Galanthus in December 2016

[Tony Willis]

Galanthus alpinus. First flowering from Tom Mitchell's TCM 12-110, collected Georgia, sown Sept 12

[Rick Goodenough]

Tony, always exciting to see the first blooms of a seedling. And this one has a good strong mark. Thanks for posting.
Rick

[emma T]

Merry chirstmas everyone

[Blonde Ingrid]

Along with all the other delightful arrivals this morning was my first flowering Galanthus alpinus from the Adjara region!

Utterly beautiful with very dark green mark.

It looks like the only one that will flower this year in my alpinus pot (thanks Ian Young!), but others lined up for next year!

[Rick Goodenough]

Merry chirstmas everyone

Merry Christmas, Emma and all SRGC friends! Rick

[Tim Harberd]

Season's Greetings from me too!

Some 'Three Ships' on the Christmas Table, with Hawthorn Berries.

Tim DH

[Maggi Young]

Along with all the other delightful arrivals this morning was my first flowering Galanthus alpinus from the Adjara region!

Utterly beautiful with very dark green mark.

I can't believe I am admitting to pleasure at the sight of that dark mark and fat round ovary!   I need more sleep!

[Blonde Ingrid]

I can't believe I am admitting to pleasure at the sight of that dark mark and fat round ovary!   I need more sleep!

Spoken like a true galanthophile, despite all the denials! 

[Tim Ingram]

Oh, just worked my way through the whole of December and am beginning to realise how much more more we might be growing in the future around Christmas and through December. This is one of the few early snowdrops we grow, and my comments about it on Facebook (but for Maggi's felicitation I learn a lot more here  : "Galanthus elwesii Hiemalis Group. We don't have many of these early flowering forms of snowdrops, and only one or two named forms. On the whole gardeners don't open their gardens in December, except now on Facebook 😉 and on the Forum of the Scottish Rock Garden Club! This clump came originally as a single bulb from Avon Bulbs planted in March 2001, and has not been touched since. It can be in flower early in December (the third picture, 6/12/14), or in this year just starting to flower now. Normally one might lift and divide snowdrops every few years to gain faster increase but this shows the more natural rate of increase over 15 years that can occur in the garden, if a garden allows. As for many woodland species increase often occurs vegetatively rather than by seed, and can give a measure of the time taken for many naturalised colonies of snowdrops in woods in the UK to have arisen. In other words a garden can give a measure of the more natural ecology of the environment outside its boundaries too." (Note: as Alan says I think our very dry and warm summer quite late on into September has led to much later flowering of some snowdrops than normal, but we don't really grow enough/for long enough to draw strong conclusions).

[Tim Harberd]

I have not grown 'Three Ships' for very long but I have seen nothing to indicate that it is less robust than the average snowdrop cultivar; the fact that it is so widely distributed implies that it is a good doer.  So to be more robust is quite a challenge!  Can it not be more fragrant or have longer-lasting flowers or some other more subtle merit?  Just to be flowering this early is quite impressive.

Hi Alan,
       Apologies for missing this earlier.... My comment about Three Ships was based on info. from the supplier who advised ''Needs planting in a sunny spot here''... There is, of course, a limit to the number of sunny spots available to me... and the Allotment is gently North East facing! So these seedlings will get a couple of years to impress... OR, failing that, they'll have to take their chances in ground which is distinctly un-sunny at this time of year!!

Tim DH
 

[Maggi Young]

From Matt Bishop .....

New snowdrop  - 'Fieldgate Imp.'
 
 "Selected from 'Trymlet' seedlings for it's unusually upturned outer segments. Its a xvalentinei inverse poculiform with unusually reflexed outer segment apices.

 I don't normally get excited about single-marked 'Trym' derivatives but this is one I made an exception for!"

[Mariette]

Understandably!Possibly, ´Funny Valentine´would be a more telling name?

[Tony Willis]

Galanthus reginae-olgae ssp vernalis from the Vicos Gorge, Greece.

[Brian Ellis]

From Matt Bishop .....

New snowdrop  - 'Fieldgate Imp.'

It certainly is a good addition to those pterugiform drops

[Alan_b]

It certainly is a good addition to those pterugiform drops

Don't say that to Matt Bishop, I think he prefers the term he coined himself: "inverse poculiform".

Personally, I think "inversely poculiform" was what Matt was aiming for but did not quite reach.  Those little drops in the picture look vastly more like inverted goblets than like leather strips dangling from the waist of a Roman soldier.