The ebay season begins....... ( includes ikariae/ woronowii comparisons)

[KentGardener]

I see Jimlad21 is selling 'Rosemary Burnham', which is now at £131. Too expensive for us northerners.

And pensioner southerners

And hard working southerners too!   

[Hagen Engelmann]

But also for ossis (people of East(ost)Germany)

[loes]

and if you win it it`s hard to keep alive as I understand

[Martin Baxendale]

not sure if this is the auction mark metioned but this seller has a suspect mrs thompson on ebay at the moment -

looks nothing like my mrs thompson, the inner mark is to large, also the outer segments dont look quite correct .this is my mrs thompson in normal 3x3 formation notice the small inner mark -

No, it's not Mrs Thompson. Nice looking snowdrop though with a good mark. The seller has a number of other snowdrops on ebay, most of which look right (Hyde Lodge doesn't) so I think it's just a mistake. Can't definitely put a name to that snowdrop being sold as Mrs Thompson. The mark on the top flower looks a bit like Bill Bishop, while the mark on the lower flower looks different (maybe an immature flower on a small side-bulb).

[Mavers]

We all know the snowdrops we could all have a very messy group drool over..............

If for us mere mortals 'Rosemary Burnham' is difficult to grow, how do some growers manage not only to overcome this difficulty but have enough spares to sell on?

[Anthony Darby]

I think skilled snowpdrop growers must have "in-the-green fingers"?

[mark smyth]

The policy of many is if it's new and there is only one bulb twinscale it that summer. I would imagine Jim has done just that and now has enough to pass on. His bulb collection is amazing. When 'Rosemary' arrived in N Ireland for the first time I begged the owners to have them twinscaled. They wouldnt and both bulbs died or were eaten.

[Jo]

Mark ,you mention 'getting them twinscaled' Is this a service one can get quotes from yellow pages 

Are there twinscalers to be avoided at all costs

 Are some always successful 

Is the service expensive/ free for keepsies etc, etc 

I'm planning on trying it myself, but should I only do it with easy ones    Sorry, lots of questions there

[Alan_b]

I'm sure Mark will give you chapter and verse on twin scalers but I think there are one or two people who will do it "free for keepsies", say 1/4 of the resultant bulbs.  I am planning to get my virescent elwesii (Rosemary Burnham look-alike) done this year.

[mark smyth]

Alan put it well. Some do it and charge money, some do it free and other keep some of the resulting bulbils

[Tony Willis]

Jo just give it a try there is no mystique in it. If you are happy with slightly less new bulbs you do not have to go as far as twin scaling. You can just cut the bulb into sections vertically,say six and go from there. The essential thing is hygiene. Some bulbs succeed in producing bulbils and others do not. Nothing ventured ,nothing gained

[KentGardener]

Following on from the Avon bulbs Big Boy post I have just received the following email from them:

Dear Snowdroppers,
 
At the moment it seems unlikely that we shall be distributing an extra-special snowdrop list this spring. It is proving to be a rather ‘different’ snowdrop season with Somerset experiencing more snow than we have for many years and it is difficult to assess our stocks. We may reconsider the situation later on.
 
It may be worth mentioning that a few ultra rare snowdrops are being released and sold through ebay. It is not a ‘vehicle’ of choice for us but it does have the (commercial) advantage of maximising the return on a few snowdrops that are otherwise difficult to price.  We too have bills to pay !  Currently G. Big Boy is available from us this way, it will be followed shortly by G Art Nouveau and G. Acton Pigot No 3 for those of you who are interested, and possibly a few others will follow. On ebay we sell under the name bhfchris (though we make it clear that this is the Avon Bulbs tag)
 

Regards

John

[Jo]

Jo just give it a try there is no mystique in it. If you are happy with slightly less new bulbs you do not have to go as far as twin scaling. You can just cut the bulb into sections vertically,say six and go from there. The essential thing is hygiene. Some bulbs succeed in producing bulbils and others do not. Nothing ventured ,nothing gained

Thanks for the feedback on twinscaling.  I will definately give it a go after such encouragement.  Does anyone know of any cvs or sps that I should definately not try 

[Martin Baxendale]

Rob, I was forwarded an email from the seller of 'Mrs Thompson' who says the bulb being sold is Mrs Thompson but that they used a photo of a different snowdrop because they couldn't take one of their 'Mrs Thompson' because of the snow. I believe the seller is genuine, though not sure about the advisability of using an incorrect photo, maybe better to use none at all.

[Anthony Darby]

Rob, I was forwarded an email from the seller of 'Mrs Thompson' who says the bulb being sold is Mrs Thompson but that they used a photo of a different snowdrop because they couldn't take one of their 'Mrs Thompson' because of the snow. I believe the seller is genuine, though not sure about the advisability of using an incorrect photo, maybe better to use none at all.

What happens if the buyer is expecting the snowdrop in the picture?