2010/11 catalogues

[Alan_b]

Alan, I noticed that MrOHowes was selling Charlotte some time last week on ebay .....   I wonder which Charlotte that was?  Very confusing and maybe Joe should slightly change the name ie. Elegant Charlotte, Charlotte's Choice etc etc.

Since MrOHowes is evidently an associate of Joe Sharman, without doubt it would have been Joe Sharman's Charlotte.  I cannot find my copy of his 2010 sales list where I think it may have been described.  Since it appears that the other Charlotte was around first then I think he is going to have to change the name.  I could only think of "Charlotte Church" and that might not suit.

[KentGardener]

Alan, I noticed that MrOHowes was selling Charlotte some time last week on ebay .....   I wonder which Charlotte that was?  Very confusing and maybe Joe should slightly change the name ie. Elegant Charlotte, Charlotte's Choice etc etc.

Since MrOHowes is evidently an associate of Joe Sharman, without doubt it would have been Joe Sharman's Charlotte.  I cannot find my copy of his 2010 sales list where I think it may have been described.

I have scans of Joe's list on my laptop Alan and 'Charlotte' has not been described, as far as I can see, in either 2010 or 2011 list.  I have found this photograph in my files of a bag of the other 'Charlotte' that suggests a plant height of 15-20cm.

[KentGardener]

Continuing on from the 'Green Brush' chatter.  I can't offer a photograph from my garden as the one I purchased last year didn't survive until this year      But here are a couple of photographs I took of 'Green Brush' yesterday.

1 - how I would expect 'Green Brush' to look.  Wonderful dark green solid mark on the tip of the outers.  A highly desirable snowdrop that I would love to own.

2 - how many of them looked.  Now I, and a few others were gathered around these wondering "is this difference because the bulb needs to settle down to show it's full potential or is this how some of them will always look?". 

I have asked the person who purchased both of these plants if they would kindly plant them separately and let me know how they look next year. 

[Hagen Engelmann]

John, my GREEN BRUSH looks like the first pic.

[Gerard Oud]

The Green Brush is at its best when the bulb is fullgrown, the small offspring sometimes show a bit diffrent flower but when they are mature its good.

[Martin Baxendale]

Gerard, is Green Brush definitely a clone, and not a seed strain or a grex? Mine bought last year were also variable in the markings.

[Gerard Oud]

I dont know for sure because its not mine, but what i know its grown from seed. Elwesii are rather variable, but last year i bought the biggest bulbs he had grown and they were all good!

[art600]

Not sure where else this could be posted.

On EBay someone is trying to sell the Snowdrop 'bible' for £82.45 plus postage.  WHY     On Amazon a new copy can be obtained for £45.

Even more curious is that "The Genus Galanthus: A "Botanical Magazine" Monograph - Hardcover (15 Sep 1999) by Aaron P. Davis and Christabel King" is new at £130 and used at £109.85.  Has the world gone mad  

[Maggi Young]

On Amazon a new copy can be obtained for £45.

When I looked recently for a friend, I could only find the cheapest on Amazon for £82     She decided she wasn't that bothered!
We're lucky in the Aberdeen group, we have one in our local group library.

[Martin Baxendale]

I dont know for sure because its not mine, but what i know its grown from seed. Elwesii are rather variable, but last year i bought the biggest bulbs he had grown and they were all good!

Gerard, am I correct in thinking that you're saying Green Brush IS a seed-grown strain and NOT a clone?

[Paddy Tobin]

Do I hear alarm bell ringing?

Paddy

[Martin Baxendale]

I dont know for sure because its not mine, but what i know its grown from seed. Elwesii are rather variable, but last year i bought the biggest bulbs he had grown and they were all good!

Gerard, am I correct in thinking that you're saying Green Brush IS a seed-grown strain and NOT a clone?

Gerard, if that is what you're saying, that should have been made clear when you were selling the bulbs. I for one wouldn't have paid what I did for bulbs of a variable strain or grex that might or might not match the "best" photos used to promote them. I certainly assumed, as I'm sure did everyone else, that Green Brush was a consistent clone which, when settled, would look like the photos we've previously been shown of it. If Green Brush is a strain, as suggested by your last comment here, did you make Avon Bulbs aware of that when you sold to them?

[Alan_b]

Are any bulbs actually raised from seed?  I would not have thought this was an efficient mode of propagation, even if they came true from seed (which in itself would be very rare)

[Martin Baxendale]

Are any bulbs actually raised from seed?  I would not have thought this was an efficient mode of propagation, even if they came true from seed (which in itself would be very rare)

Nurserymen do raise bulbs from seed. Janis certainly does. No problem with that so long as people are aware that they're not buying a clone. My problem with Green Brush is that it everyone seemed to be under the impression that it was a consistent clone and there was never any suggestion that it was a variable seed strain or grex, which Gerard's comment seems to suggest it is. Can you clarify that, Gerard?

[Alan_b]

I perhaps didn't make myself clear? If you are growing bulb species then there is no reason why you could not do this from seed.  But you wouldn't do this with daffodil or tulip cultivars (except, possibly, the species) because it wouldn't work.  So it doesn't seem very likely anyone has succeeded in finding/breeding a snowdrop cultivar that comes remotely true from seed.  It would surely take decades of work if you set out to do this deliberately?