Galanthus March 2011

[Paddy Tobin]

Zhirair,

I have never seen G. artjuschenkoae in the flesh and it is wonderful to see your photographs here. It is a very pretty flower.

Paddy

[TheNorm]

...Most of the woodland around me is very samey.  Lots of G. nivalis, but very little variation.

Do they set seed?  If I look in the nearby woodlands where I found a lot of diverse nivalis forms, there are huge numbers of seedlings, whereas I have heard talks from UK snowdrop luminaries declaring that the nivalis found in the UK are sterile.  I think the truth must be that some UK populations of nivalis are sterile, or virtually so, and some are fertile.

The moral is, if you find a snowdrop wood, look for seedlings.  Where there are seedlings there will be diversity.  If you cannot find seedlings then you are unlikely to find much variation either.     

Hi Alan,

I'm sure that you're right that there must be sterile, or largely sterile populations in existence in the UK, but woods in my part of Kent, are definitely fertile, producing seedlings that, in the main, are pretty uniform in selection.  I would agree with you, that to describe all populations of nivalis in the UK as sterile seems a bit presumptuous and highly unlikely.

The best colonies that I've experienced for variety (in the UK) have always had populations of nivalis with plicatus.  The hybridisation from them always throws up interesting variants, but the seemingly fertile nivalis near me is beautiful, if not, variable in the main.  I did find one a few years back in a friends woodland that had a strong bright green blotch marking on the inners, but it didn't do well when he lifted the three bulbs later that year and they eventually succumbed.

My dream is to have a bit of woodland and plant small colonies of a range of species, sit back and wait for some hybridisation.  Long term dream and a long wait to see what happens, but I love a project!

Lewis

[vivienr]

My dream is to have a bit of woodland and plant small colonies of a range of species, sit back and wait for some hybridisation.  Long term dream and a long wait to see what happens, but I love a project!

My dream too, Lewis. I have the wood (at least the small bit of it without the bluebells) and lots of nivalis. I've got a few Elwesii doing lots of interesting seeding around but have only got a few plicatus. They are relatively expensive and don't seem to be available anywhere in bulk. A lot of my nivalis are seeding, perhaps because I have mixed them up. I did notice that nivalis in our local churchyard do not seed so must have all been spread from one clone. I would be very happy to swap nivalis with anyone in the interests of genetic diversity (not that I know anything about genetics, technical posts about it on the forum make my brain turn to mush).

The most interesting nivalis wood I have seen was at Walsingham Abbey where singles and doubles were nicely mixed and producing 'inbetweeners' so this year I am going to distribute some singles among the doubles I bought from Cambo a few years ago.

[TheNorm]

Last year Catherine Erskine gave me some of plicatus seedlings that she had collected to 'play with'.  In the mix are some really good doers and a terrific range of flower shapes and markings.  If I had more, I'd give you some to add to the collection, but only one or two of each currently.  When they bulk, I'll let you know. 

G. plicatus subsp. plicatus isn't easy to get in any numbers, surprising really since it bulks up so quickly.  I'm lifting and potting before I move house, so if there are any spare, I'll let you know.  G. elswesii always throws the most diverse seedlings for me. 

Does anyone have G. plicatus subsp. byzantinus of known origin (I know that virtually everything in cultivation will be cultivated rather than a wild subspecies), as I'd like some to add to my species range.  Happy to swap with Galanthus or anything else that I have really.

Good luck with the wood Vivien,


Lewis

[loes]

first time flowering for me galanthus artjuschenkoae,little and late

[steve owen]

Galadriel, Danube Star, Rushmere Green, Jennie Owen, Baxendale's Late, Ruth Birchall, Mill View, The Linns, Foxton  and a little late spikey still looking good here.

[Paddy Tobin]

Steve,
How fortunate to have such a selection doing well at this late end of the season. I'm down to the final few flowers here and spend a few minutes each day removing seedheads to clean up.

There's always next year - or our friends in cooler climes can, of course, keep our enjoyment in snowdrops satisfied for another while.

Paddy

[Hagen Engelmann]

Hello Steve, did You get my mail???

[Martin Baxendale]

First narcissus flies spotted (and killed) today. Half a dozen flying around fast in the sunshine, bumping into each other and into the bumble bees, so I'm guessing early-rising males looking for females to mate with. Difficult to whack with the tennis racket, but they follow the same paths round and round the garden, so all I have to do is find a narrow gap between plants and shrubs that they fly though then wait in ambush and whack them as they go past. Takes some patience but worth it.

Also saw the first lily beetle yesterday. 

[TheNorm]

Perhaps a badminton racket is advisable?!  You need to look at a change of sport Martin.

Lewis

[steve owen]

Hello Steve, did You get my mail???

Hagen
Yes thanks Hagen, but I'm away from home on business at present so I will send a proper reply when I get home on Friday. Best wishes
Steve

[ChrisD]

My dream is to have a bit of woodland and plant small colonies of a range of species, sit back and wait for some hybridisation.  Long term dream and a long wait to see what happens, but I love a project!

My dream too, Lewis. I have the wood (at least the small bit of it without the bluebells) and lots of nivalis. I've got a few Elwesii doing lots of interesting seeding around but have only got a few plicatus. They are relatively expensive and don't seem to be available anywhere in bulk. A lot of my nivalis are seeding, perhaps because I have mixed them up. I did notice that nivalis in our local churchyard do not seed so must have all been spread from one clone. I would be very happy to swap nivalis with anyone in the interests of genetic diversity (not that I know anything about genetics, technical posts about it on the forum make my brain turn to mush).

The most interesting nivalis wood I have seen was at Walsingham Abbey where singles and doubles were nicely mixed and producing 'inbetweeners' so this year I am going to distribute some singles among the doubles I bought from Cambo a few years ago.

Vivien, Lewis and others

I too love the idea of a wood with mixed species and varieties all crossing and producing a diversity of seedlings.

I have a large number of G. regina olgae ssp vernalis that I am happy to donate/swap. I believe there are several "clones" of this variety in existence. The ones in my garden flower with G. nivalis perhaps opening a week or so later but definitely with an overlapping season. The flowers are more dainty than G. nivalis but the most obvious difference is the "sheen" on the leaves, they seem more reflective than the nivalis leaves.

I have to admit to a degree of embarrassment about these, there were a few small patches in the garden when we moved in nearly 15 years ago. I assumed they were the common snowdrop. The clumps have been split and spread around the garden numerous times over the years. I have also been given G. nivalis and realised the two were different, but it wasn't until the meeting at Bennington Lordship earlier this year, that I realised what these drops were. John (Kent Gardener) gave away several varieties including RO ssp vernalis, and when I got mine home realised I allready had several hundred of these! Several of the clumps need dividing again this year, so please drop me a PM if you would like some. They should certainly add to Vivien's genetic diversity.

I usually wait till the leaves start to die down before dividing the clumps.

Chris

[mark smyth]

It was so warm today Narcissus flies came to mind.

[Martin Baxendale]

It was so warm today Narcissus flies came to mind.

They came to my garden (see earlier post).

[Alan_b]

First narcissus flies spotted (and killed) today.

It was so warm today Narcissus flies came to mind.

I'm not at all confident I would spot a narcissus fly.  I don't suppose anyone could manage to catch one and photograph it before dispatching it?