Galanthus March - April2007

[mark smyth]

Here's what I found tonight. Galanthus 'Diggory' and Narcissus 'Gipsy Queen'. Only one word can describe them

[annew]

Yuk?

[mark smyth]

the top bulb was cleaned and the maggot replaced after it got a wash too

[Martin Baxendale]

Mark, I'd clean up that Diggory bulb and cut off the rotten bits, then chop it into (not too small) chips lengthways, put into a bag of moist vermiculite and treat as bulb chips.

Don't throw it away just because the basal plate has gone (looks like it has). I've had snowdrop chips make bulbs from the sides of the chips, not from the basal plate, just as with lily scales, where the basal plate isn't essential for new bulbil production.

And don't worry about the lateness of the season. I tried chipping snowdrops in October once, as an experiment, and they produced bulblets not much later than those chipped in early Summer, and they caught up later.

[mark smyth]

OK I still have it. Have you ever tried just chipping a bulb and planting it again?

[Lesley Cox]

I've just noticed my own note about G. `Winterwood' and that Don Schofield didn't think it much different from straight `Atkinsii' though Marcus Harvey thought it was larger. Well, mine have flowered a second time, (still in a pot) and compared with my garden `Atkinsii,' it was very large indeed. I didn't get a pic, silly me but the white parts were 3.5cms long compared with little more than 2 for `Atkinsii.' I think when it's planted out and growing well, it will be spectacular. Well worth the name, and it couldn't be named for a lovlier garden, or a nicer man.

[mark smyth]

I would be reluctant to name a snowdrop that shows just the normal single mark. Naming here is out of hand for these types and leads to so much confusion in the future

[Martin Baxendale]

No Mark. I've replanted very badly rotted remnants of bulbs after cleaning up and soaking in fungicide but not actual chips. But if you don't have any vermiculite or haven't the time to fuss with all that, there's no reason you couldn't put the chips in a safe corner of a raised bed for example. They won't be as safe or develop as fast as in the more sterile, warm conditions of a properly prepared and stored chipping bag, but there's a fair chance they might still make some bulblets eventually. You'll just have to watch out for the small leaves if it does work, and put down some slug pellets. Better than binning the bits of bulbs.

[Martin Baxendale]

Lesley, can you post a pic of Gal. 'Winterwood'? Ideally alongisde your 'Atkinsii' for comparison.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

2cm petals sounds awfully small for 'Atkinsii'.  Unless I have something other than 'Atkinsii' under that name.  At this stage I can't see much difference between 'Atkinsii' and 'Winterwood', at least not in the 2 seasons I have had them.  Obviously they aren't in flower now, and the 'Winterwood' is in a pot not in the ground.  At the moment my clump of 'Atkinsii' has a lovely radial pattern of flower stems and seedpods radiating from it in all directions.  Obviously this was a good year for seed set from it.  I wonder whether there will be much difference in the seedlings?  I might just leave them as they are all laid out well away from the clump so shouldn't infiltrate it with imposters. 

[Martin Baxendale]

Paul, just so you don't get your hopes up and end up disappointed - 'Atkinsii' sets very little seed. You'll often see lots of seed pods forming but the vast majority usually abort later or swell up promisingly but have no seeds in them.

That's not to say you won't get the odd seed or two over the years, but don't expect loads. Some years I've gathered hundreds of pods from 'Atkinsii' and only found a few seeds. The problem isn't that it's a sterile triploid, but a hybrid with very low fertility.

The seedlings I've had from it also tend to be rather disappointing compared to the original.

I don't want to be a party pooper, but it can be very disappointing when you look in the pods at the end of the season, and even more so if after years of growing seedlings on you end up with nothing very interesting. Then again, you never know. You might get a good one.

[Maggi Young]

Not party-pooping, Martin, just injecting healthy note of realism for anyone unfamiliar with such things... anyway, we are all eternal optimists here and will grow even the most umpromising stuff... just in case.... there's always the odd chance of something new....
It is wise not to have TOO strongly  rose-tinted glasses, though 

[Maggi Young]

Re new flower breaks , this may be of interest to  your Galanthophiles, this is my latest development in snowie breeding... i beleive it is the best thing to happen for years, queue up for the release  of bulbs in due course..



Will you be reporting this to the Great White Mothership, Martin?

[Maggi Young]

ps. forgot to mention, it is a bi-generic hybrid, of course, between galanthus and fritillaria.... it wasn't easy to achieve this, I can tell you.

[Martin Baxendale]

... we are all eternal optimists here and will grow even the most umpromising stuff... just in case.... there's always the odd chance of something new....

Absolutely, Maggi. Some of the most exciting things in life come at us from highly unlikely and unexpected directions! (or am I thinking of spiders?)

P.S. Re. your growing interest in galanthophilia, details of the secret Snowdrop Handshake will follow in an encrypyed email. Please read and then eat it.