Galanthus winter 2009/2010

[johnw]

Galanthus 'Cicely Hall', one - - of my favourites in flower today.

johnw

[annew]

The two flowers show great variation of the inner markings. Is this usual?

[Paddy Tobin]

Anne,

From previous photographs I have seen that John is growing lots of his snowdrops in pots and the snowdrops in the background of this photograph are probably simply  snowdrops in another pot.

Paddy

[johnw]

Anne,

From previous photographs I have seen that John is growing lots of his snowdrops in pots and the snowdrops in the background of this photograph are probably simply  snowdrops in another pot.

Paddy

Right you are Paddy.  Anne I should have mentioned it was the one to the fore.  It really is one worth searching for.  Trusting you miss the snow storm.

johnw

[Paddy Tobin]

John,

Aside from that, it certainly is an outstanding snowdrop and it is no wonder Robin Hall is so proud of it and regards it as the best Irish snowdrop.

Paddy

[annew]

The inners look very elegant from that angle.

[Paddy Tobin]

In the garden today.  Paddy

G. 'Atkinsii' - a group photographed against the sun.
G. 'Colossus'
G. 'David Baker'
G. 'Ding Dong' - so cold there's a drop on its nose.
G. 'Florence Baker'
G. "Ex Longraigue" - Alan B's foundling from Co. Wexford' - showed this the other day but liked the sun through the flower so posted again.

[Paddy Tobin]

Looking back at John's photographs above, G. 'Cicely Hall' and others previously it has struck me that there is a great advantage in growing snowdrops under cover and that is that the flowers remain clean while mine, grown outdoors, are so often spotted with soil splashed up by the rain.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

Paddy I'd like to see a close shot of Longraigue fully open. Is it an Irish name? If I knew more I could include it in my Gala lecture

[Paddy Tobin]

"G. "Longraigue" - Alan B's foundling from Co. Wexford "

Mark, this is as far open as it is to date. You will have to ask Alan about the name as he hasn't named it officially to date.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

OK

[Brian Ellis]

showed this the other day but liked the sun through the flower so posted again.

Glad you did Paddy it's an evocative photo.

[Paddy Tobin]

showed this the other day but liked the sun through the flower so posted again.

Glad you did Paddy it's an evocative photo.

Many thanks, Brian.

I am especially interested in this snowdrop as it is an Irish foundling (by Alan B) and this is its first time flowering here in the garden. Alan showed several photographs of it last season and I visited the garden where Alan had found it - as it turned out I knew the family through gardening activities.

This is a plicatus hybrid, I am almost sure, and would appreciate fellow forum members commenting on it as I, or Alan, post further photographs. It would be good of forum members to compare it with other plicatus type snowdrops in their own gardens or with which they are familiar. If anybody spots that it particularly resembles an already named snowdrop it would be great if you alerted Alan or I to this fact. As Alan has pointed out to me, it is early flowering for a plicate hybrid and this leaves few presently in flower plicatus hybrids with which to presently compare it.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

Paddy, I searched for the name on the forum and the only reference is yours,

[Paddy Tobin]

Paddy, I searched for the name on the forum and the only reference is yours,

Mark,

It's not the name that is of concern - very easy to put a new name on a snowdrop, as we all know - it was the snowdrop itself. I wondered if any forum member recognised it as an already named snowdrop. Is this snowdrop already a named variety/cultivar? I wished to eliminate the danger of adding another name but not a new snowdrop to the already long lists.

Of course, I will need to post further photographs showing the inner markings, for example, to help forum members with this.

I should add that the name I have used, "Longraigue" is simply the townland and name of the garden in which it was found. Alan B. usually refers to it as "ex Longraigue" which is better really as nobody would imagine that to be a properly applied name to a snowdrop, simply a temporary one until investigations and proper naming takes place.

Paddy