Galanthus Gala 2009

[mark smyth]

Get the diaries out for the best date in the Galanthus year.

The Galanthus Gala will be on Saturday February 14th
The venue - Queenswood School in Brookman's Park near Hatfield
The open garden - Myddelton House, Enfield
The speakers are
Melvin Jope - Galanthus reginae-olgae in Corfu
Bryan Hewitt - EA Bowles
Joe Sharman - Snowdrops at Myddleton House from Bowles' time to present day
Richard Hobbs - Norfolk snowdrops

Among the bulbs auctioned will be the Galanthus plicatus Poculiformis Group 'EA Bowles'

[Alan_b]

I was going to post those details but you beat me to it, Mark.  Here is a bit more about the visit.

"Afternoon: 2.00-5.00  A visit to Myddleton House Gardens, Bulls Cross, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 9HG.  This was the garden of the famous plantsman E. A. Bowles, which, since his death has been cared for by many gardeners and is part of the Lea Valley Regional Park.  The snowdrops planted by Mr Bowles have survived and spread and more recently some very interesting varieties have arisen there.  Some areas will not be open."

My own comments are that Myddleton House is a beautiful garden in spring.  There are very many spring bulbs, all somewhat naturalised as the garden has been maintained rather than much developed since Bowles' time.  It is well worth a visit, whether or not you go to the Gala.  Unfortunately visiting can be a bit awkward as it is normally only open Monday to Friday.


Edit by Maggi, after message received from the acting Senior Gardener:viz:
May I please correct Alan b on 2 points ? It is unfortunate that Alan b states that Myddelton House Gardens (where we are staging the Snowdrop Gala 2009), is only open Monday to Friday when in  fact we are open all week from 10am till 3pm and 10am- till 4pm after Easter and have been since last April. Secondly ,over the last year  we have invested very heavily in developing these unique gardens by purchasing many unusual and choice plants which are helping to  restore the garden in the style of Mr Bowles. signed Bryan Hewitt, acting Senior Gardener

[Alan_b]

In fact, here is a copy of the Invitation to the Galanthus Gala, for those who are not on the mailing list.

[mark smyth]

Imagine 300 people running for their lives except this time they are running towards a marquee inside which will be about 10 sellers of choice snowdrops. The tallest Europeans reach over like huge cranes to the sales tables so if you are a short a** there is no hope. LOL Even after the scrum has subsided there will staill be a fantastic array of snowdrops on the tables. How much will 'EA' sell for? Three figures at least

[KentGardener]

E. A. Bowles.... sigh......

A beautiful flower - my guess is that will be go for a ludicrous price like £200 or something.

This was the first time I saw it, and fell in love with it..... sigh...., at the RHS halls in February.



Hopefully it will be more easily available and affordable by 2015!   

John

[Alan_b]

im hoping to be able to go to this one, as it would seem this time its not to far away from me

as i dont have very good public travel sense i was thinking of going by taxi but i think it would cost hundreds both ways, any suggestions?

also i wouldnt know what to expect there, so if anyone has any picture they can post here of last years gala i would very much like to look at them

does anyone have a idea of how much roughly the G.plicatus E.A bowles will fetch? i have not been to a auction before so it would also be intresting to know what sort of prices are met at the gala in the past

any other info about the location would be of help

thanks
rob

If you want some money to bid for G. plicatus E.A. Bowles then I advise you to minimise your use of taxis to get to the venue!  This page tells you how to get there http://www.queenswood.org/uploads/1/Queenswood_Map_2_3.pdf.

[Maggi Young]

Touching though it is to see all you young chaps so taken by the beauty of this chubby virginal flower, I must warn you that if you drool all the way through to the Gala  , you won't be able to attend because you'll be hospitalised for dehydration..... be calm, Lads, be calm!



Alan... great financial advice, there 

[Paddy Tobin]

I had a letter from Joe Jarman yesterday announcing this snowdrop gala and other events where he will be speaking.

With this letter was a list of talks given at previous galas by a variety of speakers. Transcripts of these talks were being offered for sale at £10 per talk plus £1 for postage.

This struck me as expensive and though I would like to read them I felt I wasn't going to spend that amount on them.

Anyone see this list? Any comments?

Paddy

[snowdropman]

E. A. Bowles.... sigh......

A beautiful flower - my guess is that will be go for a ludicrous price like £200 or something.

This was the first time I saw it, and fell in love with it..... sigh...., at the RHS halls in February.

(Attachment Link)

Hopefully it will be more easily available and affordable by 2015!   

John

John - thanks for posting this pic, the best shot that I have seen!

[Paddy Tobin]

G. 'E.A.Bowles' certainly looks very nice indeed, a good full-flowered plant and well shown in John's photograph but not worth £200.

Paddy

[KentGardener]

G. 'E.A.Bowles' certainly looks very nice indeed, a good full-flowered plant and well shown in John's photograph but not worth £200.

Paddy

Hi Paddy

£200 was only a guess  -  and hopefully no-one would be stupid enough to pay that much  -  but going by last years silly ebay prices I wouldn't be surprised if they did 

John

[mark smyth]

I suppose whoever buys it will twinscale scale it next summer

[Maggi Young]

Galanthophiles.... we have received a correction to some info posted earlier in this thread, about the opening times of Myddleton Huse, outwith the special Gala Day event..... this is the message:
May I please correct  2 points made in the Forum ? It is unfortunate that Alan b states that Myddleton House Gardens   is only open Monday to Friday when in fact we are open all week from 10am till 3pm and 10am- till 4pm after Easter and have been since last April.
Secondly, over the last year  we have invested very heavily in developing these unique gardens by purchasing many unusual and choice plants which are helping to  restore the garden in the style of Mr Bowles. signed Bryan Hewitt, acting Senior Gardener

I am pleased to post this amendment from Bryan Hewitt, which I am sure is music to the ears of those folks planning a visit to Myddleton House.

[mark smyth]

You beat me to it. I had a phone call about small error.

[Gerdk]

Günter Waldorf asked me to request here for some other interesting places (nurseries, gardens, parks) to visit near the location of the Galanthus Gala  (February 14th).
Besides snowdrops he is interested especially in Helleborus and Hepatica.

Gerd