Snowdrop Gardens visited during 2008

[Maggi Young]

Don't stop, whatever you do!

[KentGardener]

And now (at long last I hear you groan) pictures of the special snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey:

(a couple of shots showing the 'gulley' with gently sloping sides where the specials are growing)






('Augustus')






(Bloomer)




(Anglesey Abbey - the more desireable Proculiform type)




(Henrys White Lady)




(Rodmarton?)




(My favourite of the day - 'Kirtlington Tower' - has anyone seen this for sale anywhere?  Please PM if you have)

EDIT:
(My favourite of the day - 'Kirtling Tower' - has anyone seen this for sale anywhere?  Please PM if you have)




(Magnet)




Hope you enjoyed my account of our trip to Anglesey Abbey - please let me know if you want me to post about the day we spent yesterday in Hampshire?....

John

[Paddy Tobin]

Keep going John,

Paddy

[KentGardener]

John

What camera do you have?  I think I remember you saying it was a point and shoot - surely not with the quality of the wonderful shots - and we have not even reached Anglesey Abbey.

More please

Hi Arthur - it is just a FujiFilm FinePix S 5600.  I think it was about £130 last in late 2006 (or early 2007)

John

[KentGardener]

The last few from Anglesey Abbey, I promise!.....

(KentGardener and Alan_B)




(something for the non Galanthophiles among us)




(Part of the newly created Woodland Walk  - give it 5 years and I think this alone would be worth a trip to Anglesey Abbey)




The gardeners try to remove all the name labels from the snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey - so here are some that I am not 100% sure of the names:









I think enough time has been spent sitting in front of this laptop - so now time for some gardening!...

John

[art600]

The gardeners try to remove all the name labels from the snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey - so here are some that I am not 100% sure of the names:

Do not understand why they would do that.  One of the joys of Glen Chantry for non-galanthophiles was the use of discreet labels.

[Martin Baxendale]

The without-a-label yellow is most likely Primrose Warburg, but could possibly be Spindlestone Surprise (although that's less frequently seen as a large clump as still rarer). The big flowers in the second pic looklike Gerard Parker. Dunno about the bottom one. I expect the rarer ones may have labels removed as an anti-theft thing.

[Martin Baxendale]

That clump of Augustus at Anglesey Abbey is an incredibly large and robust one, and apparently virus-free. I have a small clump of a virus-free stock from Ron Mackenzie but it's not as big and strong as that (although it's just started flowering after chipping so may get bigger - I should feed it).

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks John for your photographic trip to Anglesey Abbey, excellent photos and most enjoyable.  One point to note is that it is Kirtling Tower present home of Lord and Lady Fairhaven.  The snowdrop was found there by none-other than Richard Ayres (ex head gardener at Anglesey Abbey and now I believe a NT gardens consultant) who laid out the grounds for Lady Fairhaven.  When we went they had just discovered that there was a large population of Tulipa sylvestris there which had been mown down for years and never allowed to flower.  Also in clearing the moat they discovered many historic Daffodils.

Well John that was a real treat, what about Brandymount??

[KentGardener]

One point to note is that it is Kirtling Tower present home of Lord and Lady Fairhaven.

Thanks Brian - edited to correct spelling.  Where can I get one?   

Well John that was a real treat, what about Brandymount??

It took over 2 hours this morning to edit photos and write up the Cambridge trip.  I need to wait until Ian's back is turned before I can start on Brandy Mount.

cheers

John

[Lvandelft]

Beautiful and very interesting pictures John. These drifts with double Galanthus, never seen it here.
How you show Galanthus in the "Countryside" I like them really. (But no reason for me to become a Galanthophile.)

The tour starts by proceeding along the ‘woodland walk’, designed to have plants of winter interest and culminating in a fantastic grove of Birch trees (and yes, the gardeners do wash the trunks to keep them looking so good!) 

Seeing the woodland walk with birchtrees I had to think of when we were in Scotland,  someone (sorry Im not telling the name!) told us after my wife asked how a birchtree came to such a white bark, we were told it had just been washed before. My wife still not believes it!

Thank you John.

[Brian Ellis]

We were fortunate enough to visit two gardens on Saturday, well one garden and one ex garden!  The second of the two was the one time home of Hayrick Greatorex who bred the famous Shakesperean Doubles.  He lived in a ramshackle wood and corrugated iron bungalow at the bottom of a 9 acre garden (owned by his wife’s family) and his sister in law sometimes lived in an old railway carriage there!  There is now just one acre of the garden left which had surrounded this bungalow and it is owned by Broadland District Council and cared for by local volounteers, prominent among whom is Richard Hobbs.

It was Richard who kindly took us to see the Greatorex ‘garden’, now left much to its own devices it is sensitively maintained as a woodland and in the summer is a patch of stinging nettles.  We travelled down a long lane and arrived at a locked gate. The only evidence of former habitation was a clay pipe about 18” high.  There was a small natural pond on this gently sloping site and the snowdrops had been very much left to their own devices, and had done what they do naturally, resulting in some interesting  crosses.   There was a small natural pond on this gently sloping site.  First some general shots.

[Brian Ellis]

Wandering round we spotted all sorts of snowdrops, round the pond were many ikariae, there were also woronowii, nivalis and plicatus - but no elwesii and there are quite a few flowers which, like scharlockii have split spathes.  One or two looked like Greatorex doubles and there were a few which had double heads on rather thick scapes, we had a fascinating time wandering around and spotting crosses and variations.  I hope you enjoy these pictures.

 For more information on Heyrick Greatorex you can read Richard’s article in the current Daffodils, snowdrops and tulips yearbook.

[Brian Ellis]

...and some of the green tipped ones.  Thanks to David for the photography but most of all Richard for letting us go there.

[KentGardener]

Brilliant!

Thanks Brian, what a great place to visit - and very interesting.

regards

John