Galanthus February 2011

[kentish_lass]

John - beautiful photos.  How did I miss Pat Mason?  Love Margery Fish & Alan's Treat......and All Saints.....and Walter Fish...........and all of them.

Ian what lovely clump shots.  I hope my yellows look like that one day.  I have had sandersii for almost 12 years and it is still only 4 bulbs!!

I took a few photos today but my camera does not seem to like taking close ups of snowdrops.  I swapped to bigger camera and that was even worse.
Here are a few of the more successful ones

1.  A two year old planting of the easier to obtain varieties ie. Cedric's Prolific, Dionysus, Magnet, Atkinsii, James Backhouse etc with nivalis at the back.  I still have Hellebores to flower in between very soon.
2.  Fieldgate Prelude
3.  Jessica held together with sellotape.  It has been taped up for 2 weeks and I managed to see the flower - I was chuffed.
4.  Jessica
5.  Sentinel - lovely & big and tall

[ashley]

Pictures like this one of Galanthus elwesii from Franz Hadacek do rather add fuel to the theory by appearance, don't they?

I'm not convinced.  The ice crystals in snow are transparent so don't absorb the heat from the suns rays efficiently.  Any coloured object sticking up through the snow will absorb sunlight and heat up faster than the snow surrounding it.  Then the extra heat it radiates back will cause the surrounding snow to melt faster.  I'm betting a plastic snowdrop would do the same as the real snowdrop in the picture.  You would have to run the test in the dark to prove whether snowdrops are thermogenic. 

I agree Alan. 

But beyond this purely physical effect, active biochemistry (including in all growing plants) is inevitably exothermic because the chemical reactions involved are not perfectly efficient. 

More intense thermogenesis by e.g. spadix tissue of aroids is due to partial uncoupling of mitochondria, so that efficiency of respiration is lowered in order to dissipate more energy as heat.  This in turn must benefit the plant, e.g. by attracting pollinators directly or perhaps indirectly through increased volatilisation of scent molecules. 

Whether galanthus do something similar is a fascinating question.  Infra-red camera anyone?

[johnw]

Just a few hours of sunshine and I was attracted by the first snowdrops here

1.+2. Galanthus elwesii
3. Galanthus plicatus

Gerd

Gerd  - What marvellous shots of elwesii leaves!  I think the best I've seen.

johnw

[art600]

white cats can have two different coloured eyes and that has nothing to do with hearing.also white cats do have sometimes hearing problems,all white cats should be tested for hearing (BEAR test) and if deaf on one or two ears must be excluded for breeding.those are the rules of every pedigree association.

(and yes,I am a breeder of pedigree cats)

My parents had a white cat and the vet said they are nearly always deaf or scatty - fortunately he was neither.  Although when he did not want to hear, he was very deaf 

[johnw]

Nice sunshine today. Here a few from me

Galanthus sandersii Lowick
G Primrose warburg just beginning to open with some promise
G Rosemary Burnham just a wee one
G Modern Art (thanks Anne)
G South Hayes

G Mighty Atom a favourite

I sit here in stunned silence.

johnw

[johnw]

Martin - re: Monostictus x ikariae.

Looks like there will be a wave of entirely new thoroughbreds coming from your stables.  Very exciting foliage and likely hardier than ikariae!

johnw

[art600]

The Van cats all have eyes of different colour and they are highly prized.  Even in Turkey there were case of catnapping.

Presumably you mean cats from the Lake Van area in Turkey Art? Perhaps they come from a common ancestor.

Yes Lesley.  On one holiday we were very lucky to be taken behind the scenes at the University in Van and saw their breeding programme for these distinctive cats.

We were also fortunate to see the work that one of the professors was doing to develop plants for horticultural sales.  The professor was a tree specialist, but he was given an enclosure, including a lake, and had developed a superb line of Fritillaria imperialis.

It is the unexpected that can make a holiday.

[johnw]

It is such a nice afternoon I found myself leaving London early and getting a couple of hours in the garden - I will regret this day come the end of the year when I have no time off left!  But 'for the moment' I am as happy as Larry (or "a sandboy", or "a clam" depending on where you are reading this  ).  A few pictures of things that have attracted my attention here in the last hour.

1 - 'Margery Fish'
2 - 'Walter Fish'
3 - 'Washfield Colesbourne'
4 - 'Colesbourne seedling' (from the same stable and looking to be a better plant than the original).
5 - 'Ballerina' a lovely little double from Phil Cornish
6 - plicatus Byzantanus just starting to puff itself up to full glory - another week and should be stunning as always.
7 - 'All Saints'
8 - 'Alans Treat' - I think this is in my top ten this year (my top ten changes every year!   )
9 - 'Pat Mason' - she has been in my top ten for three years running now.  
10 - 'Trumps' - performing well once again

This is more than I can bear, shear torture on this side of the pond. Get me one of those snowdrop hats and I'll cry like a two year old.   Good to see the Fishes, love the ones that remind us of bygone characters.  Alan's Treat - elegance, elegance.  

johnw

[johnw]

different colour eyes in dogs isn't that unusual, my Cocker Spaniel has brown/blue, often get asked if he's blind in one eye, never seen it in a cat!
Mighty Atom and Ketton in the sun this pm, despite being worried about the 20th a few weeks ago it now looks like it'll be bang on, just need a day like today!

Richard

What a superb snowdrop Mighty Atom is. I just perused my own list and there have been four attempts at establishing Mighty Atom - all marked "dead".  Any quirks?

johnw 

[Carolyn Walker]

I see what you are saying, Alan.  However, there are plenty of other green plants under the snow, evergreen ferns for example, and the snow doesn't melt over them.  In the following photos, the Galanthus elwesii is actually growing in evergreen Japanese holly fern (Crytomium), but the snow only melts where the snowdrops are blooming.  The snow in question is deep, covered with ice, and blankets the entire garden.

Carolyn

Welcome. Another good reason to plant snowdrops here.  I reckon a couple of thousand would clear the yard of about 15cm of snow.

I have to say that the dwarf rhodos here always seem to wind up with no snow on the root system. I think Lysichiton & Symplocarpus melt the snow. Thy're certainly large enough to create a little microclimate.  Do you agree Alan?  BTW I have no idea how they might do that.

johnw

here is a good article on thermogenesis, especially of Symplocarpus: http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=&id=126

[KentGardener]

Ian - fantastic clumps of yellow drops.  sandersii Lowick certainly is a bright one.  

Gerdk -  as Paddy says, nice naturalised planting.

Jennie - great photoshopping.  

Arthur - van cats was interesting to look up - I think the neighbours cat looks very similar.

Martin - exciting times.  

Richard - some nice pictures - can't wait for the 20th.

Jennie - great splint on 'Jessica' - do you have nurse training?  

If I missed anything I'm sorry but that just took 30 minutes to catch up on just one thread!  It certainly is 'that time of year'....    

Must pack now to be ready to get down to Matt Bishop's day straight after work.

[RichardW]

Hi Richard this plant seems to well in a raised bed that is well drained but never too moist.

I am on quite heavy clay soil, it may be my previous attempts in the raised beds were just a little too damp, for what ever reason the yellows I've tried here have always struggled, I know of someone nearby that has nice clumps of Primrose Warburg.

What a superb snowdrop Mighty Atom is. I just perused my own list and there have been four attempts at establishing Mighty Atom - all marked "dead".  Any quirks?

none that I've found, it thrives here wherever it is planted, that said there are also some that just will not grow well here, can be very frustrating when you see huge clumps.

[emma T]

 I ordered the hat pattern of Ebay at the weekend , came yesterday ( just need to teach myself how to crochet ) I am going to try and resize them for adults and maybe try to knit something similar to the photoshopped hats    I do like a project 

[ian mcenery]

Ian - fantastic clumps of yellow drops.  sandersii Lowick certainly is a bright one.  

John thanks your Trumps and Pat Mason look fantastic

[Martin Baxendale]

Martin - re: Monostictus x ikariae.
Very exciting foliage and likely hardier than ikariae!
johnw

Yes John, I was hoping to get a a more robust and hardier ikariae-like hybrid. And I like the contrast between the green of the leaves and the white of the flowers in ikariae, and thought it would be good to have that in a bigger and stronger-growing hybrid version. The flower bud looks a decent size, so fingers crossed it'll match up to the promise of the strong leaves. I have three seedlings that look like the cross has succeeded - after years of cross-pollination.