SRGC Snowdrop Day 2017

[Maggi Young]

SRGC Snowdrop Day 2017
The SRGC Snowdrop Day 2017

We have set the date of Sunday 26th February 2017 for our club’s
Snowdrop Day. There is only space for thirty participants  to meet at
Westmuir hall at 10 o’clock in the morning for a programme
that will include a presentation by Matt Bishop, a visit to Brechin Castle
to see special snowdrops, lunch at the Castle’s garden centre (under
£10, or bring your own lunch). We will then travel on to Maulsden to
view the special colony of Galanthus plicatus and take a walk around a
million or more Galanthus nivalis. The cost per member is around £15
and we will provide coffee and tea at the hall. For any further details
please contact ianchristie@btconnect.com

This event took place today - here are a few pix from Matt Topsfield ......


Matt Bishop talking on 'Floral Morphology in Snowdrops'



The Snowdrop named for  our " snaadreeper in chief:  Galanthus 'Ian Christie'

[Maggi Young]

Some more of the drops on display at the talk -

 
 Galanthus 'Castle Eyes'


Galanthus 'Maggi Young'


Galanthus 'Puffball'

[Maggi Young]

Picture by Julia Corden  (of  explorersgarden.com  in Pitlochry) of  some of today's group visiting a snowdrop wood

[Maggi Young]

Now a couple of photos from the woods by Beryl McNaughton of Macplants (http://macplants.co.uk)
 Beryl says : "And here we are having a lesson from the master and enjoying an afternoon in the Scottish countryside in torrential rain. Thanks to Matt  (Bishop) and Ian (Christie) for a good day."

[Alan_b]

It looks to have been quite a small meeting compared to some of the mega-events that take place down south.  I would have loved to have been there but you (I) can't go everywhere.  Pity about the torrential rain for the outdoor part.

[Julia]

Ian Christies Snowdrop Day was great even with the rain.
Matt Bishops talk was excellent and you were able to talk to each other as they had limited the numbers.
Thank you Ian, Anne and Matt - I'm starting to get the bug

[Brian Ellis]

Nice to be in a small group I am sure a good time was had by all despite the normal weather!

[Maggi Young]

There was a little confusion  over the naming of the G. 'Ian Christie ' with a query if  the plant was not named for "our" Ian C.  but in honour of that "other" Ian Christie who works at the Brechin Castle Estate.
Happily, Ian  has  put that straight -
" Hello The snowdrop G. plicatus 'Ian Christie' was named by the late Margaret Owen just before she died -  the bulbs are doing well her and yes it is Named after me Ian the Christie kind Kirriemuir. "

[steve owen]

I do think the naming of different snowdrops with similar names, still  less virtually identical, should be discouraged. I don't recall any resolution of the multiple Kath Drydens issue discussed on Scottish Rock three weeks or so ago. Too many snowdrops are indistinguishable from each other without soundalike names adding to the confusion.

[Alan_b]

I don't think the ICNCP rules allow any plant to be given a name likely to cause confusion by being too similar to another cultivar name for the same genus.  So, for example, Joe Sharman could not ultimately name his reginae-olgae 'Ruby Baker' because there was already another snowdrop of that name, albeit not a reginae-olgae.  For the same reason I don't think 'Kath Dryden's Early' would be allowed and I hope Tim Ingram has not spread confusion by selling any under that name.

On the other hand, distributing snowdrops without a name can be equally confusing.  If John Doe gives Richard Roe snowdrop A and then gives Tammy Atkins snowdrop B then either or both might be passed-around as 'ex John Doe' and if John likes giving-away snowdrops then there could easily be more than just the two different ones going around under the same designation.         

[Matt T]

The confusion in this case has arisen because there are two people with the name Ian Christie. As far as I know, there is only one snowdrop with the name 'Ian Christie'.

[Alan_b]

A plant cultivar takes on a life of its own so although it is right and proper to record the intention of the person who named it, anyone called Ian Christie can rightly assert that there is a snowdrop that bears their name.  Perhaps if people took the trouble to register snowdrops, which you can do with the registration authority, the KAVB, then there might be less confusion over names. 

[Brian Ellis]

A plant cultivar takes on a life of its own so although it is right and proper to record the intention of the person who named it, anyone called Ian Christie can rightly assert that there is a snowdrop that bears their name.  Perhaps if people took the trouble to register snowdrops, which you can do with the registration authority, the KAVB, then there might be less confusion over names.

...I don't see that as there will still be two Ian Christie's referred to on Scottish Rock and it would be no clearer as to which it was named for.  All it would do is what Matt has done in his book and various other people in other publications - like the D,S & T Yearbook, by stating which it was named for to start with.

[Maggi Young]

The confusion in this case has arisen because there are two people with the name Ian Christie. As far as I know, there is only one snowdrop with the name 'Ian Christie'.

Exactly!
And we have now stated here that the snowdrop -  G. 'Ian Christie' as in this photo, was named for Ian Christie, galanthophile nurseryman by  Margaret Owen. Something that will be here for people to refer to in future.

[Alan_b]

If I had my way, every new snowdrop offered for sale, swap or gift would come with a potted biography indicating where it came from (in broad terms if necessary),  who originated it, who named it (if different) and the reasoning behind the name.  Also included would be the names of the chain of people it had passed through (until such time as that became unfeasibly long).  But most galanthophiles aren't as keen on provenance as I am.

So we know that the beautiful snowdrop 'Ian Christie' was named by Margaret Owen for Ian Chrisitie of Kirriemuir Nursery.  We don't know where it originated; did Margaret spot it whilst visiting Ian Christie or did it arise as a seedling in her garden as so many other great snowdrops did?