Galanthus elwesii The Groom - History in cultvation, to date.

[Rod Begbie]

I received the original bulb in the Spring of 2003, it had split into two noses which were still attached at the base plate. Two small flowers were going over and the leaves were about 5 inches long; quite a small plant.

The first anxiety was whether it would appear the following year. It did, and the year after that; both times as two single noses and only a single flower each. I have mentioned before, my experience of new bulbs taking some number of seasons to settle in and then to start growing well. This proved to be the case. In the next year, there were five, then seven and then twelve. Flowering was now regular with a two flowered scape being produced on two occasions.

That dormant season, I twin scaled five or six bulbs, with no success. Others scaled well that year, including platyphyllus; so the lack of success was a disappointment. The remaining plants became infected with Stagonospora and I feared it would be lost completely. I soak infected bulbs in a mixture of dithane and Bavistin and then spray emerging noses the following Spring with the same mixture. This has always cleaned infected stocks and I have several cultivars previously infected, that have been disease free for six or more years, post treatment.

We all have memories of plants lost. There used to be a giant elwesii growing here. A survivor from some Dutch imported many years ago. It was always 15 inches high and had prominent parallel lines along the leaves. Noel Pritchard suggested the name Tramlines. I lifted the three bulbs, which were the size of daffodils, potted them in a tub, put them in a frame and lost them in a hard winter.

In the meantime, I had put the plant onto the galanthus.co.uk website which created a predictable interest and a demand that could not in anyway be satisfied. I find the high price of bulbs a bit of a difficult topic, one is, after all, taking large amounts of money from enthusiasts with a common interest. I was unsure how best to disseminate the plant and should not, probably, have put it on the website in the first place.

When the healthy stock had increased to twenty plants, I tried scaling again. This time there was a low success rate of establishment, with the few that grew then failing the second Spring; unusual and very disappointing. With the memory of the lost elwesii, the stagonospora scare and the belief that the best way to preserve a plant is to "give it away; I swapped a single bulb with three people. That was two Springs ago.

One bulb went to the continent and two to England. I do not know the people personally, but believe that they are all skilled growers and that The Groom will now have a much firmer toehold in cultivation. I made no comment on the future use of the plants; that is up to them: whilst I might have a view, it is no longer my business.
That same Spring the others were lifted mid-growth and shown at Dunblane, an experience they resented. This Spring they remained in the ground and flowered well at a height of some ten inches and concurrently with Farringdon Double and just after Colossus; very early.

This post is largely in response to fraudulent attempts to sell bulbs on Ebay, using our photograph without permission and a rather hashed version of our website wording. If the new owners of the bulbs I passed on scaled them on receipt (brave and risky) and had more success than I have; then they would still be a few years away from having material to part with; let alone sell to some chancer to put on ebay. Nuff said.

[Maggi Young]

Hello Rod - welcome to the forum and thank you for this valuable post.

Your snowdrop collection is one of the more northerly ones and your experiences are of interest  for that very reason.

[mark smyth]

If the new owners of the bulbs I passed on scaled them on receipt (brave and risky) and had more success than I have; then they would still be a few years away from having material to part with; let alone sell to some chancer to put on ebay. Nuff said.

I'd think all the main Galanthus suppliers would chip bulbs in the year they are given one and could have bulbs for sale in three years. They may chip bulbs again before they are flowering sized

[Maggi Young]

Those Groom's  were given away were  only two years ago, Mark - and even if someone had been very fast and very successful, the point is that these would not be saleable bulbs now  - as is being claimed by the person stealing other people's photos to try to sell things.

[Maggi Young]

They may chip bulbs again before they are flowering sized

If anyone respectable was doing that and selling those little bulblets, they would state as much.

 

[snowdropcollector]

Thanks Rod, for telling us the story of 'The Groom'. Very interesting 

I know were it is on the continent and have seen it this year. It maybe will have a offset this year. One thing is sure, the plant is still
at the place were it was sent too. And will stay there !!

[Alan_b]

Rod, thank you so much for posting.  I find the history behind the various snowdrop cultivars extremely interesting and really enjoyed reading your account.  It's refreshing when growers admit to setbacks as well as success.  And I too am a great believer in the philosophy (attributed to Lady Moore) that to keep a plant you should give it away.  I love the name 'The Groom' (as this snowdrop is an 'inverse poculiform' elwesii and therefore forms a counterpart to the poculiform elwesii 'The Bride').

Obviously this means that it is very unlikely indeed that the snowdrop being sold on eBay as 'The Groom' is genuine and this could be confirmed absolutely by contacting the three people to whom you passed on a bulb. 

[emma T]

The person I know who has it , hasn't given it away

[Alan_b]

So the only possibility that it could be genuine is that it derives from one of the other two bulbs that were swapped.  In fact, given the timing and the fact that the seller claims it is in flower, it would pretty much have to be one of those bulbs, possibly an offset.  That seems beyond credibility.

Edit: The bulb on eBay believed to be a 'fake' was withdrawn from sale before the auction closed.