Dryad Nursery news 2024

[annew]

Our EBAY listings finishing tonight include the first to be offered of our stunning new yellow ipoc, DRYAD APOLLO. It has taken me many years work to get to this stage, and I’m excited that it will finally be added to a lucky bidder’s collection.

The second newcomer in the snowdrops is out true inverse poculiform DRYAD REMUS, with its six equal segments each with a bright green vertical stripe.

Completing the snowdrop trio is the second bulb of DRYAD MINUET, our compact little green with the perky attitude.

Our daffodils include no less than three newly registered miniatures:

FOLLETTA with her pixie-cap perianth and green reverse
IVORY BELLE with its widely-flaring fluted corona, perfect for alpine exhibitors
and MAGGI YOUNG, a personal favourite (the bulb and the lady) with its classic poise, frilled trumpet and gently reflexed perianth.

To keep these company is a rarely offered cyclamineus hybrid from Brian Duncan. His ÉPONINE has a swept-back white perianth and subtly shaded, long primrose corona.
Two of our visitor favourites complete the ensemble.
Our award-winning PEACH TWIST has a symmetrically twisted white perianth surrounding its peachy corona.
SWIFTLET is our tiniest cyclamineus hybrid only 7 cm high with palest lemon glistening flowers in perfect proportion. A real talking point on the show bench.

As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Starting tonight on EBAY:
We are delighted to introduce the first seedling to be registered from our breeding programme for the green ovary/ yellow mark characteristic. DRYAD SUNRISE was named for the inner segment mark, deep and dark over the sinus, becoming glowing yellow above.
Flowering at 15 cm high under glass, DRYAD SUNRISE has large shapely flowers held on a long pedicel which hangs free of the curved spathe, allowing the flowers to swing with the breeze. The leaves are neat and narrow, semi-upright and short at flowering time, presenting the flowers well.
The tip of the pedicel is yellow where it joins the pea-green ovary. The long outer segments are cupped, ridged and of heavy substance, with a long claw that reveals the markings on the inners. These are washed pale yellow apart from the crisp white margin. At the apex, there is an inverted V, deep olive over the narrow sinus, grading into glowing golden yellow, shading gently towards the base where there are two more diffuse yellow patches. The underside of the inner segments is strong yellow, which adds to the overall glow when lit from behind. The golden colour deepens as the flowers mature.
Bred from South Hayes x Blonde Inge, it is worth noting that it carries genes for both ipoc and yellow characteristics, so may produce some surprising seedlings!
Our second bulb of our new true inverse poculiform, DRYAD REMUS, shares tonight’s snowdrop billing.

For our daffodils, six of our best are assembled for you tonight. Four of the new introductions for this year make their second showing:
Perfumed ALBIA with her unique ancestry and lemon reflexed flowers with the signature white-rimmed corona.
Elegant, snowy white IAN YOUNG with its fluted, nodding bells.
Cheeky golden yellow DUCKLING and
Sparkling STARINA with her signature six-lobed corona.
They are supported by two of our best exhibition miniatures, LITTLE GOLDHEART with the lining of golden yellow to its creamy cup, and serene MICA, a rare white division 2 with excellent show form.


As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Finishing on EBAY tonight, the first offering of our new yellow, the distinctive and eye-catching DRYAD SUNRISE. The large, pendulous flowers will catch any early sun and breeze to bring movement and light to the spring garden.
She is attended by the second bulb of the true inverse poculiform DRYAD REMUS, with its neatly regular, striped segments.

The narcissi encompass six distinct forms ideal for exhibition. The crystalline white of the miniature starry STARINA, less than 3cm across on short stems for perfect balance, and the beautifully poised, multi-flowered IAN YOUNG, elegant and slightly taller. Snowy MICA has excellent show form, and has already won many prizes.

Two of the featured daffodils sport pale lemon colouring with a surprise in the corona – ALBIA’s white rim and perfume from her unique N. albimarginatus parentage, and the deep yellow lining of LITTLE GOLDHEART.

For a more classic colouring, jaunty DUCKLING is a cheeky charmer to complete the assembly.


As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Starting tonight on EBAY – our penultimate listings for 2024.

The star of the show is the second bulb of our stunning new yellow ipoc, DRYAD APOLLO.
DRYAD APOLLO’s flowers are a perfect cone, each segment with a delicately upturned rim. The deep yellow apical mark reaches halfway to the base, where it is echoed by another misting of yellow. On a level with this ethereal mark, the long claw reveals the deep yellow of the inner segment mark, covering almost the whole of the segment. The show is completed by the cylindrical ovary and pedicel in a matching hue. At 15cm high, the upright stems hold the flowers well above the short, broad leaves.

Our second and FINAL bulb of DRYAD SUNRISE completes the snowdrops offered tonight, her large flowers swinging on long pedicels, tinted gold where they meet the apple-green ovary. The inner segments display a gradient from olive at the sinus, through bright gold, which diffuses to pale yellow towards the base. The under surface is almost wholly yellow, which shines through the segment when backlit.

Our daffodils in this listing include the LAST to be offered this year of three of our new introductions:

Creamy IVORY BELLE makes a fantastic display in a container for exhibition, especially at alpine shows, the wide, outward-facing, fluted bells backed by a starry perianth.
MAGGI YOUNG with her classic good looks, gently reflexed perianth and long, frilled corona is in perfect proportion to her upright stems and leaves in a complementary rich, dark green.
Similar in colour, but quite different in personality, FOLLETTA’s swept back, pointed perianth is backed with flashes of bright green.
Also making its final appearance this session is our award-winning division 1, PEACH TWIST, with its symmetrically spiralling white perianth, and flamboyant frilled corona, opening soft yellow, and maturing to an alluring peach.
Finally, our favourite tiny cyclamineus hybrid, SWIFTLET charms everyone with its petite flowers only 3cm from the end of the corona to the tip of its completely reflexed perianth. Opening glistening pale lemon, it matures to all white. A great talking point for exhibition and very popular with showgoers, especially children.

As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Finishing on EBAY tonight:

Top billing goes to the second bulb of DRYAD APOLLO, our entrancing new yellow ipoc, supported by the LAST bulb of DRYAD SUNRISE, in their own way each promising a golden display next spring.

In the daffodils, tonight is your last chance to add some of our new introductions to your collection – perfumed ALBIA, serene IVORY BELLE, classic golden MAGGI YOUNG and pixy-hatted FOLLETTA all making their farewell performance.
In a guest appearance, the final PEACH TWIST and tiny, streamlined SWIFTLET complete the cast.

Only one more batch of listings to go!

As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Starting tonight on EBAY – our FINAL listings for 2024.

DRYAD APOLLO, sixteen years in the making, is again the star of the show. I’m not sure whether any will be available next year, as I need to increase my stock again, so this might be the last chance to add this rare beauty to your collection for a while.
Two of our other new snowdrops are also taking their final bow - DRYAD MINUET, the neat little green with the horizontal blaze of emerald, and the perky attitude, and DRYAD REMUS, the rare true inverse poculiform, each segment with a green stripe down the centre.

Three of our new miniatures head up the daffodil section, cheeky DUCKLING with its golden flared trumpet and gently reflexed perianth, contrasts with the sharper, sleeker and more swept back FOLLETTA.
Twinkling STARINA, in snowy white and less than 3cm across, centred with the starry, six-lobed corona completes the new trio.
Apparently zooming in at the last minute, the completely reflexed perianth of SWIFTLET is enhanced by its glistening, pale lemon colour, maturing to all white.


As usual, you can find the listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Our final listings for 2024 finish tonight – so this is your last chance to add our exclusive snowdrops and daffodils to your collections.
In the season finale, DRYAD APOLLO, DRYAD MINUET and DRYAD REMUS share the snowdrop billing, while the daffodil ensemble sports golden DUCKLING and FOLLETTA, sparkling white STARINA and the baby of the bunch, SWIFTLET.

Meanwhile, our overseas orders will be on their way next week, and my house can stop being a packing shed, and become a sorting shed for The Grand Repotting. I can finally take off my dispatch / IT / social media department hats and stick to just my comfortable potting one.

My thanks to all our customers and bidders for your orders, and your support. I hope you have a wonderful spring in 2025.

You can find the final listings here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dryadzny/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
GOOD LUCK!

[annew]

Our new autumn snowdrop seedling  AW 4819 caused a bit of a stir at the recent AGS show at RHS Harlow Carr, and along with some very nice silverware, was given an Award of Merit by the Joint Rock Garden Committee. When this happens, it is required to give the plant a name, so I would consequently like to introduce DRYAD REGINA.
This queen among snowdrops was named in homage to her parent species, G. reginae-olgae, but also as a nod to our other Autumn Aristocrats group, to which she is related through a common mother species, and yet with a slightly different heritage – the other Aristocrats have G. peshmenii as pollen parent.
DRYAD REGINA is a seedling from G. reginae-olgae ‘Blanc de Chine’, a much sought-after albino variety of the familiar autumn-flowering species from Greece.  Dryad Regina’s shapely flowers are not completely white, retaining two faint green spots at the apex of the inner segments, and a green wash on the underside. The two varieties converge, however, when you bear in mind that ‘Blanc de Chine’ occasionally shows green on the inners, and Dryad Regina’s flowers mature to almost completely white (if not pollinated – that makes the flowers go over too quickly to show the change).
The outer segments of Dryad Regina are fuller and more rounded than Blanc de Chine, giving the flower more impact. It also seems to be more vigorous, Blanc de Chine being known for its miffiness and slow increase. Both cultivars flower before the leaves emerge.
G. reginae-olgae DRYAD REGINA description:
Ex G. reginae-olgae ‘Blanc de Chine’, sown 2017. Flowering in October at 140mm high, before the leaves emerge. The spathe is curved, and slightly shorter than the pedicel, while the ovary is egg-shaped. The outer segments are 27mm long, and 17mm wide (when flattened) and rounded, with a 6mm long ‘claw’. The inner segments are 12mm long by 10mm wide and bear two faint green spots at the apex, fading as the flower matures. The underside of the inners shows pale green shading between the veins. The flowers are scented with a fresh grassy or citrus-like perfume.