Mailorder Snowdrops

[emma T]

One can dream

[mark smyth]

I missed Morgana finish this evening. How much did it go for?

[Mavers]

With the rising number of 'Green' snowdrops on the horizon I wonder how long will it be before they do not attain such high prices?

[mark smyth]

I missed Morgana finish this evening. How much did it go for?

£320

[mark smyth]

With the rising number of 'Green' snowdrops on the horizon I wonder how long will it be before they do not attain such high prices?

I think they will remain high because each one that becomes available will be new and collectable

[Maggi Young]

I think that is probably true, Mark.  There seem to be a large number of people who regard snowdrops as a sort of alternative to train-spotting - they collect obsessively but to no great effect or purpose. These people will always pay large prices for something "new" .
I want plants primarily to make my garden beautiful. In the past I was also interested in plants which would make good show exhibits - these fancy 'drops with fancy prices are,  as far as I can see, not suitable for either purpose really.
It is to be hoped that in the future some of these "specials" will persist and prove themselves worthy as garden plants by growing well  but there are a lot of  "ifs and buts" between now and then, I reckon!

I do hope that folks buying 'drops, mail order or otherwise will find  pleasure from them for many years to come as they increase and beautify their gardens.......

[hwscot]

There seem to be a large number of people who regard snowdrops as a sort of alternative to train-spotting

Some people are 'completists' ..  they have to climb all the munros. I'm still trying to get ALL the stickers for the 1966 England World Cup squad.

Then there's what Rene Girard calls 'mimetic desire' .. 'oh, you've got a ... I want one!'

I quite like the phrase I heard a psychiatrist use, 'a constellation of personality disorders'.

[Mavers]

Yes that's right Mark the new & rare will always be pricey.

Once expensive snowdrops such as E A Bowles have dropped in price now it's more widely available, though still pricey for some pockets.

Godfrey Owen has also become more affordable, so hopefully the 'Green'uns' that are good doers will eventually be within reach.............

[hwscot]

Follow-up .. slightly late, I know ...

I would be very interested to know how you both get on; perhaps you can post back in May or June?  I've never got on well with gritty sand because it needs such frequent watering to stop it drying out and I go away for a week or forget and then so much for those bulbs.

just to explain 'drenched' and 'undrenched' pots .. for the full story look back in the thread, but this was dealing with a rotten (literally) purchase of woronowii bulbs ..

I've been using rootgrow to promote mycorrhizal infection of roots for a  while, and wondered if there might be any kind of probiotic effect, so I potted up one batch just as they came out of the copper, and then watered the rest of the fungicide on as a drench. My usual mix has some rootgrow added but the fungicide will have dealt with that. Another batch I scrubbed very thoroughly then potted up with a sprinkling of rootgrow. Not exactly rigorous expermimental procedure, but I'm curious. A few more went into garden soil away from any existing drops and as I don't have any other woronowii they should be easy to spot if they do survive.

pot with fungicide drench. All ten bulbs still identifiable. Only one looking reasonably firm. Two had turned completely to mush. Two more had virtually done the same but a very small amount of live (possibly) tissue remained in the centre.



pot with rootgrow / without the drench. Only 8 bulbs identifiable, the other two presumably had broken down to the point where they were indistinguishable from the multipurpose. One of the 8 not much more than a pip of tissue, but still, a pip of firm, clean tissue.



Nothing quantified, but my impression is that the drenched pot, the bulbs have not improved, while the other lot look moderately healthy.

No sign, in the drenched pot, of any root tissue, while the undrenched pot had bits of root throught much of the compost, including quite substantial clumps.



It seems possible that the presence of the rootgrow in the compost has helped a root structure to develop such that the healthy tissue remaining in the cleaned bulbs has had the chance to actively grow.

I'll discard the bulbs from the drenched pot where there is nor (or only a negligible amount of)  live tissue and I will pot the two lots of remaining bulbs into my usual mix, so that will be 6 bulbs from the drenched pot, and  8 from the undrenched pot, and we will see what comes up in the new year.

[Alan_b]

I had always understood that mycorrhizal fungi (such as those in 'Rootgrow') require some humus to prosper and therefore would not thrive in gritty sand.  Is that really what you used as the growing medium?

[hwscot]

They were in a multipurpose with added grit, Alan. There would be plenty of humus in any multipurpose for the mycorrhizal fungi to flourish. The shot of the compost was taken after prolonged raking about trying to find the mortal remains of the two 'missing' bulbs .. I admit it's a bit of a murky image!

[Alan_b]

Just to be absolutely clear, did you use the same compost mix (with and without the 'Rootgrow') for both sets of snowdrops?

[Mavers]

Multi-purpose compost & snowdrops?

Not something I'd care to try.

[hwscot]

Just to be absolutely clear, did you use the same compost mix (with and without the 'Rootgrow') for both sets of snowdrops?

Exactly the same. Brian. The only difference between the pots was the drench / rootgrow. The pots have sat beside each other, outdoors, since March.

Going by the pots as I turned them out, it wasn't actually my usual mix, which includes perlite. What they were in must have been about 2 or 3 of multipurpose to 1 of grit. Still, identical.

[Maggi Young]

I vote for more grit