Galanthus mid February to March 2007

[mark smyth]

Biodiversite I have never seen or grown that Galanthus so I cant comment

Here are some more from me to keep the interest up. Maggi requested this last night
nivalis 'Gloucester Old Spot
'David Shackleton' further out than last time I showed them
G. krasnovii - all hints and tips gratefully received
Might Atom Group 'Dodo Norton'
'Dodo Norton'
nivalis ex Slovakia - stands out due to it's late appearance
nivalis ex slovakia

[mark smyth]

and a few more until someone else comes forward eg Sandy & Jean!

my own small nivalis green tipped
plicatus 'Granny Smyth - down to one bulb so hopefully getting it chopped
plicatus 'Percy Picton'

[Alan_b]

"Signs of Stagonospora" Mark???  I haven't even heard of Stagonospora!  What does it do?  What are the signs?  You've got me all paranoid now!

[mark smyth]

Stagonora curtisii is a fungal infection. Symptoms are leaves, sheaths and bulbs with red streaks and spots. Leaves usually have a kink where the infection is/was. Flowers can abort in the spathe and turn grey. Two of the best collections were recently nearly wiped out.

[biodiversite]

Biodiversite I have never seen or grown that Galanthus so I cant comment

Actually it seems conformed to this one on this page http://freespace.virgin.net/almond.jim/Portraits.htm

[vanhouttewim]

Hello Mark , here you are ... 

The photo of Galanthus krasnovii is very impressive! i have never seen a live plant of it. 
I like Galanthus plicatus and its cultivars very much. I think they are easy to grow too.

best wishes,

Wim

[mark smyth]

hello Wim. There was talk at the Gala that pure plicatus and the cultivars are not long lived. I am very pleased with my krasnovii but it is smaller than I imagined it would be. They should be outside where I'm told it needs moisture during the summer

[vanhouttewim]

not long lived? why not if each bulb devide itsself and make new ones? strange...
I don't know about krasnovii , but i think in the wild populations they get high rainfall in summer too. good luck ...

Wim

[David Quinton]

Galanthus elwesii Rosemary Burnham captured at Colesbourne last weekend along with Galanthus Ding Dong.

[Maggi Young]

Perseverence pays, David! 'Ding Dong' is a bit skinny for my liking. What has 'Rosemary Burnham' seen to make her so green with envy, i wonder

[Johan Mens]

Maggi, meet the real 'green with envy' crying for being so small

[Alan_b]

Mark - those pictures of plants infected with Stagonora Curtsii did nothing to quell my paranoia.  Do you have a picture of a plant showing the early stages of the fungus, so we can look and take action before things get too far gone?

[mark smyth]

very nice Johan. Look after it!

Alan early stages are simply small amounts of rusty streaking on the bulb or kinked leaves

[Alan_b]

Snowdrops – strength in numbers?

It is often taught that you should plant snowdrops in groups of at least three.  I have been wondering if this is true and, if so, why.  Here are some ideas:

1)   Visual effect.  If you are aiming for a clump then it make take a single snowdrop two to four years before it has bulked up to three.  So start with three and you have several years’ advantage.  But personally, I think a dense planting of single snowdrops looks more effective than the same number in a few clumps.
2)   Mortality.  If you have one snowdrop and it dies then you notice the absence.  If you have three and one of them dies you may well not notice (given that they should increase from year to year anyway).
3)   Strength in numbers.  Something in my garden has a tendency to eat snowdrop bulbs when they are in the ground.  If it eats one third of each of three bulbs you will be much better off than if it eats the whole of one bulb.  I also wonder if snowdrops (and other bulbs) can influence the soil that surrounds them, for example by leaching galanthamine into the soil to deter insects.  If so, I could imagine that several snowdrops together work better or faster than a solitary snowdrop.

If idea 3 were true then if you have paid some astronomical price for a single bulb of a precious snowdrop, it would make sense to plant it together with some ordinary snowdrops for protection.  Does anybody do this?

[Maggi Young]

Johan, that is a poor little thing, buy it a few beers and some chocolate to feed it up!

Alanb, that galanthamine idea might be possible, but wouldn't it just stop the pests getting Alzheimer's rather than keeping them away
As for planting a special amongst plain types, you must know that I'm going to say that you'd never be able to find it again    I don't think it would work, though, you'd just lessen  the risk but I think a pest is just as likely good at  detecting the one super bulb amongst the run-of-the-mill ones  as I am at finding the juiciest cherry in the bowl!