Galanthus February 2011

[Lesley Cox]

Love the hats Jennie. Emma T's dog could use one of those.

[steve owen]

Interesting seedling flowering here for the first time. Trumps pic shown for comparison of the colours (thanks to the unknown owner of the Trumps pic - I don't think it's one of mine).

[Paddy Tobin]

Steve,

The white balance is different between the two photographs - compare the shades of white in both. I reckon the green is about the same in both, perhaps a little more towards olive green in the seedling.

Paddy

[art600]

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!

Richard

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

[RichardW]

ah, never heard of van cats, the different eyes are very striking.

[loes]

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)

[RichardW]

my mad hound  and a couple of the moat today.

[Lesley Cox]

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.

[Martin Baxendale]

Waiting impatiently for this seedling to flower. The seed parent was a good strong elwesii monostictus and the pollen parent was ikariae. The cross has taken because, although the seed was from an elwesii, the leaves are very green and ikariae-like, very broad and thick. Just hope it produces a good flower.

[Sean Fox]

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.

I have to agree with Alan.
When you mention other plants under the snow they are not actively growing like the snowdrops are. They are designed to penetrate hard surfaces and as Alan says once this has occurred the surrounding area will retain more heat resulting in what you see in your photographs.
Saying that, once the snowdrop is above ground and flowering there could be microclimates inside the flower which can be a couple of degrees above the surrounding air temperature. I'm pretty sure this has been studied in Crocus and I can't see why it couldn't be possible in snowdrops too.

[Martin Baxendale]

A nice plicatus x gracilis seedling that I chipped about three years ago and which somehow missed being chipped again in the mass chipping exercise I undertook last summer to bulk up good seedlings.

[Brian Ellis]

Having had a busy day just getting caught up on the forum, some lovely photos, I particularly like your 'Beth Chatto' Carolyn, welcome to the forum, a lovely start
Nice mark on your plicatus x gracilis seedling Martin, it looks to stand well in a clump.

[Martin Baxendale]

Nice mark on your plicatus x gracilis seedling Martin, it looks to stand well in a clump.

Yes, it has a strong scape that sands up nice and straight (though looking a bit dis-arranged in the photo as I'd just lifted the clump from the garden, bare-rooted it and potted it). Strong upright, weather-resistant  scapes are something I'm always looking for in seedlings, as well as large, strong, dark marks (this one isn't especially dark, but nice enough).

[ian mcenery]

lovely clump of Primrose Warburg, am yellow with envy, wish it would grow for me 

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

[johnw]

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