Margaret McAllister OwenMBE (née Mackay; 27 November 1930 – 24 October 2014) was a British farmer,
gardener and heritage activist.
Snowdrops
She collected, grew, arranged and exhibited plants, especially
snowdrops, holding an annual snowdrop party in her
Shropshire garden, The Patch, each year in February.[1] A snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii Margaret Owen was named after her.[2] She herself named a snowdrop after her husband, Galanthus elwesii Godfrey Owen.[3] This has two sets of six petals – inner and outer. This has made it especially popular, and it has been propagated by
twin-scaling to make it widely available.[4]
Owen campaigned to save
Rowley's House museum in
Shrewsbury.[10][11] She also founded The Corbet Bed Embroiders Trust to create period hangings for the sixteenth-century
Corbet Bed.[12][13][14] In 2010, she was awarded the honour of Most Excellent Order of the British EmpireMBE, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences.[15][16]