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Author Topic: Desdemona, Limetree, and G. alpinus bortkewitschianus  (Read 1415 times)

Rodger Whitlock

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Desdemona, Limetree, and G. alpinus bortkewitschianus
« on: January 19, 2010, 07:42:55 PM »
In 2008, a friend mailed me starters of several snowdrop cultivars. Unfortunately, three of the labels became separated from the bulbs in transit, so I now have three pots and three labels, but don't know which label goes in  which pot.

These are
  • Galanthus 'Desdemona'
  • Galanthus 'Limetree'
  • Galanthus alpinus bortkewitschianus

According to Potterton's , Desdemona is "the tallest and largest flowering form of the Greatorex doubles", so that one should be a shoo-in when it flowers. (My fingers are crossed.)

But how can I tell the other two apart? I've tried Google Images, but the disconnect on many webpages between images and the names of the plants connected causes too many false hits. Another issue is that many online photos of snowdrops simply show a patch of them in flower without detailing the characteristics that distinguish different cultivars and species. Would anybody like to point me to reliable, informative pictures or written descriptions of the differences among these three snowdrops?

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

mark smyth

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Re: Desdemona, Limetree, and G. alpinus bortkewitschianus
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2010, 08:14:14 PM »
They are all different. Most people will tell you the Greatorex doubles are badly mixed up

alpinus bortkewitschianus
http://www.snowdropinfo.com/galanthus%20bortkewitchianus.html

Limetree is like a tall nivalis with a larger inner mark
Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com / www.marksgardenplants.com / www.saveourswifts.co.uk

When the swifts arrive empty the green house

All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230

mark smyth

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Antrim, Northern Ireland Z8
www.snowdropinfo.com / www.marksgardenplants.com / www.saveourswifts.co.uk

When the swifts arrive empty the green house

All photos taken with a Canon 900T and 230

Diane Whitehead

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Re: Desdemona, Limetree, and G. alpinus bortkewitschianus
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2010, 02:06:29 AM »
I was able to use the keys in the snowdrop book to identify
a snowdrop that didn't match the others in a group a friend
had imported from England.  After we knew the name, we
checked the catalogue of the nursery that had sent them, and
it was included, which helped confirm the i.d.
Diane Whitehead        Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
cool mediterranean climate  warm dry summers, mild wet winters  70 cm rain,   sandy soil

Oakwood

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    • http://vkontakte.ru/album10207358_107406207#/album10207358_132501312
Re: Desdemona, Limetree, and G. alpinus bortkewitschianus
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2010, 09:01:41 AM »
Hi Rodger!

please find here on my photo a real G. alpinus bortkewitschianus I'm growing from a locus classicus.

Dima.
Dimitri Zubov, PhD, researcher of M.M. Gryshko's National Botanic Garden, Kiev/Donetsk, zone 5
http://vkontakte.ru/album10207358_107406207

 


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