Seeking Galanthophiles from Down Under!

[Danielle G]

Hello all,

I have been lurking around this site as a guest for some 2 years and decided to officially join a week ago. 

I am a 33 year old Galanthophile from Hobart, Tasmania. I have been growing snowies for some 8 or 9 years and started buying them off Barb Jennings (who is more well known for her beautiful hellebores). For the last couple of seasons I have been buying bulbs off Marcus Harvey - I am fortunate to live only 5 minutes from Marcus.

It was Marcus himself who suggested that I join this site as a way of making contacts - in Tasmania there seem to be few growing galanthus despite ideal growing conditions. I would love to make contact with other Galanthus fans - Australian and overseas.

I have a tiny inner city garden at the rear of an old co-joined house. The rear garden is dominated by a 100 year old bay tree - in fact we called our house 'Laurus'.

I grow a wide range of plants but my favourites include Japanese windflowers, Fritillaria meleagris and the Tassie native Nothofagus gunnii and of course Galanthus!

Most of my galanthus are in pots - especially the rarer varieties - but I have planted more readily available varieties in clumps throughout the garden.

My favourites include 'Lady Elphinstone' and Sam Arnott - I have recently acquired a Primrose Warburg from Marcus so I am really looking forward to that flowering - may or may not be quite up to flowering size this year! 

I am looking at twin scaling at the end of this year (late December onwards) and would be more than happy to exchange varieties with any Australian Galanthus growers! In fact I would love to hear from other Aussie growers about their twin scaling and chipping efforts!

I would also love to hear from any UK or EU growers who know of growers or nurseries who are prepared to jump through the CITES hoops and export to Australia - I am thinking of looking into importing some bulbs in the future to increase varieties down under. I am hugely envious of the hundreds of varieties available to growers in the UK and the continent! I would LOVE to get 'Trym' as well as some of those lovely green galanthus and all-white varieties such as The Bride. sighhhhhhh!

So that's me. I thought I would finally stop lurking and drop a line to say hello and get in contact with other galanthophile nuts!

Once my galanthus bulbs start flowering this year, I will be more than happy to post some photo's if anyone is interested.

best wishes 

Danielle

[Brian Ellis]

Welcome Danielle, I am sure you will be besieged with contacts.  Good to know you all persevere despite not having access to the varieties we have.  You won't regret joining, I didn't for a second

[Paddy Tobin]

Hi Danielle,

Welcome to the site (as a now officially registered member!)

Are there restrictions on what plants you can receive in the post in Tasmania? Is swapping between gardeners abroad out of the question for you?

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Hello Danielle, great to have you join us     You already know how many galanthophiles there are around here so I do hope you are successful in pulling together some Down-Under support for the 'Drops 

[vivienr]

Once my galanthus bulbs start flowering this year, I will be more than happy to post some photo's if anyone is interested.

I'm sure that most of us northern galanthophiles would love to see your photos Danielle. As most of ours have finished flowering we are suffering severe withdrawal symptoms

[Danielle G]

Thanks for the responses guys! I have been reading the blog a while and it will be great to talk about snowdrops with other galanthophiles! 

It is interesting reading other people's cultivation and chipping notes - it is always great to see some advice or suggestions from those with far more experience and knowledge.

It is sometimes frustrating being down here in Oz and seeing all those varieties you guys can get!  I think the worst thing I ever did was buy Matt Bishop's galanthus A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus as I can now see how many varieties are out there! I can honestly say it was purchasing this book that resulted in my galanthus fever! Damn you Matt! 

However I am thinking of experimenting with crossing varieties and growing by seed. Maybe I can get something different. I would also like to look at importing, despite the cost, purely to get some new varieties into my collection and also pass them onto other Australian collectors. I think Jon (my better half) will have a pink fit if I go down the importing path! 

I will certainly post some pics when my 'drops start coming up. Unfortunately I was in Europe all last winter and missed seeing the vast majority of my bulbs come up. But on the up side I did get to see Monet's Garden and Villa d'Este while we were away!

It is lovely looking at the photo's that everyone else puts up. I buy English gardening and landscaping mags because there's always a pretty good chance that Winter issues have a galanthus article or two. I am pretty impressed that people can say with certainty what an unknown variety actually is by inspecting photo's. I have a loooooong way to go, some of them look the same to me! I have one such mystery bulb - maybe if it flowers this year, I'll post a pic up and people may be able to identify it.

Does anyone know if 'John Gray' is available in Australia? Other than 'Trym', that's one variety I would love to get my mitts on!

thanks all!

best wishes

[rob krejzl]

Hi Danielle,

I grow a few snowdrops down in Snug (Elphinstone, Ophelia, Pewsey Green Tips, etc.), though I'm more obsessed by slightly larger things.

You haven't mentioned Sally J as a source - she'll sometimes have varieties that Marcus doesn't, though bulbs aren't her primary focus. Talk to her as well because her mainland contacts are good and she can probably point you towards the right people up there. You might also see if you can talk to the Gillanders - I remember a few 'drops from the last time I was up there.

By the way, nice view of the warehouses behind Salamanca market in your picture!

[Danielle G]

Hi Paddy - 
Yes, we have a lot of restrictions down here so far as importing bulbs into the country. I wouldn't want to put anyone through it - if you were to send me some bulbs you would have to organise a CITES permit as well as a phytosanitary cert and then from my end I would have to sort out an import permit and quarantine facilities. As much as I would love to swap with people overseas - I would hate to put them through the hassle and expense. Unless of course that is what they do for a living (export bulbs and sort out certificates, and permits, etc). At the end of the day all the regulations help protect our flora and fauna from nasties so that's the main thing!
I would LOVE to have access to the varieties you guys get in the UK but I would probably be constantly broke! 

Hi Rob - thanks very much for the message, you're the sort of man I have been looking for! 
I do have Ophelia and Lady Elphinstone but I would love to see what other varieties you have. Likewise I can give you a list of what cultivars I have (about 27 different ones) if you want any complimentary bulbs to add to your collection! Please send me an email! 
I would also love to get in contact with Sally J (and the Gillanders) if she wouldn't mind, and any other interested Aussie or Tassie growers who wouldn't mind me dropping them a line and see if they have any cultivars I do not - and would like to swap. I would be more than happy to do exchanges. Some varieties I only have 1 or 2 bulbs but most I have at least half a dozen, or in the case of a few 'common' varieties - dozens. Would you be able to pass on their contact details by email - it would be marvellous if you could. Pewsey Green Tips sound great!  Thanks again!

cheers