Galanthus February 2009

[Hagen Engelmann]

John, yes it can! It`s an g e e with a big and dark green basemark.
Maggi I`m happy because I visited Scotland!!!

[Maggi Young]

John, yes it can! It`s an g e e with a big and dark green basemark.
Maggi I`m happy because I visited Scotland!!!

Well, I knew that you would enjoy a visit here, Hagen... that was for SURE!! 
You must be tired to have made the journey here and home so fast, though?  You were not driving too fast, were you? 

[Hagen Engelmann]

You have only single track roads every, 100m I had to wait, no fast no fast no fast.

[Maggi Young]

You have only single track roads every, 100m I had to wait, no fast no fast no fast.

 

[Anthony Darby]

Hagen may find this familiar? Galanthus nivalis 'Federkleid' Sue and Wol Staines were really excited about this one!:o

[Hagen Engelmann]

Anthony, Scotland isn`t so far like I  thought. I know these drops in best hands.

[Hagen Engelmann]

Rob I`m not fortunate enough to own ROSEMARY BURNHAM. And I haven`t try it to buy by Snowdrop Company this year, because all say it is difficult to cultivate. I only like easy grown galanthus.

Next year I would cross THREE SHIPS with KREPPKUGEL

[Gerard Oud]

Hagen i did some pollinating today with Trym, BigBoy,Wasfield Colesbourne, Godfrey Owen, Fred's Giant and Green Brush.
I had nothing else today and hope i do find a double greentipped BigBoy after 4 to 5 years.

[Martin Baxendale]

Hagen i did some pollinating today with Trym, BigBoy,Wasfield Colesbourne, Godfrey Owen, Fred's Giant and Green Brush.
I had nothing else today and hope i do find a double greentipped BigBoy after 4 to 5 years.

I've just been out pollinating in the dark with a torch, having been unable to be out in the garden (or visit any other gardens) during daylight hours this weekend.

Also brought in some seedlings that started flowering while I was away, and I'm convinced life is having a laugh at me sometimes - about six years ago I crossed a plicatus seedling  with faint green marks on the outer tips with nivalis 'Virescens', hoping for good green marked outers. The first seedling is now flowering and has green lines .........on the insides of the outer petals, where you can't see them!!! (unless you turn the flower upside down). How wierd is that!!!

[Maggi Young]

The first seedling is now flowering and has green lines .........on the insides of the outer petals, where you can't see them!!! (unless you turn the flower upside down). How wierd is that!!!

 You must have upset the  flower when you upended it for pollination! 

[Hristo]

Hi there,
Pic here of Galanthus elwesii, a plant I inherited along with my house here in Bulgaria.
Elwesii is native and the surrounding woods to me at altitudes of 800m+ are rich with this species.
Nearly every house in my village has a patch of Galanthus elwesii, so I am guessing the garden form will be no different at all from the wild form!

[KentGardener]

Hi Hristo

thank you for showing your plant.  It looks like a fairly standard Elwesii to me. 

I am intrigued by the Elwesii naturalised in the Bulgarian woods.  Have you ever spent time wandering and looking at them closely to see if any of them are a 'bit different'?  I find I can spend hours and hours looking at naturalised nivalis in private woodlands in the UK.  Very rarely I find something like a 4 petal form - last year I asked the landowners, a group of monks, if I could dig up some specimens. 

If you have the time, and if you are allowed to dig them up in Bulgaria, it could be worth walking those woods and seeing if you can collect some different looking specimens for your garden?  Please share the pictures with us if you do go wandering.   

Best wishes

John

[Alan_b]

I find I can spend hours and hours looking at naturalised nivalis in private woodlands in the UK.  Very rarely I find something like a 4 petal form - last year I asked the landowners, a group of monks, if I could dig up some specimens. 

If you have the time, and if you are allowed to dig them up in Bulgaria, it could be worth walking those woods and seeing if you can collect some different looking specimens for your garden? 

Just to clarify John's comments, current opinion is that snowdrops are not native to the UK.  Therefore, my understanding is that they are not covered by the UK legislation that prohibits people from digging up wild flowers, because they are not truly wild here.  So if you do want to dig one up, all you need is the permission of the landowner.

[Hristo]

Hi John,
Yes should be standard I guess as the species is a Bulgarian native, not just naturalised.
We also have G.nivalis, the two species often flowering in the same woodland!
When the snows clear again I will be out there with the camera to photograph the early 'blub scape'.
The Galanthus flower for a long time and overlap with Scilla bifolia, this makes for quite a stunning display!

[KentGardener]

Hi Hristo

if you look carefully you could find things such as:

-green tipped outers
-solid green inner mark (rather than the 2 separate marks)
-larger than normal flower
-long dangly pedicel
-2, 4, 5, or 6 petaled
-an ovary that is a different green
-long think ovary / short fat ovary / etc

I am not saying you will find anything different - but you could end up with an interesting collection of different forms in your garden.

I look forward to seeing some photographs once the snows have gone.

Best wishes

John