Galanthus April 2024

[Stefan B.]

Thank you Leena, it was a pleasure!!

[ashley]

I made a 27 min video of about 50 snowdrop cultivars I grow (many common or older cultivars), and made subtitles in English ...

Thank you for this lovely video Leena.  Really beautiful snowdrops.
And so many honeybees! There must be hives (and maybe a beekeeper) nearby.

What is the little trillium beside your 'Glenorma', and the colchicum near the first 'Trinity' you showed?

I also enjoyed hearing some 'horticultural' Finnish (rare here in Ireland), as well as the wonderful birdsong & woodpecker drumming.

[Leena]

Thank you Stefan and Ashley.

And so many honeybees! There must be hives (and maybe a beekeeper) nearby.

What is the little trillium beside your 'Glenorma', and the colchicum near the first 'Trinity' you showed?

I also enjoyed hearing some 'horticultural' Finnish (rare here in Ireland), as well as the wonderful birdsong & woodpecker drumming.

We have wondered about honeybees, because we don't know any hives nearby, but I guess they can fly quite a ways when they find something they like, and now crocuses and snowdrops provide food more in my garden than they can find elsewhere. Even native willows and Tussilago farfara are not yet flowering, but Hepaticas are in a warm spot.

Trillium beside 'Glenorma' is Trillium nivale, and near the first 'Trinity' is Colchicum bulbocodium. Near 'Wendy's Gold' closer to the end of the video was Colchicum szovitsii, I don't remember if it showed.

We have lots of birds in the garden, and I love this time of year for their song.

[Maggi Young]

Trillium beside 'Glenorma' is Trillium nivale

Oh! I thought it was a Trillium pusillum.

[Leena]

Oh! I thought it was a Trillium pusillum.

I once sowed T.pusillum, but the seedlings died in a bad winter. I don't know if it should be hardy here.
Trillium-book says that it starts to flower when T.nivale ends.

Here is 'Glenorma' with T.nivale, and more on the left.



When 'Glenorma' is big, 'Wifi Big Bang' is huge, compare it to Eranthis and Crocus. It is also quite leafy plant, at least now in the end of flowering.

[Leena]

Some snowdrops from last week. The good thing about this cold weather (right now 0C in the middle of the day) is that snowdrops flower longer.

'Wendy's Gold'



This is my 'Bill Clark'. I bought it ten years ago and I think it has flowered twice since. The next year after planting, and then it started going downhill. I moved it to a more moist bed, and then it flowered another time, but then no flowers until now. I distinctly remember that the yellow marking in the inners was right in the beginning. I don't know why it looks like this now this year. Has the original bulb been replaced by a seedling or what?? However, the marking is not as strong as in 'Wendy's Gold'.



'G.plicatus from Staryi Krym', I like this one. In the background G.gracilis planted last summer is just starting to flower.



'Greenpeace' is a good doer here.



As is 'S.Arnott'

[Villu]

Very enjoyable pictures and stories, Leena! It is wonderful that you have a good snowdrop season this year!
Our own season here in Estonia was cut short by April "heatwaves", temperatures rising up to 22 degrees in Celsius on April 10th. But it was close to 20 on March 31st too (all time record braking in March)! Now only the latest varieties are in fading bloom.
No matter the heatwaves, it is winter today and everything is covered by snow now! That how hectic this spring is and climate has become (?!).


Snowdrops in snow

Just a day before, everything looked so different.


'E.A. Bowles'


'Marjorie Brown'


'Amy Doncaster' 

[Leena]

No matter the heatwaves, it is winter today and everything is covered by snow now! That how hectic this spring is and climate has become (?!).

It is the same here, we got 20cm snow yesterday and everything is white, again! Temperatures have gone up and down this winter/spring like never before.
The past 5 days it's been 10C colder than normal here.

Your picture of 'Amy Doncaster' is beautiful.

This is 'Alison Hilary', picture from a week ago, and now they are under snow.
It was planted last autumn, and it is a very small plant, with small flowers. I didn't know that from pictures I had seen. Otherwise a nice plant.

[Mariette]

Villu, Leena is perfectly right, the combination of ´Amy Doncaster´with the blue hepatica is admirable. Also, the one with ´Marjory Brown´- I guess the blue comes from a chionoscilla?

[Villu]

Thank you Mariette!  You are right, 'Marjorie Brown' is with Chionoscilla allenii. Wonderful deep blue bulb. A lot better than Scilla bifolia which is believed to be one of the parents.

[Villu]

To finish off the month and our snowdrop season here, I share some of the best performers from this year. Hope you'll enjoy!


'Bill Bishop'


'Blonde Inge'


'Cowhouse Green'


'Don Armstrong'


'E.A.  Bowles'

[Villu]

Some more:


'Moreton Mill'


'Ophelia'


'Pat Mason'


'Rosemary Burnham'


'Spindlestone Surprise'

[Villu]

And some more:


'Susan Grimshaw'


'Trimmer'


'Trympostor'


'Wendy's Gold'


'Veronica Cross'

Who ever is more interested in my plants and in my garden, can check out my blog at http://tistoupaevaraamat.blogspot.com/ It is in Estonian but pictures are international!

[Leena]

Villu, you can grow snowdrops so well! Mine never increase so well or are  such big clumps. Yours are fabulous!

Here snowdrops are over in the most early and sunny places, but in a more shadier spot they are still flowering.

'Midas' has been a very good snowdrop here, and increases well (in spite of what I just wrote), and I divided it last summer.



'Glenchantress' has been very slow to increase, and it always flowers late here. I like this very much.

[Leena]

Two days ago I took a long video (33 min) from my most floriferous place in the garden right now.
There are still snowdrops flowering and crocuses. At the same time Corydalis and Hepatica are also flowering.
Sorry, no English translation, but I have written the names of the plants in the video.