Galanthus January 2009

[Diane Whitehead]

i plucked the 2 stamens from the centre, i could see the pollen was ripe.
i have placed the stamens in a vial, sealed and it is now in the freezer. i will be collecting more stamens from other doubles to be used on autumn flowering snowdrops this year. i assume that when i thaw the vials in autumn i will be able to use the pollen as you would when its fresh?

rob

Rob,

All advice about freezing pollen of other plants says to dry the pollen
first before freezing so the grains won't burst.  I assume it would be the same with
snowdrops.

[KentGardener]

Yes, not particularly pretty though. It does have good colour and is quite vigourous. The friend who gave me it has lots of big clumps in her garden. I also have a few from a SW nursery which are much weaker growers. I hope by having 2 sources that they may make little seedlings together 

Hi Jo

I have read on a few occasions that some 'sandersii' are better do'ers that others.  It is good to hear that the one from your friend has some strong genes (please think of me if it the time comes to disperse the gene pool further than the South West  ). 

I hope they are a good in the garden bed together!... 

John 

[johnw]

Rob - Go to the pharmacist and ask for some empty gelatin capsules. They will usually give you some. Place the pollen and anthers in one, shake to release as much pollen as possible and leave it in the fridge for several days. Then when the pollen has been desiccated by the fridge you can place the capsule in a small tight-fitting jar with some dry paper towel and one of those tiny anti-desiccant packets that come in pills bottles. The packet should go into the fridge with the capsule to be certain it is thoroughly dried out as well. Only then to the freezer. You need not thaw the pollen to use it but be quick to return the capsule to the jar (which is never left unopened to attract moisture). Be careful your hands are dry when handling the capsule as it will collapse with the slightest bit of moisture, and that includes rain - never easy to avoid but beware.

Probably no need to put the capsule in the freezer for the first few weeks if you are using it constantly. Back to the fridge between uses and when finished to the freezer.

I get huge capsules from the vet, the ones used for horses, for rhododendron pollen.

Wishing you luck hybridizing.

johnw

[Martin Baxendale]

I've been collecting, freezing and using snowdrop pollen for years and have found that if I tap it into an empty matchbox from the flower when it's dry enough to fall freely from the anthers, then freeze, it's okay. Maybe when it's dry enough to run freely from the anthers, it's dry enough for the freezer.

[jamouatt]

Just had an afternoon stroll round Wandlebury where the Plicatus and Aconites are beginning to open in the walled area of the ring. I spotted two small yellows and also took a photo of a mole hill amongst the Plicatus showing the chalky soil.

John(M)

[Hagen Engelmann]

Thank you JohnW and Martin for the helpful words. I will try it out this year too. Now the season could come (will come in 2-3weeks)

[johnw]

ALL  - My procedure is based on my rhododendron pollen work only. I don't think anyone will go wrong using the method I described.

If Martin's method with Galanthus pollen works for him then it works and is much simpler. So I say go for the easier method.

Now if some pollen hasn't not come off the anthers and you want every last grain to be viable then a few days in the fridge first might be a safe manoever. Martin - what do you think? Or, simply wait a little longer to collect.

johnw 

[johnw]

Diane - The Galanthus pollen does seem to be a lot drier when ripe than rhododendron pollen which is mighty stringy and sticky.  I would make perfect sense that such early bloomers as Galanthus would have evolved pollen that takes the usual freezing at bloom time without rupturing.

john

[Martin Baxendale]

Now if some pollen hasn't come off the anthers and you want every last grain to be viable then a few days in the fridge first might be a safe manoever. Martin - what do you think? Or, simply wait a little longer to collect.
johnw 

Yes, John, if the pollen is in severed anthers, I'd give it longer to dry out and fall from the anthers, then a bit longer to dry again in case you've forced it to fall early.

Personally, I've never cut the anthers off. The problem is that the pollen in snowdrops comes out of a hole at the end of the anther, and is not stuck on the outside of a completely dehisced anther as in say narcissus or lily. So if you cut the anther off before the pollen is ripe, it will often not come out the anther. I find it best to keep testing the flower by tapping until eventually the pollen drops naturally into the matchbox. So you then know it's fully ripe and you get it all out.

I think you're probably right about early flowering plants like galanthus developing pollen that can  take freezing without damage, even when not ripe and dry but still in the anther - the pollen is highly likely to get frozen during winter while still in the anther - so galanthus pollen may well be less problematic than later flowers. I've certainly never had any problem with freezing as soon as the pollen's dry enough to drop from tapping the flower.

[Martin Baxendale]

martin does this apply to double flowered galanthus as well?

that is, will the pollen drop freely without having to remove the anther? seeing as they are often malformed, or partly petaloid (not allways complete in structure).

rob

Good point, Rob. I've never tried collecting pollen from a double as I've never been terribly keen on them and haven't bothered trying to breed from them. I suppose in that case you may well have to cut out the anthers, in which case yes I'd give them plenty of time to dry to get the maximum pollen out as John suggests.

[Lvandelft]

Just had an afternoon stroll round Candelabra where the Placates and Aconites are beginning to open in the walled area of the ring. I spotted two small yellows and also took a photo of a mole hill amongst the Placates showing the chalky soil.
John(M)

John, I admit that I don't know more about snowdrops than the flowers are mostly white and that they come out of the soil
with their buds upright.
But did you take this picture in the Southern Hem. ??     

[Martin Baxendale]

I don't know whether to be glad or sad. Just found my cream-flowered nivalis flowering again in the garden six years after I chipped it. So, glad it's still alive, but sad that after six years only three of the four chipped bulbils have survived, only one is (just!) big enough to produce a little half-size flower and the other two are still tiny.

When I found it in a nivalis patch in a friend's garden near here six years ago, I was so hopeful that it would be a strong grower. Chipped it for safety's sake, even though it was a very small bulb, and six years later I'm barely ahead of where I was six years ago! I used its pollen on other snowdrops six years ago but no sign of any cream seedlings yet. Will try that again this year with the few grains of pollen I'm getting from the flower so far.

Will try to find time to post a pic when it's fully open, to show the colour, but bulking it up and passing its genes onto seedlings looks like being a long slow process. When I found it, it was very small, so never going to be a showy plant. I just hope I can get the colouring to appear in some stronger seedlings eventually.

[johnw]

you may well have to cut out the anthers, in which case yes I'd give them plenty of time to dry to get the maximum pollen out as John suggests.

Martin - Another good point, then the anthers would be the culprit. If they were froze immediately in the freezer when you removed the capsule from the freezer to use  the pollen the anthers would thaw immediately and cause moisture in the capsule which could wet the pollen and then potentially ruin the batch upon re-freezing or fridge storage...maybe.

johnw

[Hagen Engelmann]

Morning Martin, most exciting what and that you tell about a galanthus in creamflower. I also have such a plant and some other galanthophile told me about theirs. It`s a good content for a new topic.
And I`m sure Maggi would replace the pictures of the cream for us?
I often meant I see cream only in wishes/thoughts.

look here please
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2790.msg64957#msg64957

[Tony Willis]

Martin is there a way to recognise when the stigma is receptive?