Galanthus in January 2018

[Anne Repnow]

Call me courageous or foolish, it works rather well for me since many years  . Obviously, I have the "precious ones" in a well-watched area, i.e. along my fagus sylvatica hedge, where a snowdrop's worst enemy, the lawnmower, doesn't hit  them too early...

:-D Excellent! I am glad it works because I have started putting the odd drop in the lawn when I split a clump. But I was very dubious whether it would work.

[Alan_b]

This snowdrop came to me as G. gracilis ex Jimmy Platt. It´s certainly gracile, but lacks the usual basal marks. Does anybody know more about it?

I don't know it.  Could it be a gracilis x nivalis hybrid?  There is a Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii 'Jimmy Platt'; seemingly he was a friend of Primrose Warberg.

[Alan_b]

...  a snowdrop's worst enemy, the lawnmower...

In my garden the snowdrop's worst enemy is the larvae of the swift moth, which live underground.  I think these insects may prefer life under the lawn, where they are less accessible to predators.  Snowdrops don't do well in grass for me, unless it is very sparse as it might be under a tree.

[cfaitz]

:-D Excellent! I am glad it works because I have started putting the odd drop in the lawn when I split a clump. But I was very dubious whether it would work.

In my experience, the open lawn is indeed difficult; rather, I have my snowdrops in close proximity to (i.e., under) my fagus hedge, where I only start to keep the grass short per May or so, if at all necessary. This way, my snowdrops have light in the winter and shade in the summer. Rather than cutting the hedge in February, I do this in late December or early January, in order not to damage the emerging snowdrops.

[Mariette]

I don't know it.  Could it be a gracilis x nivalis hybrid?  There is a Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii 'Jimmy Platt'; seemingly he was a friend of Primrose Warberg.

Thank You, Alan, I´m not sure whether there is any gracilis in it at all. The apices of the inners show no sign of being  reflexed, a feature which is found even in the hybrids of Galanthus gracilis quite regularly.

[Alan_b]

..., I´m not sure whether there is any gracilis in it at all. .....

To be honest I thought that too, but I did not wish to appear rude.  I wonder if what you have was somehow accidentally switched for a different snowdrop somewhere along its route to your garden?  it's quite an easy mistake to make, particularly if the bulb was dormant at the time.  Jimmy Platt does have a snowdrop named after him but it's an elwesii, judging by the leaves https://www.avonbulbs.co.uk/spring-planted-bulbs-and-snowdrops/galanthus-snowdrops/galanthus-jimmy-platt .  But there is a picture here http://www.vrvforum.be/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=u7jhvo4h4cd8gv48f65nr947p4&topic=922.msg39559#msg39559 from Lina Hesseling that shows a different "Jimmy Platt" that is obviously a gracilis and nothing like yours.  Lina is a forum member http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1331 but has not be sighted here since 2014. 

[Maggi Young]

Lina was "here" yesterday! 

[Alan_b]

Lina was "here" yesterday! 

Oh yes, that's good.  Perhaps she will be motivated to comment?  Lina, if you read this, can you tell us something about your Galanthus gracilis "Jimmy Platt" or perhaps it's "ex Jimmy Platt" (as Avon bulbs seem to have used-up the name). 

[Mariette]

Well, I suspected that names got mixed up and hoped that someone might be able to show the true Galanthus gracilis ex Jimmy Platt.

[Maggi Young]

When I see  a name like  that    .... plant  ex  Jane Doe ...... my first thought is that  it refers to a plant originally received by someone from the person of that name, before I think it might be a seedling from a plant bearing the name  'Jane Doe' .

[David Lowndes]

Yes, that’s what I think too e.g. Galanthus green-leaved hybrid ex Richard Nutt

[Alan_b]

Well, I suspected that names got mixed up and hoped that someone might be able to show the true Galanthus gracilis ex Jimmy Platt.

Sorry, Mariette, I carelessly missed-out the link to what might well be the true Galanthus gracilis ex Jimmy Platt in my earlier post. Lets try again:
http://www.vrvforum.be/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=u7jhvo4h4cd8gv48f65nr947p4&topic=922.msg39559#msg39559

[Mariette]

Thank You ever so much, Alan! This really looks like a Galanthus gracilis that Jimmy Platt may have distributed. Perhaps Lina may help with a pic showing the inners and tell the story behind.

[Harald-Alex.]

This is my first post in this forum, so please be patient with me Took some pictures today in my garden, below is a selection of  1) Grumpy, 2) Green Tear, 3) Madelaine, and 4) South Hayes. Slugs are a big problem in my garden this year due to the unusually mild and wet weather. Best solution for me is to venture out with a headlamp and scissors every night...


( Hello !  edit by maggi to rotate two photos- had to change the order for that!)

Hello Cfaitz, I see, You are new in SRGC as I too and Your fotos show a fine first sortiment of snowdropsorts! I started two years ago to collect namesorts of snowdrops and so also the "TOP 25 of best British Snowdrops". For planting near shrups or trees I use prepared beds with plastic gaze protection against muizes and set sandstones at the border to the lawn, see foto. So the visitors (and the grasmower too) do not damage the snowdrops and the flowers are easier to visit. The humous sandy soil I mix with good compost and "Leonardit"( an organic material to get better soils) and use some organic manure! The results are good! In my collection I have now 120 sorts within 8 of autumnflowering G. r-o. This year I opened this "Schneeglöckchengarten" first time!