nationwide season, Hitch’s Open Day has been a pilgrimage for galanthophiles (snowdrop lovers) since 2006. One club drives six hours each way for the event. Like members of some ancient sect, Open Days galanthophiles convene with fellow (chilly) enthusiasts around a bonfire Hitch lights. He lives in a Greek Revival farmhouse and built a “Greek temple with a Venetian chandelier” as a dining pavilion, but, too far from the house, it now serves as his potting shed. Hitch also runs a mail-order business selling snowdrops “in the green” (just after blooming), the best time to move snowdrops for ready flowering the next year.