Galanthus in December 2018

[Mariette]

And such pretty ones, too! I think I´d like that one even better than the mother! You´re a lucky guy, Tim! Do You know which partner was the father of these children?
 Maybe it was Martin Baxendale who once reported here of difficulties to use ´Three Ships´for breeding. The fertility may depend on matching partners, but seems to be influenced by temperature, too. During the mild seasons of the last years, many said-to-be sterile snowdrops like ´S. Arnott´and´Mrs. Macnamara´ produced seed, which they refused to do before in our area.

[Blonde Ingrid]

You are right, Mariette and Alan. I had about 4 blooms one after the other and they alle looked more or less the same to me. I think it is a wild subspecies with normal variations. Ru may have selected particular forms by now - time will tell.

Some have indeed been named.

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Mariette,
     'Three Ships' was the father and 'Mrs Macnamara' the mother. After I'd done the pollination I too read about the hopelessness of attempting such crosses! I was fully expecting the pod to be empty!! To add to the problems I also read about MrsM being Triploid or Tetraploid, so I thought the seeds might fail....
     As it is MrsM now sets wild (unknown father) seed with me every year. Three Ships doesn't, but then again it doesn't overlap with many cultivars here.

Tim DH

[Mariette]

Thank You for Your information, Tim! In my garden, both grow side by side, so that may be why ´Mrs. Macnamara´set seed so well recently. As far as I remember, Martin wrote that ´Three Ships´proved unwilling to set seed, which is the same with me, though there were occasionally capsules with very few seeds in them.

[Roma]

I have only recently started buying named varieties of snowdrops and only a few not too expensive ones. 
Galanthus corcyrensis is still flowering and I was surprised to see 'Fly Fishing' so advanced.  It was one bulb from Avon planted in March and has 6 shoots, 3 with flower buds.

[Alan_b]

I was surprised to see 'Fly Fishing' so advanced.  It was one bulb from Avon planted in March and has 6 shoots, 3 with flower buds.

Although noted for the very long pedicel, 'Fly Fishing' is also a particularly early snowdrop amongst the winter-flowering ones.  Congratulations that it is bulking-up so quickly for you.

[Blonde Ingrid]

A nice selection of Galanthus alpinus flowering this morning in Sub-Tropical East Anglia.

Also Yvonne Hay looking lovely.

[David Nicholson]

Glad it's "sub-tropical" somewhere! Lousy here and has been for the last three weeks. Yet another stretch of fencing has finished up in the far reaches of next doors garden and just waiting for a quote from my regular fencing chap who does pretty well out of the rapidly diminishing Nicholson children's inheritance.   

[Blonde Ingrid]

Glad it's "sub-tropical" somewhere! Lousy here and has been for the last three weeks. Yet another stretch of fencing has finished up in the far reaches of next doors garden and just waiting for a quote from my regular fencing chap who does pretty well out of the rapidly diminishing Nicholson children's inheritance.

Sounds rough David, here it is very bright and sunny, my micro-climate is very warm and dry, even in a warm and dry region.

[Blonde Ingrid]

A delight waiting for me this morning!

Plato talked about the pure form of an object, which each object possesses in some part. The very best snowdrops contain a major part of the pure form.

Here is Eilys Elizabeth Hartley, one of Anne Wright's introductions, which contains a major part. Note the three greens on this snowdrop, the lovely form. It really is special.

In addition, it was named for a young child who tragically passed.

In common with all of Anne's drops it is bulking very well indeed. One to look out for.

[Anne Repnow]

Eilys Elizabeth Hartley really is a beauty, Ingrid. I love these chubby forms.

Dysmal weather here but warm, so my elwesii foundling opened up.

[Susan W]

Lovely to see so many snowdrops out this year. Hope some are holding back for my NGS open day!
Thought this would appeal to leaf lovers, Corkscrew, quite warm and sunny here today.

[jamouatt]

Dryad Gold Sovereign first yellow to open here, well in advance of all the others.

John(M)

[Blonde Ingrid]

Dryad Gold Sovereign first yellow to open here, well in advance of all the others.
John(M)

Looking very good John, in a year or two you will be looking at something like this. Anne's drops bulk very well.

[jamouatt]

Looking forward to that day Ingrid. The intensity of the yellow is most striking, I hope this stays as the bulb matures.

John(M)