Galanthus to mid February 2007

[snowdropman]

I've tried that for ten minutes, Anne, I'm dreaming of hellebores!

Maggi - sounds like the white fever may be passing, but best to give it another 10 minutes, just to be sure 

[snowdropman]

President Ian has shown these photos on the old Forum, so I'm reposting them here, to be handy!
Fred' Giant clump
(Attachment Link)
Fred's Giant closer
(Attachment Link)

Hi Maggi - thanks very much for re-posting these pics of 'Fred's Giant' (which look just like the one's that I have got, which are not particularly big and do not really live up to the descriptive 'Giant') - I am looking forward to the further pics from President Ian, when he has had the chance to get the camera out, both to see any differences in the inner segment marks & also the stature of the plant.

I will have a chance next week to look at 'Fred's Giant' in the garden of Michael Baron - my memory is of a much bigger plant, but perhaps the memory plays tricks -either that or I need to find out what Michael feeds it on

[snowdropman]

Here is one of my poculiform elwesii.

Hi Diane - great snowdrop and one to be treasured - do you have a picture that shows the leaves as well?

[Martin Baxendale]

Anne, I'm not sure if you're just setting forumists a test or genuinely not certain which is which, but the top pic is Merlin and the second one Tubby Merlin (I'm sure you knew that!).

Tubby Merlin's a seedling found in his Cotswold garden by the late E.B. Anderson, and it was actually my mum who inspired the name on a visit in, I think, the sixties. E.B. Anderson showed her the flower and asked what she thought, to which she replied 'It looks like a tubby little Merlin' (because it was much shorter than the real Merlin). And that's what it ended up being called. I don't think the tubby bit was meant in the same as chubby or fat, but in reference to its shorter stature.

Dunno about the Warham. There's a lot of "Warhams" around. Mine came from Colin Mason and is the commonly accepted version (for what that's worth!). Where did you get yours? Broadleigh?

Okay, that's my five minutes spare time today used up! Back tothe word processor - I'm on a very tight deadline. Haven't even been out in the garden today, despite the nice weather. Maybe tomorrow.

[Maggi Young]

Martin wrote

I don't think the tubby bit was meant in the same as chubby or fat, but in reference to its shorter stature.

Martin, I mean no disrespect to your dear Mother, but if that is what she meant,"but in reference to its shorter stature" she perhaps meant to say the word "stubby" !!   Or perhaps the famous Mr Anderson was a little deaf? One can be short, one can be stubby, but if one is tubby, there is certainly chubbiness involved. I know about these things, trust me.
Shows how inconsistent these namings are, since Merlin is much tubbier than Tubby Merlin, as I supposed.  You galanthophiles.... I don't know  

[annew]

Martin's ID  confirms my labels, thank goodness. The 'Warham' was bought at a local group plant sale.

[tonyg]

What - nearly a whole page of Snowdrop posts since the last picture .. what do you galanthophiles find to talk about?  After all, small white and green flowers, seen one seen ........   OK OK Keep your hair on (Mark, if you are reading this that doesn't apply to you - hope the clippers have brought things back under control ) - I like them too
Here are a few of mine - you'll have seen them all before I am sure

Galanthus 'Magnet'
Galanthus rizehensis
Galanthus woronowii
Galanthus fosteri - reputedly shy to flower.  Mine are under glass and do divide up fast but they also make a nice show of flowers - at least they do when I seerate the bigger ones and grow them together!  I'll try and post again when they are fully open.

[Martin Baxendale]

Martin, I mean no disrespect to your dear Mother, but if that is what she meant,"but in reference to its shorter stature" she perhaps meant to say the word "stubby" !!



Quite right, Maggi, and she may well have meant something more like that. It was just a throw-away comment on my Mum's part, not something thought out or intended to become a name, and she was surprised when it started being passed around with that name. Indeed, snowdrops are often named on an impulse because someone in a group looking at it comes up with a quick quip or offhand observation that's jumped on and used as a name (snowdrop parties sometimes involve a drink or two!).

I found time just now to look at my snowdrop seed pots with a torch. My first foray into the garden all day!

Very, very, very slow germination - almost nothing showing, which is a first for this time of year. Except for the autumn snowdrops, the reginae-olgae seedlings and crosses, all up as normal. I wonder if the shortage of cold weather this winter means the snowdrop seeds haven't had enough cold spells to stimulate germination? I guess that wouldn't worry the autumn reginae-olgae types, which (as in the adult bulbs) are probably more stimulated by cool and wet rather than sharp cold?

Whatever, I may have to resort to putting them in the fridge (if my wife will let me!) Otherwise I'll have very little to show this year for all my pollination last year. 

[Maggi Young]

Speak nicely, Martin, to the lovely Ivi, who might make a Valentine gift to you of a little fridge  which  you may use for chilling/storing all sorts of stuff.  Ian has one, in the shed!  The fridge was very cheap because it had been scratched and a little dented in the shop... BIG reduction 

[Martin Baxendale]

Anne, your Warham's a very nice-looking plicatus. It doesn't look a million miles away from what mine look like, except that it's quite early - mine are only just coming up and are always pretty late. I'll try to find time to post a pic when they're flowering, for comparison.

[Martin Baxendale]

Good idea Maggi...I need more space for my cold beers too! Mmmm, now I fancy a break from work and an ice-cold bottle of Prague's finest Staropramen (the name means 'old well' because the water to make the beer is taken from a very deep old well in Prague Old Town). And if I polish off the New York baked cheese cake on the bottom shelf I could just fit in a tray of pots pending my Valentine's gift.

[annew]

Just spent all morning trawling around local garden centres snowie-hunting. Some had none at all , but a couple had some elwesii (one even labelled as such), though only just flowering, and nothing very interesting.

[Anthony Darby]

Absolutely glorious weather today, so I took some pics of snowdrops in the garden.
They are: Galanthus nivalis 'Anglesey Abbey'; G. plicatus 'Castle Green'; G. 'Dionysus'; G. elwesii 'Fred's Giant'; G. 'Little Ben'; G. nivalis 'Magnet'; G. nivalis 'Sandersii' and G. nivalis 'Hololeucus'.

[KentGardener]

Hi Anthony

lovely pictures - thank you.

I wonder if you may have time to edit your post to include the names of the flowers that you have shown as text.  When someone uses the search facility within the forum they do not find words that are only included as part of the image names.  The search only looks at the actual typed text within a post.

Just thinking of the future and making the SRGC forum as useful and searchable for others as possible.

cheers

John

Well said, John. A useful point. Please take note , everyone! M

[Martin Baxendale]

Tony, your Gal. woronowii doesn't look right for the species. Wrong leaf (should be wide and convolute) and wrong kind of mark (should be flat-topped). Looks like a green-leaved G. nivalis variant. Nice though! Is the G. rizehensis the triploid Prof. Baytop form? Look pretty robust, so I'm guessing maybe it is.