Snowdrop prices 2010

[vivienr]

Alan
  Just imagine how much you would get for a full set of Galanthus 'The seven dwarves' on eBay

John
  I'm sure the experts would say it's not distinctive enough to name but I'm going to call it Galavatar as it's better than calling it 'Grumpy-looking-thing'. I have it in a pot so I brought it into the house during the bad weather to enjoy the flowers (my house is very cold so it probably thought it was still outside and did not shrivel up). If you would like a bulb I can send you one in the summer as I intend to try to twinscale a bulb and put the rest back in the garden.
   

[Gerard Oud]

When you order elwesii Late scented you get Grumpy!!!

There were not just one but 10!

Any offers

[Gerry]

Just a suggestion, but if everyone on this forum sold snowdrops on e-bay in quantity at fixed sensible prices then we should see the bottom fall out of the market. Sense would prevail

[Alan_b]

Just a suggestion, but if everyone on this forum sold snowdrops on e-bay in quantity at fixed sensible prices then we should see the bottom fall out of the market. Sense would prevail

Equally, I have been round gardens that have so many of a particular snowdrop you wonder how it could possibly sell at £30 a bulb on the nursery stands.  Personally, I have on average 5 bulbs of each different snowdrop in my collection so I would not be able to contribute.  When the numbers I have of a bulb reach double figures I generally swap them or give them away to friends.

[art600]

Just a suggestion, but if everyone on this forum sold snowdrops on e-bay in quantity at fixed sensible prices then we should see the bottom fall out of the market. Sense would prevail

When the numbers I have of a bulb reach double figures I generally swap them or give them away to friends.

Alan

I agree with you - it is good to swap and even better to give them to friends.  At least you know they are going to good homes where they should grow and multiply.  My collection has benefitted through the generosity of friends, and sensible buying at local Shows.

[Maggi Young]

Just a suggestion, but if everyone on this forum sold snowdrops on e-bay in quantity at fixed sensible prices then we should see the bottom fall out of the market. Sense would prevail

On the other hand, I know lots of people with large art collections... I don't see them flogging their stuff off on ebay ( or anywhere else) at fixed prices so others  can acquire them!

Of course many gardeners swap plants... and I hope that is always the case, but it seems there is an element of the galanthophile set that are into compulsion....perhaps that's a hope that could be aimed at the Banking Sector, or the pricipal of Aberdeen University, who is about to get a 17% bonus in his final year!! 

[Alan_b]

Yes, Gerry assumes we could saturate the market but who knows if he is right.  The thing that really would cause the bottom to fall out the ebay market if if people gave up buying snowdrops at inflated prices on ebay.

[steve owen]

Not quite so simple. There's another factor- the must-have new whizzo variety always commands a high price. Example? E A Bowles. Plenty of others. So the other side of this demand/price equation is this; should there be some control on the naming of new varieties, especially when one can scarcely tell any difference between the new whizzo and other existing cultivars? Example; how many different yellows are there, really? Or greentips? Once in a while a Green Tear or an Elizabeth Harrison appears, but are there really thirty distinctive new cultivars each year that are worth naming? Because that is what it seems to be running at. 

[Alan_b]

A very good point, Steve, but at the same time we really need to rationalise the old cultivars and get rid of the ones that don't cut the mustard.  What's really needed is some sort of Award of Galanthus Merit granted to really good and distinctive snowdrops.  Of course, then you get into who should decide, what criteria should be used, should it cost money to apply for an award and other cans of worms.   

[Alan_b]

The other point is that the people who sell snowdrops commercially have a huge vested interest in maintaining a steady flow of new snowdrops - provided they can do this whilst maintaining their credibility. 

[mark smyth]

Someone going under the name Thunderbug is selling Green Man but the photo doesnt match
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Galanthus-GreenMan_W0QQitemZ180482818690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item2a059d4282

[chasw]

Another e bay rarity here,with abuy it now price of £60 ,millionaires by the end of the season?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Snowdrops-Galanthus-Nivalis_W0QQitemZ290415268553QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item439e1952c9

[mark smyth]

Is she taking the P? One nivalis for £60. Is she a forum member?

[KentGardener]

Another e bay rarity here,with abuy it now price of £60 ,millionaires by the end of the season?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Snowdrops-Galanthus-Nivalis_W0QQitemZ290415268553QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item439e1952c9

Gosh.  £60 for a nivalis dug from her orchard does seem 'slightly' overpriced.....   

[Gerard Oud]

If you look properly its 16th century and made of glass
So its a bargain