Galanthus March - April2007

[galanthophile]

Yes Maggi, I see your point and it's fair enough if its to raise funds

[Brian Ellis]

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.

I quite agree about the ridiculous sums these snowdrops are going for, personally I don't go above the price you can get them from elsewhere, but, I suppose really Chris it comes down to the modern impatience, availability from a commercial grower and ability to get to a gala and fight through the scrum
Having said that it is definitely buyer beware when you are buying unseen on eBay.

[snowdropman]

I suppose really Chris it comes down to the modern impatience, availability from a commercial grower and ability to get to a gala and fight through the scrum

Brian, I just checked that Ebay Auction for a single bulb of g. nivalis sandersii group - incredibly, there were 3 people willing to pay between £28 & £32 for a bulb that should cost no more than about £10 a bulb (I bought some at this price recently, over the telephone).

Maybe there is a business opportunity here 

[Brian Ellis]

Chris eBay has been a constant source of amusement this spring.  I have 'watched' lots of the auctions so that I could see what ridiculous prices things were being sold for.  Someone has very deep pockets!  As for the business opportunity, I'm afraid I would never make a businessman   I'd much rather give a friend a plant they admired 
I know that Maurice Mason (a much missed Norfolk plantsman) was proud to say that he had never paid for a plant in his garden, they had all been exchanged with friends.  The story is told that a visit to his garden involved a guided tour with himself and his gardener, as you went round if you admired a plant he would place a counter by it and his gardener would make sure that by the time you got back to your car a specimen of the plants you had really admired was sitting waiting for you.  In this way he shared his plants very generously around the world.  I believe that many of his orchids made their way to Kew and form a large part of their collection (I hope that is correct).  Sadly all that is left is his arboretum and the memory of a very generous gardener.

[galanthophile]

Brian that's a lovely story and really what gardening is all about.

[KentGardener]

For anyone who has not been watching ebay - below are a few sales that have happened recently:

Name	Ebay Price	Catalogue Price
Primrose Warburg	£39.00	£25.00 (Judys)
Virescens	£38.00	??
Lady Elphinstone	£37.12	£6.00 (Longacre)
Nivalis Sandersii	£37.09	£8.00 (Monksilver)
Nivalis Walrus	£35.09	£4.80 (Wisley)
Nivalis Sandersii	£31.59	£8.00 (Monksilver)
Nivalis Poculiformis	£29.29	£5.95 (Wisley)
Nivalis Poculiformis	£23.00	£5.95 (Wisley)
Blonde Inge	£22.98	£12.00 (Ivycroft)

         
I shall stick to the known nurseries and swapping with friends.

John

[Maggi Young]

Delightful to hear Brian tell of Maurice Mason, what a pity when a wonderful garden like that has to be broken up, even if the plants do go to good homes, on the death of their owner.

[Paddy Tobin]

Good Lord, John,

When you spell it out like that with actual examples of the prices it is shocking, amazing. I could understand someone spending such money on a very elusive and rare cultivar but when they are available elsewhere it seem ludicrous. Maybe I should dig up a few and make my fortune.

Maggi,
 
Brian's story is what we might all like our gardening to be like and indeed we come across many who are like this. Personally, I have been the beneficiary of great kindness in gardening and have some treasured plants in my garden which came from very kind and dear people. These are treasured far more than the very expensive plants which I have bought over the years. For example, I have a variegated smilacima which Bob Gordon, in Portglenone, Ballymena, gave to me. To have a plant from Bob is treasure enough for me but he in turn had received it from Dr. Molly Sanderson. So what a treasure that is, with connections to two great gardeners. Of course, I could go and buy one; they are not expensive but the purchased plant would never have the treasured associations of the generous gift.

No doubt many forum members will also have experienced the opposite. A 'lady' (I use the term loosely) came to my garden several years ago and asked if she could take some cuttings. I couldn't refuse, I thought. She proceeded to take out a collection of plastic bags and her secateurs and helped herself to a  multitude of cuttings. Bad enough, you might think, but she told me a year or so later how much money she had made from the sale of the plants she had propagated. I could have strangled the bit..

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

I see someone on Ebay is offering 'Sophie North'.....but is it?

[Hans J]

Mark ,

You write on 08.March :

"Have you read in The Plantsman about why snowdrops have green bits on the inners ?"
Could you please tell me in which issue was this article ?
Who has written it ?

Thank you for this informations
Greetings
Hans

[Jim_in_mi]

I only wish that we had the Galanthus selection here in the States as is available in Europe.  We usually have only 2 choices...single and double. 
Jim

[mark smyth]

Hans it is the issue that came out last week.

Jim you arent stuck with only two. Hitch Lyman sells Galanthus. He is based in NY state. $3 gets you his list. Write to
Hitch Lyman
'The Temple Nursery'
PO BOX 591
Trumansburg
NY 14886
USA

[mark smyth]

I believe the Sohie North on Ebay is wrong. The mark is too skinny. The seller doesnt even know herself

[Anthony Darby]

Surely it can only be 'Sophie North' if it is traceable back to the original clone?

[snowdropman]

Jim - just developing what Mark said about Hitch Lyman - in his 2006 Catalogue, Hitch lists 33 different forms, ranging in price from $7 to $35.