Galanthus February 2011

[loes]

I`ll try that Mark

[Hagen Engelmann]

Loes your pics are a real good information about the color of JOY COZENS. I never saw the original and no good pic.
But here I can see orange and have not to think orange.
Do you go to DE BOSCHHOEVE? Then we can have a talk together.

[Maggi Young]

While I understand Loes is trying to show the colour of the orange snowdrop as best she can, I remind you all that generally we prefer photos that are around 760 pixels wide for forum  viewing.  Thanks!  

 Edit: Loes has kindly resized her photos!

[loes]

better now Maggi?

[loes]

Hagen,

no I am not going to de Boschhoeve,I`m going to Kalmthout in Belgium

[Maggi Young]

better now Maggi?

Super, Loes! 

[alpinelover]

Galanthus 'Atkinsii' with a extra petal.

[mark smyth]

If the extra petals were stable it would point to being James Backhouse but as I havent grown it I dont know how table it is

[Lesley Cox]

Surely 'Godfrey Owen' is not named for NZ's famous (now retired) World Champion sheep shearer?

I must have misread or been particularly anal on that day because of course NZ's champion shearer was Godfrey Bowen.

[Alan_b]

If the extra petals were stable it would point to being James Backhouse but as I havent grown it I dont know how table it is

Didn't "James Backhouse" used to be called "Atkinsii" until quite recently?  Then a distinction was drawn between the "well-behaved" ones and the ones that frequently throw out extra petals and the latter reclassified as "James Backhouse".  If I'm right there are probably many "James Backhouse" that still bear the label "Atkinsii".

[Brian Ellis]

Frankie, the first year my 'James Backhouse' behaved like that, the next year there were all sorts of aberrations.

[JimF]

Think I'll chuck my twopennorth in, here are some of mine. I have to say that all names are questionable as I decided to follow the mesh basket trend last summer. I had all the bulbs set out in groups on a table I use for re-potting, stepped back wards, forgot the table was there, and the bulbs, closely followed by me finished up in a heap on the lawn. I think I re-sorted them properly but can't be sure so some advice as to correctness or not would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry that the focus on a couple of shots is nothing to shout about. Today has not been my day!

These are I think:-

Magnet (2 shots)
Ginns Imperati (2 shots)
Augustus (1 shot)
Comet (1 shot)

Here goes my first post after a year of reading silently:

'Ginn's Imperati' has one distinctive, if not unique, character: it smells of bitter almonds, as "the book" says. I was able to use this to sort out 'G.I.' from a friend's garden two years ago when she moved and invited some of us in with shovels. At the base of a steep slope we found galanthus labels belonging to plants UP the slope. Each clump was dug and potted, the names on the labels noted.

When in bloom I compared all to the book and sniffed, finding the Ginn, so to speak. Of the 70 or so species and cultivars I have none save one have this fragrance - and the one that does has it very weakly, nor looks anything like 'G.I.'

Others did not match the adventurous labels, so I hope to post some pictures of them. They are beautiful, key out to none in "Snowdrops", but seem unique in their own ways.

Have fun at your Events. We had our first in Seattle/Bellevue last year (2010) which was a great success.

Off topic - If there are any other members in the US who'd like to work together for swapping 'drops on this side of the pond, please contact me. (Would that be by what you all call PM? - private mail?)

Jim in Bellevue, WA.

[JimF]

Nothing like quoting one's self to add authority to what one says! Sorry about that.
Jim

[mark smyth]

Jim, welcome to the forum

[KentGardener]

(Would that be by what you all call PM? - private mail?)

Jim in Bellevue, WA.

Welcome Jim - looking forward to your posts.

I always think of PM as 'Personal Message' - but I like 'Private Mail' too.