Galanthus April 2021

[Villu]

Dear Maggi, Tristan and Leena, thank you for the warm welcome!
Gail, your Estonian is perfect! I had such a laugh! I hope you can make it here soon. It is worth it! Hapukapsad ja verivorstid are waiting for you! 
Leena, Estonia is roughly divided into two by soil conditions. The northern part sits on limestone and soils are neutral to alkaline there and in the southern part, it is sandstone which makes soils more acidic. My home is Viljandi county, which is in the south, but in our area soils are rather heavy, sitting on clay and they are neutral. If it is cultivated for long, it is black and rich. I think my snowdrops like it. I grow mine in the same bed with hostas and I add leaf mould every autumn.   

Snowdrop season is getting over here. The early ones have finished flowering but the mid-season group is still fresh. However, I think this warm spell will finish them off soon. Some pictures from yesterday.

Big drops and small daffs

Snowdrop Bed

Snowdrop Bed 2


More pictures can be seen in my blog:
https://tistoupaevaraamat.blogspot.com/2021/04/selle-kevade-paev.html (pictures from yesterday)
https://tistoupaevaraamat.blogspot.com/2021/04/lumikellukeste-valevus.html (pictures from a week ago).

Coming back to different snowdrops producing multiple scapes, my most floriferous snowdrop must be G. plicatus 'John Long'. I have two plants that are young, but already having three scapes per bulb.

Six leaves, eight flowers, 'John Long'

G. plicatus 'John Long'

[Leena]

Your snowdrops really like your garden and soil, they grow so well  . There were so nice pictures in your blog, and all so tidy that I'm so envious.

I must move my 'John Long', it does ok, but not really to it's full potential. I have read also elsewhere that it is a very good doer.

Also here snowdrop season is slowly coming to end. Here most flower at the same time: that is when the snow melts. Only the latest ones are still full well,
and 'Cicely Hall' growing in shade is only now coming up.

[Gail]

Hapukapsad ja verivorstid are waiting for you!

I enjoyed the porgandipirukas and it is a useful picnic food with vegetarian friends but I must admit the hapukapsad ja verivorstid are not things I am in a hurry to try! 
Love that picture of the Big drops and small daffs - I think soft yellow companions really help to bring out the yellow in the yellow snowdrops.

[Leena]

I bought one bulb of 'Emerald Isle' in 2016, and it flowered in spring 2017. Then it disappeared alltogether for 2018 and made just a couple of leaves in 2019 and 2020.
Now it has made several leaves and one flower, so it seems not to like very much to grow here. It is the latest one of my snowdrops to flower.

[Leena]

Here is a closer picture of it.

[Alan_b]

Hello Villu; sorry I have been slow come back here to welcome you.  I'm afraid the only Estonian I know is Arvo Pärt (and I don't mean know in person).  At the moment the snowdrop world is largely obsessed with novelty; you are wise to pay attention to garden-worthiness like the number of flowers per bulb.

I was wandering around the grounds of Howick Hall today, looking at their vast quantities of daffodils and some other enviable spring flowers.  I noticed one solitary snowdrop still in flower.  Was it delayed for some reason or is it naturally at the far end of the distribution curve of flowering times?



   

[Villu]

Hello Alan! I am glad if you know Arvo Pärt and his music! He most likely might be the most well known Estonian these times. He has written some excellent music!

Snowdrops are basically over now. Today only G. plicatus 'E.A. Bowles' and 'Cicely Hall' are in bloom.

But on Wednesday, when I took pictures there were some more.

In my garden and among snowdrops I have, 'E.A. Bowles' is always the last snowdrop to bloom. Some years reaching to May. Super beautiful at the moment.


It is 'Cicely Halls' first year in my garden. I didn't know she was late, I picked her because of the beautiful all green inners. It came up so late so I thought it was dead.


'John Gray' on the other hand is one of the first to emerge and to flower. But it proves to be one of the longest blooming too!


G. plicatus 'Trympostor' is blooming very long.


G. nivalis 'Virescens' is well known late snowdrop.

[Villu]

And I don't want to leave out one more snowdrop that was in bloom on Wednesday. It is 'Marjorie Brown'. She is late, opening her blooms a lot later than the others. But unfortunately, she is also very quick and blooms fade about the same time as on midseason snowdrops. Maybe it is because of the warm weather which usually ends the snowdrop season here. But what I love about her are the ghostly grey broad leaves!


One more 'E.A Bowles' to finish off.


Leena, do you still have many drops in bloom? I guess you had the same warm spell as we did?


Huh, and I almost left out my much-admired G. elwesii 'Pat Mason'. She was one of the first special snowdrops along with 'Wendy's Gold' I acquired from Ebay. I wanted it so badly and I still love her very deeply! 
She also starts very early here and carries on a long time.

[Leena]

Great photos Villu!

Leena, do you still have many drops in bloom? I guess you had the same warm spell as we did?

Yes, it was unusually warm week and many earlier flowers are starting to look not their best any more, but there are still many snowdrops flowering here:). Now it rained yesterday and it is going to be a rainy and cold week-end, and all next week they promise night temperatures below freezing, so spring is slowing down. I will have to look what snowdrops there are still looking good, but also here 'Cicely Hall' just started to flower and 'E.A.Bowles' is still looking good. We seem to have a similar taste in snowdrops because EAB is also one of my big favorites. Not doing as well as with you  , but still slowly increasing.
There are now so many other plants starting to flower that I haven't taken snowdrop pictures last week:(.
I found one picture taken four days ago of a nice Crocus abantensis, but in the background there is 'Mrs Macnamara' still looking quite good. It is always one of the first the come through snow and even in winter 2020 when we didn't have snow nearly at all, but still cold, it came through well, so it is also very cold resistant. A very good snowdrop even if there are now special markings in it. The snowdrop in the back left is an unnamed G.plicatus from Augis bulbs, also a good late flowering snowdrop.

[Mariette]

The blue of Crocus abantensis is a wonderful contrast to the snowdrops Leena! Your sceneries are always so admirably well composed!

Thank You for the pics from Your garden, Villu! Obviously, You are a very gifted grower of snowdrops, there are seldom shown such beautiful groups o varieties!

[Villu]

Thank you, Leena and Mariette, for your kind words!
Leena, your pictures are always a treat and a great pleasure to look at. Your woodland settings are definitely something I'm aiming for one day. 

[Leena]

Thank you Mariette and Villu. Growing snowdrops and other plants is trial and error for me, trying to find the suitable places and conditions for them,
and that is also the joy in it.

[Leena]

Some snowdrops are still flowering well here, these pictures are from yesterday.
'Fieldgate Tiffany' has always been one of the latest ones to come up and flower.
G.plicatus from Augis bulbs is also late one for me as also 'Melanie Broughton' has been.
'Ballerina' is surprisingly late, too.