Galanthus March - April2007

[Lesley Cox]

well Maggi, it does rather resemble an hepatica doesn't it, so you can be excused for finding it attractive. The analogy isn't quite appropriate but if you think of instant coffee not as COFFEE but as something altogether different, it almost becomes drinkable.

[KentGardener]

thanks for the pictures Mark - both very nice flowers - gives me some ideas what to look out for in future years.  Does that seedling look like Godfrey Owen?

I know what you mean about ebay - lots of really silly prices this year - I bid what I considered a generous amount for a snowdrop (a couple of pounds above the catalogue prices) and it went for double what I bid.  I hope the buyers know what they are doing and don't end up killing off some nice bulbs.

regards

John

[mark smyth]

I havent seen Gofrey Owen. The seedling was in a different garden rather Margaret Owens

[loes]

about Ebay...I bid a few times on a bulb but not that silly prices.So I didn`t win.
But a little while later you get a second chance.Sellers offer a drop that you bid on for the bid you did.So you can buy for say the half or less than the winnig bid!

[Brian Ellis]

What a lovely Floccon seedling Mark.  I bid on ebay for the Floccon de Neige, but like others was soundly beaten.  Again I have had one or two second chances which has been very pleasing after the disappointment of a sound drubbing!  I have thought to myself how any winner would have felt cheated that someone down the line got the same bulb for a third of his price - if they only knew.

What struck me most about the F.de Neige bids was that if the top six bidders each got a bulb at their top bid price the seller would have made £265.94 - not that I want to get you started on numbers again, but it would be interesting to know the going rate for one of these bulbs from a normal seller!

[Anthony Darby]

I think the seedling is nicer.

[snowdropman]

I think the seedling is nicer.

Anthony - I'm with you - it is a cracker!

[snowdropman]

it would be interesting to know the going rate for one of these bulbs from a normal seller!

Brian - I do not know any of the 'normal sellers' who have this/have had this on their List and I guess that is the problem when it comes up for sale in auction - given its rarity, it is worth whatever amount people are prepared to pay for a 'must have' snowdrop.

If North Green Snowdrops/Snowdrop Company were to offer it, I cannot see it being for less than the new £40 threshhold that they have both just established.

[Brian Ellis]

Then I guess that whoever was selling it received a 'fair' - but very high price.  Hopefully this £40 threshold will be for only the very rarest of snowdrops as I can't see that many people paying so much (but then perhaps I'm quite out of touch )

[mark smyth]

Chris you and I know it wont cost £40. NG will put it up for auction like they have done for the last two years with other snowdrops. No rumours yet about this years auction. SC will add a hefty price or flood the market with twinned bulbs

[snowdropman]

Then I guess that whoever was selling it received a 'fair' - but very high price.  Hopefully this £40 threshold will be for only the very rarest of snowdrops as I can't see that many people paying so much (but then perhaps I'm quite out of touch )

Brian - both NG & SC had 'Godfrey Owen' in their catalogue this year for £40 -  I leave you to judge whether this meets your definition of the very rarest snowdrops.

[snowdropman]

Mark - you are probably right

[snowdropman]

I know what you mean about ebay - lots of really silly prices this year

John - whilst I am not surprised at the selling price for 'Flocon de Neige', I agree with you that far too many snowdrops are being bought on Ebay for silly prices.

I just looked at Ebay for an example and was amazed to see that a single bulb of g. nivalis sandersii group is currently standing at £28.56 (and that is still with one day to go in the auction) - goodness only knows what it will finally go for!

Mark and I have previously given other examples where quite ordinary snowdrops, like this one, are going for 2 or 3 times what it would cost to buy them from a commercial grower/at a snowdrop gala.

[galanthophile]

Yes those sellers must be raking it in. So easy to get carried away in an auction. I always know my limit and think that when the price reaches what it would cost me from a mail order company then it's time to bow out. Beautiful double seedlings there Mark! Thanks for posting.

[Maggi Young]

when the price reaches what it would cost me from a mail order company then it's time to bow out

Sound advice, Ann, but when I am acting as the auctioneer for an SRGC fund-raisng auction, that is the last advice I want the buyers to be taking! It breaks my heart when I only get a bid up to the "catalogue" price... I want lots more!    Good cause and all that!!