Galanthus questions

[snowdropman]

I remember it as being a very nice form and a welcome addition to the collection - I can do no better than to echo what Janet Lecore says on her website (http://www.judyssnowdrops.co.uk/Plant_Profiles/Elwesii/natalie_garton/natalie_garton.htm) viz "A later flowering snowdrop with generous flowers, which have a bold inner mark"

[johnw]

At Cerney last February I took this shot of Oliver Wyatt.  The book says Oliver Wyatt is an invalid name and is in fact 'Maidwell L.'  My 'Maidwell L.' came from Germany and originally from P&M in 1990.  My shot of 'Maidwell L.' shows it on its last legs, however the inner markings on mine matches Mark Smyth's picture previously posted.  Any idea what this "Oliver Wyatt" might be.

There is an "Oliver Wyatt's Green" which is yet another puzzle involving Mr. Wyatt and I can find no reference to it either.

johnw

[Martin Baxendale]

John, I don't know what the snowdrop at South Cerney labelled as 'Oliver Wyatt' is - the marking is wrong for 'Maidwell L', but the marking on your close-up of your 'Maidwell L' looks exactly right.

You'll find a write-up about 'Oliver Wyatt's Green' on page 149 of the snowdrop book under plicatus cultivars. It's a plicatus that Oliver Wyatt gave to my dad and which was illustrated in an RHS Journal article by Wyatt in 1967, incorrectly captioned as 'Warham'. As it's obvously not 'Warham', my dad (as the only person who had kept bulbs of this snowdrop going) agreed to the new name of 'Oliver Wyatt's Green', a shortened version of how he'd always labelled the snowdrop - "Oliver Wyatt's Green Inner Plicatus", which was too long to suit the international code on naming cultivated plants. I use 'OWG' for short 'cos I'm that lazy.

[johnw]

John, I don't know what the snowdrop at South Cerney labelled as 'Oliver Wyatt' is - the marking is wrong for 'Maidwell L', but the marking on your close-up of your 'Maidwell L' looks exactly right.

You'll find a write-up about 'Oliver Wyatt's Green' on page 149 of the snowdrop book under plicatus cultivars. It's a plicatus that Oliver Wyatt gave to my dad and which was illustrated in an RHS Journal article by Wyatt in 1967, incorrectly captioned as 'Warham'. As it's obvously not 'Warham', my dad (as the only person who had kept bulbs of this snowdrop going) agreed to the new name of 'Oliver Wyatt's Green', a shortened version of how he'd always labelled the snowdrop - "Oliver Wyatt's Green Inner Plicatus", which was too long to suit the international code on naming cultivated plants. I use 'OWG' for short 'cos I'm that lazy.

Martin - The marking on that Cerney 'OW' is certainly very distinctive, looks like an inverted molar extraction.

Nice to learn a bit more about Oliver Wyatt's Green and indeed I had found that one in the book.  The one I was looking for was another 'Oliver Wyatt's ....' whose name I forget at the moment. An ideas what it may have been?  

Quite out of it with some bug, exploding compost didn't help much.

johnw

[KentGardener]

.....exploding compost didn't help much. 

   

Do tell. 

[Paddy Tobin]

.....exploding compost didn't help much. 

   

Do tell. 

This was John sterilising compost in a plastic bag in the microwave.

Paddy

[steve owen]

A Bombe Surprise then?

[Jane]

Hello,
I'm having a tree stump ground out that has snowdrops underneath it. Will they be OK to move now? I do hope so as I haven't much choice in the matter (Honey fungus!!!!)
Many thanks
Jane

[mark smyth]

No not now. They are well rooted now and need their roots to rehydrate the bulbs and initiate flower growth.

[Martin Baxendale]

If they are dug up carefully with any roots intact and immediately replanted or potted then they should be fine. Given that they're around the base of a tree where the soil is probably pretty dry, the roots may not have grown too much. Anyway, if it's a choice between lifting or leaving to be squished by the stump grinder then there's nothing to lose. But they should be fine if you take care to get them out with any roots reasonably intact.

[Maggi Young]

I'm with Martin, lift them....gently..... and I'm sure all will be well. Good luck Jane!

[johnw]

Mark - I happened upon your picture of 'John Long' from last spring on the Forum. The inner marking looks remarkably similar to the above mis-labelled 'Oliver Wyatt' ('Maidwell L.') at Cerney that I posted on the 8th of September. What do you think?

johnw

[mark smyth]

John I haven't been paying attention on this post.

This is plicatus 'John Long'. 'Maidwell L' is an elwesii.

[mark smyth]

I just searched my hard drive for elwesii and dont have a photo that matched the one you have shown

[johnw]

Mark - I was comparing John Long and the mis-labelled Oliver Wyatt (an elwesii), not with Maidwell L.

My error was I looked up Long John in the book and couldn't find it so thought it might be an elwesii too. Now realize it is John Long, a plicatus.

Thanks for straightening me out.

johnw