Galanthus in January 2014

[Brian Ellis]

Excellent detective work Steve, I haven't got that transcript.

[Brian Ellis]

I'm glad to see that this spelling of Trimmer agrees with mine and, as I suspect that is the first published occurence of the spelling it would be correct - anyone substantiate this with an occurence in their bulb list for instance?

[MR GRUMPY]

Brian, see further posts below....

 I received my bulb of 'Trimmer',and that is how it was spelt,but if a different spelling has been published in a list or book,you may have to change the spelling.
   I was reading about 'Kencot Ripple'(NOT WELSH) in a year book,and Kencot had another T on the end,So whether it needs a new label? I'm confused

[Maggi Young]

I have contacted Bob to ask his opinion , Steve -  but my feeling is that he would have no problem with you giving these details - he and Rannveig spend most of their time trying to disseminate information about bulbs .....

[MR GRUMPY]

Maggi,Thankyou.
   
  Lets have another go-Bob Wallis-Wildings and some garden surprises

   "We've got a lot of snowdrops in the garden and one of the snowdrops that we grow is Galanthus'Trym',not very well,but we are inveterate seed sowers and Galanthus 'Trym set seed for us a few years back.We selected some of these seedlings which were'Trym'-like,but rather better and the first one that we selected from our sown seed was Galanthus'Trimmer'."..........

   "We selected another one,Galanthus'Josie'from that batch of seedlings ................."
   
     "Other things that arose spontaneously from seed in the garden.One,which we selected and named after our daughter'corrin',is actually my favourite one..............."

      "And then finally,we had another one,which we named after our first granddaughter Megan,which has rather nice petals that sweep out and turn up at the ends."

[RichardW]

Tried to get some photos today, camera battery died shortly after and heavens opened again  so I gave up.

cant remember a more damp, muddy & depressing winter 

Soggy looking Headbourne.

[Maggi Young]

Copyright of the entire transcript, as a document, may well be held  - and it is understandable that that would be so to prevent someone using talks "wholesale" from it  - but quoting factual parts  from a talk is not an infringement of intellectual property rights or copyright.
It is clear that Steve's quotes come from his copy of a transcript of a talk by Bob Wallis -  there is not a contravention issue  with that use. 


 Reply from Bob Wallis : " I have absolutely no problem with someone quoting my words. " 

[Maggi Young]

Tried to get some photos today, camera battery died shortly after and heavens opened again  so I gave up.

cant remember a more damp, muddy & depressing winter 

Soggy looking Headbourne.

   We've been thinking the same ourselves, Richard.  Rained here most of the day , too...


 The flowers do look pretty when they're "diamond encrusted" with raindrops or frost , though......

[penstemon]

Snowdrops are blooming here, too, in my garden at the extreme western edge of Denver, Colorado.
This will probably get me banned from the forum (and I just joined....). I'd like to be a galanthophile too, but getting snowdrops in the USA is pretty difficult. I do have several named forms, but would like to have hundreds more.
Last year, this curious snowdrop appeared in the garden here. I don't know if it will reappear; haven't seen it yet.

Bob

[Alan_b]

Bob, the flower in front seems to be covered in spots.  What's that all about?

Edit:  On reflection I wonder if it is the snowdrop equivalent of a bad case of the measles? 

[penstemon]

It's the extremely rare pink-spotted form ....


Bob

[Alan_b]

No, it's definitely snowdrop measles.  You need to incinerate it, the soil it is growing in and the gloves you used to handle it.  If you didn't use gloves you are in trouble! 

[Tim Ingram]

Snowdrops in Denver? Now that seems similar to watering lawns... just like Peter Korn growing cacti in Sweden. What a weird lot gardeners are at times.

[thegardenimpressionists]

Hello everyone, and a big thank you to all who've responded to my request about Welsh origin snowdrops.
A few points - firstly I reckoned Mrs Macnamara might be of Welsh origin, but in Bishop et al, it seems more likely that it was either a bulb collected by Dylan Thomas' MIL when abroad, or from her garden at the time, which seems to  have been in Hampshire. So was just named in Yvonne Macnamara's name. 
Secondly, it is beginning to look like West Wales may be an unexplored area for potential new variants. When we first acquired our derelict property here 20 years ago, and moved some G.nivalis, (which we'd acquired originally from Shropshire) down here, I was struck by how small they seemed compared to the 'native' snowdrops growing in a few local areas of banks and woods. Some of these were relatively massive, and many flowered earlier, and some even much later than our Shropshire sourced ones.
Thirdly there's a very high percentage of small holdings in our part of West Wales, and apparently a lot of these were set up on land given to soldiers returning from the Crimean war. Perhaps they brought snowdrops back with them, and some of today's colonies established from these?
The point about nivalis clump sterility is also really interesting. Carolyn knows that one of my real interests is which flowers are attractive to which insects - without pollination, you're not going to get much seed set. I noticed in our upland garden that bumblebees almost never visit the thousands of snowdrops we have(though we have masses of bumblebees - they go for the Crocus tommainianus and Pulmonaria. You do get a few tiny flies visiting snowdrops flopwers, and I've photographed moths inside them at night, but am unsure whether they're playing any significant pollinating role, or simply enjoying a bit of extra warmth. Carolyn will recall that by following up this concept of potential thermogenesis in snowdrop flowers, I was led  to her blog, and ultimately to me starting my own. Last year a friend installed a beehive in February, and bingo. Honeybees of course will pollinate snowdrops, but you need to have a hive pretty close to the flowers - they obviously can't fly the distances in cold weather/short days that the'd manage in the summer.
And finally (phew?) I discovered just this week that the Welsh language has at least 5 different words for snowdrops, which would imply perhaps that culturally they've had a recognised place in Welsh national culture for quite some time.   
So why so few, possibly from the above, just one or 2, genuinely Welsh origin cultivars?

I reckon that there are possibly a few noteworthy cultivars just waiting to be found. So seize the moment and in the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth, head over to the Welsh lanes for a bit of prospecting? Or just to enjoy some fabulous scenery.
And rain.......
Julian - apologies if this gets posted twice - I'm hopeless with new formats....

[Alan_b]

Julian, with a bit of practice you will readily be able to distinguish the Crimean snowdrop (G. plicatus) from the longer-establsihed G. nivalis.  Look at the back of the leaves, and their eventual width as the snowdrops mature after flowering.  And look at the extent of the green mark on the inner petals.  If you can find some with marks in yellow instead of green then all the better.  Any third colour and the world of galanthomania will beat a path to your door.  You may indeed be sitting on a goldmine of untapped potential.