Galanthus Events 2009

[Martin Baxendale]

I make an interesting thick pea soup Lancashire style, made from dried peas. I'll mail you a block.   

[Anthony Darby]

Souper.

[steve owen]

Ca va?
Back from Ann Borrill's nice alpine garden in Norfolk, just as good as Brian promised and all the better for warm sunshine. David Quinton and Alan Briggs completed an SRGC gang of three. The garden demonstrated that you don't need rolling acres and huge clumps for a good snowdrop display.

Yesterday at Colesborne grey and overcast by comparison, but the snowdrops were in brilliant form. Here are a few pics. The clump of The Bride hasn't really shown any vigour for the past three years. The "undecided" is my label and not official. The "pot" is included because someone there had gone to a lot of trouble and it makes a smashing pic.
 

[Anthony Darby]

Jings. We'll get Mark to identify them all.

[Alan_b]

Ca va?
Back from Ann Borrill's nice alpine garden in Norfolk, just as good as Brian promised and all the better for warm sunshine. David Quinton and Alan Briggs completed an SRGC gang of three. The garden demonstrated that you don't need rolling acres and huge clumps for a good snowdrop display.

Here's the photographic evidence!

[carolesmith]

Maggie it's me inside the rather bright patchwork jacket in photos 3 and 5 at the gala.  I guess it is sometimes more comfortable on 'the other side' of the sales tables.

[KentGardener]

Here's the photographic evidence!

Another funny picture - it looks like a scene from an old black and white comedy where someone kneels down behind someone who then gets pushed over them resulting in lots of laughter. 

The reason I have come up to Norfolk was originally to be at Ann's yesterday and it would be have been great to meet Steve for the first time.  But Brian has managed to arrange so many exciting things for me to do that involve his long suffering driver ferrying us from one end of the county to the other.  So doing it in a sensible order means we shall be at Ann's this morning instead. Lets hope the sun shines as well as it did for you three yesterday.

Best wishes

John

[Toft Tops]

I have just noticed myself on the Gala 5 pic (brown coat).  I'm Lynda Hinton from Stroud.  I've only posted once before.

[carolesmith]

The Curtis' family garden at Haconby in Lincolnshire is open, for NGS, today and tomorrow.  A beautiful cottage garden with lots of unusual and interesting snowdrops, also excellent tea and cakes (you have to get your priorities right here).

[Alan_b]

Brandy Mount House, home to one of the National Collections of Snowdrops, is having an open garden this weekend.  I went there today in glorious warm sunny weather, but it is open again on Sunday (so you still have time to go).  Whilst I was there I photographed an unusual pairing, two things that you don't usually see together. 

[Maggi Young]

Hi, Carole and Lynda..... good to "meet" you properly !! 


 Let's hear more from you both....... 

[KentGardener]

I have just returned from what must be my most exciting snowdrop travels ever.  Friday morning I was up at the crack of dawn (well actually I was up 3 hours before the crack of dawn!  ) and caught the 5.30am London bound train from Kent.  By 9.30am I was meeting with Brian Ellis and his partner at Norwich railway station in Norfolk.  The next 48 hours Brian had organised to perfection and involved me sitting back enjoying a chauffeur driven exploration of 6 wonderful Norfolk locations crammed full of interesting Galanthus and even more interesting people.  In all I visited 5 private gardens and the former Greatorex garden which is now preserved woodland - of course I was blindfolded and sworn to secrecy for this part of the trip!   

I was relieved to find that Brian and David enjoy their food as much as I do so the tour was interspersed with wonderful home cooked meals, and hearty pub lunches - I just wish I could have stayed with them until today as they are off to a garden club this afternoon for a cream tea.     Mmmmmm.....cream tea.

I shall start with some general shots and known flowers taken during the 5 garden visits:

The view that greeted me through Brian's front window on Saturday morning (a bit better than the terraced house covered in 1970's stone cladding that greets me in Kent each morning!)


The neighbour's cat, called 'Jazz', thinks I can't see her hiding behind a blade of grass! 


Carpet of aconites


Fairy Rings?


A fused South Hayes


Chadwick's Cream (bloody difficult to photograph - the colours look all wrong - but in the flesh - Wow!)  I have laid a normal nivalis double in the background to try and show the difference - but it still doesn't show just how creamy it really is.


Cowhouse Green


Erway


Megan


Wasp



Cheers

John

To be continued.....

[KentGardener]

Next came the Greatorex plot, which is where Heyrick Greatorex lived and bred snowdrops, kept chickens etc.  The house was demolished and the garden reverted to woodland which is now looked after by a local naturalist society.

This is where the Greatorex doubles were all bred and, as I am sure you can imagine, the gene pool here makes for some interesting seedlings - I believe the most recent find from this 'woodland' to make it into cultivation is 'Greenfinch'.

Greenfinch


This was out small gang of eagle eyed enthusiasts:




The woodland


While there we spotted some other nicely marked specimens:










The was also some rather nice '4 petal' genes in evidence:


Cheers

John

To be continued.....

[Hagen Engelmann]

John, we will send you to all gardens and galas. Your pics are fantastic. You have the view for the silence beauties. First time I see CHATWICK CREAM. Thank you

[KentGardener]

Finally - some pictures of a few 'new finds', some of them still un-named.

An un-named pagoda / egret type (I have a real soft spot for this petal form  )


A 'grumpy' type elwesii called 'smiley'


An un-named nivalis poculiformis 'Poculiformis Mark Solomon' (the best example I have seen of this - extremely regular, shapely flowers on every flower in the clump)




Swanton


Wishbone


a 2 petal flower - will it be stable next year?....


A sport of Angelique (half the size and something quite endearing about it)



Hope you have all found the posts of my excursions in Norfolk interesting.

Many thanks to Brian Ellis and David for arranging such an enjoyable weekend.  

Cheers

John