Galanthus that are truly easy to recognise!

[Brian Ellis]

http://www.greenmilenursery.be/

New acquisition Jennie?  I've added the others to the list.

[johnralphcarpenter]

http://www.greenmilenursery.be/

New acquisition Jennie?  I've added the others to the list.

500 Euros! For one bulb! I wouldn't dare. What if it died? And I certainly would, because my wife would kill me!

[Alan_b]

Don't worry, the Green Mile Nursery restricts orders to two bulbs per person so even a severe bout of White Fever would cost you a maximum of 1000 Euros!  However it is a lovely-looking snowdrop to my eyes and very distinctive.  As with any novel plant introduction, provided it is a good doer the price will come down.

[johnw]

I happerned upon this slide today from our 2009 trip to Colesbourne.  No hat - can't be correctly named.   

How are things with you Emma?  Any word on the job?

johnw

[Alan_b]

That snowdrop is still given pride of place at Colesbourne and I saw it last February, displayed amongst the rarest and finest.  Yet it doesn't quite have a name, being labelled "Ex Emma Thick" instead of, for example, "Emma Thick".  I like to call it "Emma's Ex" as a bit of a joke; but I seriously think it deserves to be granted a name in its own right.

[Leena]

......and to identify a Galanthus cultivar you need a key, or a Galanthomanic that has the knowledge to put the labels back to the right cultivar.
Making a key is big fun and gives a clue how different similar cultivars are. I like to puzzle with keys and the key I started for the Galanthus Imperial Group is quite a challange. So for the fun I include the key for the Galanthus Double Group but only the first part.

Is the key to the whole Imperial group later in some book or where could I find it?

In the key of Double Group in the first page, Cordelia, Hippolyta and Ophelia are said to be similar. Are they also similar in height and flowering time? Or is the similarity only in the flower?

[Brian Ellis]

That snowdrop is still given pride of place at Colesbourne and I saw it last February, displayed amongst the rarest and finest.  Yet it doesn't quite have a name, being labelled "Ex Emma Thick" instead of, for example, "Emma Thick".  I like to call it "Emma's Ex" as a bit of a joke; but I seriously think it deserves to be granted a name in its own right.

Perhaps the powers that be are supplying a name in the new edition of the monograph when it is published.  Hopefully it will just be called 'Emma Thick'?

[Alan_b]

Leena, the classification system favoured by Wim is presented in the book "Galanthomania" by Hanneke van Dijk.  This system is based entirely on the appearance of the flower so it does not encompass the leaves, or the spathe, or the height of the plant or the time of flowering; all of which might help to render a snowdrop easy to recognise.

My knowledge of the Greatorex doubles is slight but I think they flower at much the same time but can differ in height.  The main problem is that the naming of them has become confused, see http://www.galanthus.co.uk/catalogue_categories.php?categoryID=16   

[johnw]

Alan   - I have corrected my photo names.  Yes this snowdrop was up by the main house and very close to 'Carolyn Elwes' so indeed a prominent - or precarious - spot.

I dashed off an email to Chris to find out if it had been named.  I suspect the poor man is swamped with other tasks, the horrors of getting orders together for mad Canadians must have chewed up a considerable amount of his time this past summer.

One last phot of ex ET.

johnw - +9c and rising, a warm weekend ahead.

[MR GRUMPY]

Brian,I've just had quick look at the list and could not find 'Ronald Mackenzie'...and perhaps  'Hugh Mackenzie'? .Another one that i grow is 'Dodo Norton' ,on a sunny day, it's a joy look at.Last one today'Brian Mathew',the colour of the leaves as it pops up through the soil are instantly recognizable.The first time i saw it,i thought it had botrytis !!,the colour of the leaves are unique,and i haven't seen another elwesii with the same blue/green colour.a real gem worth looking for.

[Wim Snoeijer]

Dear Leena,

Compiling keys within the Galanthus Cultivar Groups are just a hobby for me. The part I shared with this Forum might perhaps be a start for you to try to go further, I hope it is tempting enough to give it a try. 

The keys for the Galanthus Gold Group as published in Galanthomania can be expanded too. But, as Alan write "based entirely on the appearance of the flower" is not true as can be seen on page 29 key no. 12 and on page 31 key no. 15 and key no. 21. When characteristics are run out for me, but perhaps not for the Galanthophile, I go further with characteristics from leaves, spathe, etc.

Best Wishes,

Wim

[Brian Ellis]

Added Steve's latest:

Ailwyn/Lady Fairhaven
Anglesey Abbey
Augustus
Blewbury Tart/Green Fingers
Blonde Inge
Blue Magnet
Brian Mathew
Castlegar
Daglingworth
Diggory
Ding Dong
Dodo Norton
EA Bowles
Elizabeth Harrison
Fly Fishing
Gloucester Old Spot
Godfrey Owen
Green Brush
Green Light/Green Hornet
Green Mile
Green Tear
Hans Guck
Heffalump
Hill Poe
Hippolyta
Hugh Mackenzie
Lady Beatrix Stanley
Lady Elphinstone
Lapwing
Modern Art
Peter Gatehouse
Ronald Mackenzie
Rosemary Burnham
Sickle
Sophie North
South Hayes
Sutton Courtenay
Swanton
Trymposter
Walrus
Wasp
Wendy's Gold
woronowii
Yellow Angel

[Leena]

My knowledge of the Greatorex doubles is slight but I think they flower at much the same time but can differ in height.  The main problem is that the naming of them has become confused

Thanks Alan. Over here most snowdrops flower at the same time (after the snow has melted), but it is good to know which ones are very very early, because they might suffer from the snow here, and to me the differences in height are important for the overall impression of the snowdrops.
The lists in this thread are very good, thank you.

The part I shared with this Forum might perhaps be a start for you to try to go further, I hope it is tempting enough to give it a try. 

I am so much novice with snowdrops and don't have many named snowdrops (and many of them are only planted within a year or two) yet so can't try to make keys myself, and this is why I thought that the keys would be helpful so that I didn't buy many similar looking snowdrops to start with.

[Hagen Engelmann]

Hello Wim, here is a little extra for your hobby.

But all you other galanthophiles can use this easy golden thead, if you only want.
It is my kind of snowdrop classification.

[Alan_b]

Sorry Wim, I did not mean to misrepresent you.  What I should have said is that the top level or first stage of your classification system is based on flower type, as it is with Hagen's alternative system.  It would be interesting if Wim and/or Hagen could apply their classifications to the snowdrops in our list.

For example, I would say that the representatives of Wim's 'Gold Group' on the list are:

Blonde Inge
Elizabeth Harrison
Lady Elphinstone
Ronald Mackenzie
Wendy's Gold
Yellow Angel 

Leena, if you bought one representative from each of Wim's 12 flower classes, or each of Hagen's 15, you could be sure that no two of those would closely resemble each other.  Neither system has been in use for a long period of time so you might find that only a minority of bulb suppliers indicate a classification group for the snowdrops they sell.  I have the impression that growers in the Netherlands are adopting Wim's system quite rapidly.