Mysterious Spikes

[Gerard Oud]

Here are some pics from last year of two spikes i found that year, this year i am still waiting for them to get in flower, but they very late as usual. Are spikes rare? I think they are the most mysterious Snowdrops existing.

kind regards,
gerard

[KentGardener]

Hi Gerard

they are not to everyones liking - but I think they look great - really nice looking flowers.  I like the fact that they look mostly white too - most of the spikeys I have seen pictures of are green tinted.

I have not yet managed to add a spikey to my growing collection - I never see them for sale. 

I look forward to seeing pictures of the flowers this year.

with my best wishes

John

[Gerard Oud]

The white one's will be registrated here in holland this year, and maybe next year i will be able to sell or swop some if you like.

kind regards,
gerard

[mark smyth]

John you will see them for sale at the Galas

[Lesley Cox]

I think they look disgusting, virused or diseased in a major way. OK, chacun a son gout (with apologies for lack of accent marks) but for me, while I think the colouring and different markings are beautiful, it is the simple, elegant SHAPE of the classic snowdrop that makes it so precious.

[Maggi Young]

Sorry, Gerard, I think they are ugly, too. A bit of variation is one thing but how is this a snowDROP?!!

[snowdropman]

Gerard - there are quite a few spiky's but, as John has said, they are not to everyone's liking (although I think they have a place in any comprehensive snowdrop collection).

Spiky's tend to be quite unstable so, for instance, g. nivalis 'Irish Green', when first discovered was green, but now tends to be mainly white.

The only one that comes to mind that is fairly constantly white is g. nivalis 'Cockatoo'.

Most of them however have strong green markings e.g. g. nivalis 'Boyd's Double' which is almost totally green and (one for Maggi  ) g. nivalis 'Mrs Tiggywinkle' which is mainly green.

In between there are a few that are a mixture of white & green, like g. nivalis 'Ermine Spiky' & g. nivalis 'Windmill'.

Whilst some people think that they are just immature snowdrops that never fully develop, others think that their deformity is due to virus - but no definitive work seems to have been done to prove/disprove the latter, so perhaps it is as well to be cautious when planting them out.

When you get your copy of the 'Snowdrops' book, you will find a section that is devoted to spiky's.

[Martin Baxendale]

'Fraid I've never developed a massive taste for spikey snowdrops either. They're interesting. But, Like Lesley, my preference is for the classic snowdrop shape (in its infinite variability). But I totally respect others' right to admire them and get pleasure from them.

Incidentally, I'd like to thank Ian for stating in the latest bulb log (re. galanthophilia) that we should all be allowed our fun. That's the truest and most pertinent comment I've heard for a while with regard to snowdrop mania. It is fun, and that's the joy of it. The wide range if variation is great fun to see and to grow, and also to produce from seed. Not every new snowdrop 'discovery' (whether from seed or found in old gardens) is neccessarily a great garden plant or a stunning beauty, but having that wide variety of forms (some good, some not so good) to grow and see in the garden is quite absorbing.

I'll bet there are enthusiasts of other bulb genera who would quite like to see a little more variability in some of their favourite species, just to add to the interest. Personally, I think snowdrop enthusiasts should be grateful that the genus is such an unstable and variable one. We should just be a bit more careful about actually naming them all. And perhaps those who sell them should sometimes be a little more selective when it comes to selling less distinct and less superlative varieties.

Okay, I'll stop ranting now. Stuck at the computer writing to earn a crust, and the writer's treadmill was getting to me a bit, so anything to divert me from the task at hand is most welcome. Back to work!

[loes]

Gerard,I`m not sure that I like them    but it is certainly curious and worth a place in a collection.I know you have this spiky one and the other one with 4 petals which will be registered.
Do you have more surprises?
I`m sure you know but I tell anyway..snowdrops(THE book) is for sale in Amsterdam, archtectura&natura.I still have to buy it but I will,soon.

[mark smyth]

'Irish Green' spikey

[Gerard Oud]

How do you mean ugly Maggi? Some say chimpansee are ugly, but somehow these intelligent creatures are related to us. They don't look exactly the same (some do), but still we can use them for tests because they are so close related. In that matter we are the ugly one's don't you think.
What i am trying to say is a spike is a snowdrop, and although it doesn't look like a snowdrop we know, please don't say it's ugly.
If you have a better look at it then you will see it's beauty, you should be surprised how this snowdrop even can exist, most of them are nonvertile. You may call them strange or weird or bewitched, oh no not bewitched, i have to call the insurance company because somebody might get the idea to burn them.
Nevertheless i won't say that yellow snowdrops are ugly, because yellow snow doesn't exist, only those snow were the dog did his thing.
Yellow snowdrops and spikes are beautiful and they are all galanthusses!
Maggi can i still become a full member?
kind regards,
gerard

[Maggi Young]

Gerard, I must learn to be more tolerant. You are free to find beauty wherever you wish and I urge everyone to do the same, goodness knows, I adore all sorts of plants that others will find ugly, Arisaemas for one. Even among my favourites, the ericaceae, there are some plants, especially man-made hybrids, that are ghastly and I find horrible, but someone, somewhere, will give them a happy home.
It is as well though, is it not, that we can say which flowers please us and which do not?
I cannot see that you will get any remorse from Lesley, though, she is more dogmatic than I, I fear, but you should forgive her, because her cakes are so good!

[Lesley Cox]

But Maggi, of COURSE I'm terribly remorseful and abject about my previous comments and take to heart Gerard's own plea from the heart which we can't POSSIBLY ignore. So Gerard, your spikeys are GORGEOUS and fully to be desired and yes, it's I who am ugly (I rely entirely on my personality for popularity, NOT my beauty).

In other words, you like 'em, I don't, but that's OK - for all of us.

[Lesley Cox]

And talking of cakes, your 1000th is rapidly approaching. What do you fancy?

[Lesley Cox]

And hey! I'm READING all these posts. I'm not so thoroughly disgusted that I've wiped them off my computer without a glance.