Self Leveling

[Alan_b]

I thought I would post this picture as I don't recall ever seeing this depicted before.  If a snowdrop finds itself too deep it will form a new bulb some way up the stem.  You can see the fresh new bulb in the picture with the old spent bulb (and roots) below it.

[shelagh]

Fascinating.

[David Pilling]

Very interesting, which species of galanthus is it?

[Mavers]

The natural world is red in tooth & claw but still manages to amaze us........

[Maggi Young]

I am not convinced that this is evidence of a bulb heading UPWARDS - in the sense that it finds its present site too deep. We often see a similar type of thing in bulbs working to place themselves LOWER in the ground of course. The upper bulb here is a new one - but I think it is a variation on stoloniferous reproduction  rather than a depth issue.
 A galanthus bulb does not become "spent" it is an on-going  perennial entity. 
Such behaviour  as is seen in the photo is often seen on  bluebells , rather than the sideways formation that is more usual in stolon production.  At what depth was the original bulb planted ?
 

[Alan_b]

Galanthus, being mostly small bulbs, put a large proportion of their energy into producing the leaves and flower then must recoup it again later in the season.  If you cut the leaves off prematurely a Galanthus bulb will not last many seasons.  I described the lower bulb as 'spent' because it is unusually thin and gives a little when pressed, unlike the firm 'new' bulb further up the stem.  I doubt that it has the strength to last-out the summer.

These bulbs arrived as part of a generous gift of a G. nivalis cultivar so I cannot say at what depth they were planted.  In my experience stoloniferous reproduction goes sideways and this is not the same thing.  I have seen this behaviour in snowdrops before when lifting and dividing in the green but this is the first time I have photographed it. 

[David Pilling]

A galanthus bulb does not become "spent" it is an on-going  perennial entity. 

I was surprised by a comment (from an expert) that Fritillaria bulbs completely regrew each year.

A lot of corms are for one year only, and produce a new corm for the next year.

[Maggi Young]

I was surprised by a comment (from an expert) that Fritillaria bulbs completely regrew each year.

That was a surprising  comment, David.

Fritillaria  bulbs replace themselves each year  - as do Erythronium ( like corms) - search the Bulb Log for various illustrations of this. It is partly the case that some bulbs are called "true" bulbs" - like galanthus, narcissus, allium  for instance - because these are perennial bulbs, growing on from year to year with many layers.  It is plain to see, especially in  frits like pyrenaica, that a bulb will put up two flower stems - at the end of the year, two new bulbs will be seen.  There are photos in the Bulb Log that show this as well as well  as of the new bulbs with the previous year's spent bulb  attached. In good years the old bulb will disappear completely  but in some years the withered remains of the old bulb can be seen.

[David Pilling]

Fritillaria  bulbs replace themselves each year

Thanks Maggi - helpful. I didn't quite believe it.

The problem for the likes of me, is knowing which bulbs are forever and which replace themselves. Obviously I should read the bulb log more.

Naively I'd assumed that e.g. a lily bulb was like a rechargeable battery, a long lasting physical structure that energy could be pumped into and then taken out.

[mark smyth]

I recognise that bulb 

I think it was going down. When moved and temporarily, for too long  , potted in to a tree pot I didn't space out the bulbs and just set them in and covered them.

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Maggi - helpful. I didn't quite believe it.

The problem for the likes of me, is knowing which bulbs are forever and which replace themselves. Obviously I should read the bulb log more.

Naively I'd assumed that e.g. a lily bulb was like a rechargeable battery, a long lasting physical structure that energy could be pumped into and then taken out.

Now, David, you know I'm going to say that everyone should always read the Bulb Log!

Ian spends a large amount of time  observing in as much detail as possible, how his "bulbs" are growing.  For the very reason that there are both perennial bulbs and others, that there are plants that do not fit entirely easily into either bulb or corm category, for these and a million other reasons, he watches his plants  amazingly closely.  He wants to understand as best he can what they are doing, when and why - this is why he so often has experimental plants in special posts of compost that can be taken out at intervals to enable him to photograph the  progress of their growth and behaviour over the seasons.  I think his photo reports on such things are one of the things which so fascinate readers of the Bulb Log and which he has always used in talks to illustrate such points to his audience - things which it was unusual for others to address or have photographic evidence of, such as fritillaria bulbs showing the withered remains of the old bulb, clinging to the new bulb  etc.