Galanthus registration

[Gerry Webster]

I'm afraid the overall impression I have of KAVB is of an amateurish organization that cannot manage foreign translations of their web site or indeed to get important links operational.

Rather begs the question of the "professionalism " of the RHS then, doesn't it? Broken links aplenty and no translations at all!

I have no desire to defend the RHS or to comment on its "professionalism" (or lack thereof). However, I believe that it & the KAVB are radically different kinds of organisations with different aims & objectives. The former is a charity while the latter is a trade association.

[GoodGrief]

they do speak English dont they?( with stiff upperlip)

Och aye !!   [given this is THE Scottish Rock Garden Club]

Malcolm.

[Martin Baxendale]

To have a look in the registrated  cultivars you have to be a member of the KAVB i believe.

Is that normal practice for a registration authority? Anyone can search the RHS narcissus register and see names and full details of registered narcissus cultivars. You don't have to be a member of the RHS. Is there a charge for KAVB membership? And any other membership criteria? Do you have to be a Dutch grower? Anyone thinking of naming a cultivar in any genus needs to be able to see what names have already been registered.

I've always been surprised that the RHS isn't the responsible registration authority for galanthus, given the long history of snowdrop collecting in the UK and  the very large number of named cultivars that originate here.

[Hagen Engelmann]

But GB is also no native homeland of any galanthus

[Martin Baxendale]

What does that have to do with naming garden cultivars, Hagen? 

[Gerard Oud]

You do hit the point Martin, named not registrated!
And there are several other countries besides GB that have a long history in collecting snowdrops and other bulbs!

[Gerard Oud]

Is that normal practice for a registration authority? Anyone can search the RHS narcissus register and see names and full details of registered narcissus cultivars. You don't have to be a member of the RHS. Is there a charge for KAVB membership? And any other membership criteria? Do you have to be a Dutch grower? Anyone thinking of naming a cultivar in any genus needs to be able to see what names have already been registered.

Just send a email to, her i go again, vanscheepen@kavb.nl and you will get a answer from Johan himself!

[Gerard Oud]

But GB is also no native homeland of any galanthus

Hagen it were the Romans that took there native snowdrops from Italy to Brittanica so they are there already 2000 years!

[Alan_b]

To have a look in the registrated  cultivars you have to be a member of the KAVB i believe.

Whether or not that is true, the link is broken.  If it were true it would be counter-productive, don't you think?

I will contact Johan van Scheepen as you suggest, Gerard.

[Martin Baxendale]

No need to take offence or get competitive about it, Gerard. I was simply trying to say that I'm surprised that the RHS didn't at some point in the last 100 years start a register of snowdrop cultivars, given the level of interest in them (especially amongst some very prominent gardeners and figures within the RHS) in this country and the very large number of cultivars selected here.

I really don't want to get into an argument about which country has the longest history of snowdrop selection and growing or in which country most cultivars have been selected and named. I'm just surprised that the RHS hasn't seemed (that I'm aware of) to have been particularly interested in being a registration authority for galanthus. Maybe they recognised how much trouble it could involve.

By the way, you didn't answer my question about if there's a fee for becoming a member of the KAVB and if membership is restricted in any way, perhaps only to Dutch growers. I think the question of access to the KAVB register is an important one, don't you agree?

[Martin Baxendale]

Is that normal practice for a registration authority? Anyone can search the RHS narcissus register and see names and full details of registered narcissus cultivars. You don't have to be a member of the RHS. Is there a charge for KAVB membership? And any other membership criteria? Do you have to be a Dutch grower? Anyone thinking of naming a cultivar in any genus needs to be able to see what names have already been registered.

Just send a email to, her i go again, vanscheepen@kavb.nl and you will get a answer from Johan himself!

Surely as a commercial Dutch bulb grower you know if there's a fee for KAVB membership and whether anyone can join, or only Dutch commercial bulb growers?

[Martin Baxendale]

But GB is also no native homeland of any galanthus

Hagen it were the Romans that took there native snowdrops from Italy to Brittanica so they are there already 2000 years!

The latest thinking is that Galanthus nivalis was first brought to Britain from Italy by monks much more recently, I think sixteenth century or something like that.

[Gerard Oud]

Is that normal practice for a registration authority? Anyone can search the RHS narcissus register and see names and full details of registered narcissus cultivars. You don't have to be a member of the RHS. Is there a charge for KAVB membership? And any other membership criteria? Do you have to be a Dutch grower? Anyone thinking of naming a cultivar in any genus needs to be able to see what names have already been registered.

Just send a email to, her i go again, vanscheepen@kavb.nl and you will get a answer from Johan himself!

Surely as a commercial Dutch bulb grower you know if there's a fee for KAVB membership and whether anyone can join, or only Dutch commercial bulb growers?

Anyone can become a member and it does cost money but its inclusive a weekly journal called Bloembollenvisie! In Dutch of course, sorry!

[Tony Willis]

But GB is also no native homeland of any galanthus

Hagen it were the Romans that took there native snowdrops from Italy to Brittanica so they are there already 2000 years!

The latest thinking is that Galanthus nivalis was first brought to Britain from Italy by monks much more recently, I think sixteenth century or something like that.

Martin

a lot of people think a lot of things,I wonder what evidence either supposition is based upon.

[Gerard Oud]

No need to take offence or get competitive about it, Gerard. I was simply trying to say that I'm surprised that the RHS didn't at some point in the last 100 years start a register of snowdrop cultivars, given the level of interest in them (especially amongst some very prominent gardeners and figures within the RHS) in this country and the very large number of cultivars selected here.

I really don't want to get into an argument about which country has the longest history of snowdrop selection and growing or in which country most cultivars have been selected and named. I'm just surprised that the RHS hasn't seemed (that I'm aware of) to have been particularly interested in being a registration authority for galanthus. Maybe they recognised how much trouble it could involve.

I did not feel any attacks or competition Martin, its mostly the way one reads sentences
I think its the Dutch commercial way of thinking and thats not from the last century! The British way is almost always a bit conservative!
Not only Galanthus has been registrated over here lots of others, according to the list on the ISHS site.
The library at the KAVB contains over a 1000 books about flowerbulbs and bulbflowers and how to grow them, the oldest is over 400 years! One can spend days over there!