Galanthus in February 2019

[Maggi Young]

Thank you, Mariette!
 Nice seedling you have there - such fun to have variations from seed in any plants, I think.

[Leena]

Lovely snowdrops everyone!
I keep going back to looking snowdrop views from Andy Byfield's garden, they are wonderful.
Especially I admire the picture of 'Green Tear', you can really see what it is like in a garden setting much better than in a picture of just a flower. It looks like it is really a distinctive snowdrop.

[Bart]

The clumps do look to have been very congested, and  declining in flower numbers, Bart .... maybe part of the problem was that they were too crowded and  declined because of that?

Hi Maggi, I see what you are saying, but it's not that there are less flowers; the flowers that are there get eaten. I keep sptitting clumps and gradually the garden gets filled with what seems to be clones of ordinary nivalis and nivalis flore pleno. I do not seem to get much in the way of seedlings, despite the fact that I don't weed and I do get seedpods. There is no evidence of youngsters other that vegetative ones. But I digress:

Slugs and snails, if active, will eat snowdrops, particularly as they emerge through the ground so no climbing is required.  This can lead to the tips of the flowers being removed.  They can represent a serious threat to autumn-flowering snowdrops.

Pheasants like to pluck snowdrop flowers off but they don't eat them.  Perhaps they are offended by anything flowering this early in the season and take it upon themselves to correct matters? 

Alan, I guess you are right. It amazes me though that slugs might be active even when we still have frosty nights. Please see the picture for more detail of the damage;



It really looks as if a slug is having a go... but they eat a lot, and fast!

Here a pic of the garden before they are eaten:





and 'Trumps' :




I'm still very new to the whole snowdrop craze and I wonder: are most 'specials' just lucky finds? I know some people do breed deliberately, like Anne and Hagen on this forum and probably others, but it seems to me most selections are 'found' in neglected gardens and estates. Is there also a North / South split (In Britain) perhaps in the likelihood of getting a good seed crop and self seeding populations? I live in Northern England.

Has any significant drop ever been found in an allotment, or a forgotten motorway verge?

[Bart]

Argggh Maggi I am sorry they are all over the place again. PLEASE is there a way to sort this flipping out myself. Is there some machine code where I can see the pics orientation before posting???

[Anthony Hawkins]

I have had serious slug problems, but strangely only on Tilebarn Jamie. I now resort to slug pellets, actually I never caught a slug at it, but the problem stopped when I deployed the poison.
If you have a slug problem, they probably have a taste for seedlings.

[Stefan B.]

Galanthus 'Hill Poe'

[deee]

Thats a very cute picture stefan -- its like mother and child

[Stefan B.]

Thank you, deee! 

[Maggi Young]

Argggh Maggi I am sorry they are all over the place again. PLEASE is there a way to sort this flipping out myself. Is there some machine code where I can see the pics orientation before posting???

Argggh Maggi I am sorry they are all over the place again. PLEASE is there a way to sort this flipping out myself. Is there some machine code where I can see the pics orientation before posting???

No worries, Bart - I've been offline but fixed those for you now.
 More on the rotating picture  "thing"  here - http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=65.30

[David Nicholson]

Pictures of named Galanthus varieties at The Garden House can be seen on Places to Visit thread, Reply 8 to 18. Plenty of other pics too on the thread as a whole.

[Alan_b]

I'm still very new to the whole snowdrop craze and I wonder: are most 'specials' just lucky finds? I know some people do breed deliberately, like Anne and Hagen on this forum and probably others, but it seems to me most selections are 'found' in neglected gardens and estates. Is there also a North / South split (In Britain) perhaps in the likelihood of getting a good seed crop and self seeding populations? I live in Northern England.

Has any significant drop ever been found in an allotment, or a forgotten motorway verge?

Almost all snowdrop cultivars are finds.  Whilst luck certainly plays a part, careful observation is also very important.  And then care is required to build-up a stock to the point where it can be sold or otherwise distributed.  Whilst some finds have taken place in gardens and estates (neglected or otherwise), many finds have occurred in places where diverse snowdrops have been brought together, for example in the gardens of people who collect snowdrops (and allow them to set seed).

I have recently moved from Cambridgeshire to Northumberland.  I see vastly more Galanthus nivalis growing "wild" in verges and similar than I ever did in Cambridgeshire but in my part of Cambridgehsire there was also a significant naturalised population of Galanthus plicatus in churchyards and verges and I haven't yet found any Galanthus plicatus in Northumberland.  Some nivalis populations are infertile and spread only by division; others set seed and will be more diverse.  If there is a north/south divide then it is in numbers of galanthophiles with many more in the south than in the north.

I once found a beautiful virescent snowdrop growing by a lamppost, albeit in front of a garden with many other snowdrops.  This was a time when virescents were much rarer than today and this one might have become significant had I succeeded in propagating it.   But instead it suffered multiple misfortunes so there are still only a few bulbs in existence.             

[Bart]

Thanks for that Alan.
There are lots and lots of G. nivalis around my part of ryedale too and there  is the odd clump of G. elwesii where topsoil has been dumped. I have been scanning for something different for a few years but as expected I didn’t see any odditiesso far. Fortunately the ‘normal’ ones are as nice as they are!
As far as the damage is concerned, some people suggest slugs and others mice. I think I have both. The cats have been put on a diet and I introduced a pond last autumn so I might get friendly toads to help with the slugs. They did eat my one flower on George  Elwes though..

[Blonde Ingrid]

A return to warmer climes from freezing Moscow and what changes in the garden. The Scottish drops are in full flower today, Three from Ian Christie and one from Cyril Lafong.

First up, Green Shadow, a lovely virescent from Ian Christie. This is a lovely drop with the green stripes on the outers grouping towards the centre. Stands out amongst the virescents.



Eye Shadow another of Ian's specials with lovely inner markings.



Grant Colvin, named after Ian's Grandson, this is wonderfully vigorous and long lasting. 



Annielle, one of my favourite Pocs, named for Cyril Lafong's wife.



A lovely welcome back!

[Maggi Young]

Scottish 'drops doing well down there in the " tropics "  Ingrid !

[Blonde Ingrid]

Scottish 'drops doing well down there in the " tropics "  Ingrid !

They are indeed Maggs, I have quite a collection of them now and they seem to be doing very well. The range is very impressive.