Galanthus April 2016

[johnw]

What a disorted view others must get of the weather here on the coast.  The airport 40km inland is the official Halifax weather station yet no one lives there nor within kilometres.  Friday night it was reported Hfx. got 25cm of the snow, they did but the city of Halifax got less than an inch.  Friend 20km inland got 20cm and most is gone today.

1.  A smattering of snowdrops here.

2.  Friend's Galanthus nivalis (Thelma Chapman's #1) early this afternoon, a nice snappy little one but not worthy of a name though we cherish recording the source.

john

[Leena]

How lovely snowdrops in the snow.
I have G.nivalis now from several different sources. One is "my own" old G.nivalis which I've grown for 17 years, and which is medium size and good increaser, then there are two different kinds from old gardens in Finland (the other has so small flowers that if it wasn't from here I wouldn't grow it, but the other one is very prolific and though not tall the flowers are in proportion to the stems and leaves and it is a very good plant). Then I have bought G.nivalis four times from garden centers and these plants came from bulk sellers from Netherlands. One year I was lucky and those G.nivalis are good looking, medium size and prolific, but three other "strains" are quite small and not even prolific (at least not so far). And of course then there are seedlings which especially my own G.nivalis produces. Earlier I thought that G.nivalis is G.nivalis and you get the same plant when you buy with that name, but you can get many kinds, and some of them are good garden plants but some are not.

[Alan_b]

In the UK a lot of the 'wild' examples of G. nivalis are sterile, or nearly so.  If you get seedlings then when drifts start to form they will look very natural and sooner or later something interesting will arise. 

[johnw]

Galanthuis lost label, methinks maybe an aged 'Lady Moore'.  If it is it certainly is a feeble cultivar.  Anyone?

johnw

[Alan_b]

Apologies to Paddy Tobin, who champions 'Lady Moore', but the leaves on that one tend to look a bit virused. 

[johnw]

1.  G. elwesii Government House green-tip, a good-sized one but going over, one of a number of finds in Victoria.

2-3 G. nivalis 'Cinderella', a little charmer and still looking fine.


johnw

[johnw]

Sorry I missed these, I received the seeds as a kind gift from Melvyn.  Galanthus elwesii or gracilis seed cw Mt. Vermion, Greece 06/05/10 and maybe I mixed them up and sowed these instead of his reginae-olgae.  In any case they are obviously gracilis which I was hoping for and especially the split apical mark.

john

[Alan_b]

A picture to show why snowdrops sometimes fail to appear.  All these snowdrops have suffered attack (presumably by an insect) to the roots and basal plate.  Three of the four have still managed to produce some sort of shoot but one has lost all the basal plate and is spontaneously forming bulbils.

   

[Maggi Young]

Tim Ingram, nurseryman and  SRGC blogger ( Rebuilding a nursery - Copton Ash) as well as diarist  on AGS site,  has a new article in the journal of the Hardy Plant Society ..... 'Getting the Measure of Snowdrops' 

[Leena]

A picture to show why snowdrops sometimes fail to appear.  All these snowdrops have suffered attack (presumably by an insect) to the roots and basal plate.  Three of the four have still managed to produce some sort of shoot but one has lost all the basal plate and is spontaneously forming bulbils.

Thanks for the photos. Just last week the other of my 'Barnes' showed up, growing a tiny leaf so it is alive! The most of the bulb must have rotted, but as I didn't dig it up I don't know for sure.

Some pictures of snowdrops last week.
'Moreton Mill' was planted last summer, I like this one though it is not very big.
In the third picture there is on the right an unnamed late G.plicatus which I got from a forumist Gail. I like it a lot, and it has multiplied well since 2013 when all these snowdrops were planted. The yellow on the left is 'Wendy's Gold, and behind it is 'Bill Clark'. To the right from BC is 'Straffan' and to the right from it is 'Cedric's Prolific', which is not prolific at all here. The tall one in the back is 'Mrs Macnamara'. All other snowdrops were only one bulb when planted, except 'Wendy's Gold' was two bulbs', so it is easy to see which ones have multiplied well: Gail's plicatus, 'Straffan' and 'Mrs Macnamara', but also the yellows are now settled and I hope will start to multiply more.
In the fourth picture there is 'Trymming', and the blurry unfocused snowdrop in bud in front of it is 'Fieldgate Forte' which came up very late. It was a late snowdrop also last year. Last summer I planted 'Fieldgate Tiffany' and also it has only  come up last week, so it seems also to be a late one. Is this normal for it? What part of UK do the Fieldgate snowdrops come from? It seems that they (or at least these two) may do well here being late snowdrops, but time will tell if I'm right. 

[Brian Ellis]

'Fieldgate Forte' which came up very late. It was a late snowdrop also last year. Last summer I planted 'Fieldgate Tiffany' and also it has only  come up last week, so it seems also to be a late one. Is this normal for it? What part of UK do the Fieldgate snowdrops come from?

They were bred by Colin Mason at Kenilworth in Warwickshire.  Modern Art is reputed to be one of the parents.  They are not particularly late here but are all good plants of great stature.

[Leena]

Thanks Brian. 
I googled  Warwickshire and it is not very north. I liked 'Fieldgate Forte' so that is why I bought 'Fieldgate Tiffany'. FF has increased from last year, and it is indeed good.

[Leena]

Couple of snowdrops I like:
'Lady Beatrix Stanley' has increased well from one bulb in 2011 to this clump, I will have to divide it this summer.
'Lord Lieutenant' flowers now the second time, and though I have posted one picture of it, I'll post another. I like very much how it's leaves are short compared to the flower stalk, and it stays erect when some other snowdrops flop over.

[Alan_b]

Couple of snowdrops I like:
'Mrs Lady Beatrix Stanley' ...

In German you would address a male doctor as 'Herr Doktor' and I believe a professor could be 'Herr Professor Doktor'.  I don't speak Finnish but perhaps the same principle applies?  However in all the English-speaking countries I can think of, we only use one title and the grandest one takes precedence.  So the name of that particular snowdrop is just 'Lady Beatrix Stanley', no 'Mrs'.  I find 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' to be a 'good doer' that increases well.   

[Leena]

Thanks Alan, I corrected the name.