Galanthus January 2012

[johnw]

Hmmmm.... often a clue you know, John.......

Unthinkable!

johnw

[johnw]

Nice clumps Jane. Especially nice patch of trumps.

johnw

[mark smyth]

Jennie, all bulbs in the Amarylidaceae family can be eaten by Narcissus fly and it doesnt matter if you have Narcissus or not in the garden

[Carolyn Walker]

Carolyn - Welcome to the Forum!

Are you seeing any signs of Stag in your pot grown snowdrops?  And is the narcissus bulb fly present where you live?

I have lightened my mix with oak compost and shredded oak leaves this past autumn. Crowded snowdrops in pots were susceptible to stag in my previous mixes - Diggory, Heffalump and Hill Poe recent victims.  The same happened some years ago to congested Rosemary Burnham - I was down to one lone bulb; with frequent repotting she is multiplying like mad now.

My partner grows hundreds of pots of straight nivalis in Promix BX and has none of my problems!

johnw

John, Thanks for the welcome.  I have never had any problem with pests or diseases on my snowdrops.  I didn't even know what stag was, and I had to look it up in the snowdrop bible.  Now that I have read about it, I hope I never do find out what it is.  I know that narcissus bulb fly is over here in people's gardens but not in mine so far.  Some of my original 'Potter's Prelude' plants were in a very shady place behind a peony and have slowly disappeared, but I think that is because of the site.  Very healthy clumps are thriving right in front of the peony.

I grow the snowdrops in pots to sell at my nursery and mail order in the spring so they are only in the pots from October to March at the latest.  My personal collection is in the ground.  ProMix BX is what I mix with the compost with 4 to 5 parts compost and one part ProMix.  I have never had problems with disease or anything else in the pots.

I do not grow any what I would call really picky snowdrops that require any special care.  I also think that climate differences between here and the UK make growing considerations different.  For example, I think our climate makes acquiring snowdrops in the green in spring very easy and productive (personally I think it is preferable)---as I said before, every single plant thrives---whereas I understand this is not the case in the UK because there is such an outcry against it.

Hope that helps.  Carolyn

[kentish_lass]

Jennie, all bulbs in the Amarylidaceae family can be eaten by Narcissus fly and it doesnt matter if you have Narcissus or not in the garden

Thanks Mark - I may as well just plant the Scilla and see what happens.  What a pest that fly is.

[kentish_lass]

its a nice mild Saturday here and I am off to the garden to find nice things happening I hope

You are lucky Jennie,everywhere still solid and white with frost here,all drops flat on the ground

Chas, I spoke too soon!  As the day wore on it got colder and colder and by dark the ground was frozen.  My snowdrops in lattice pots in the poly tunnel were also frozen solid - not good.

For Christmas I got a torch that goes on your head and I christened it tonight and was running around the garden bringing in frozen pots of tender plants.  Great gift and very bright light - not very flattering though 

[johnw]

Carolyn - You are one lucky Galanthus grower!

I think the cooler and wetter climate here in coastal Nova Scotia is part of the problem (think Scotland - few patio nights here!), especially for those snowdrops that like a drier summer rest.  The Galanthus nivalis in gardens about sailed through this past abysmally cool and wet summer - think Scotland.  I really should concentrate on that species and its selected forms.  I am ordering seed from Jelitto again as I have had great success with them.

BTW I much prefer planting and trading bulbs dug whilst dormant.  Snowdrops in the green give me the creeps.  We are elated that Colesbourne has decided once again to start shipping excellent dormant bulbs to Canada.

johnw   - -4c at 22.15 and a bitter 48 hours are predicted.

[johnw]

As the day wore on it got colder and colder and by dark the ground was frozen.  My snowdrops in lattice pots in the poly tunnel were also frozen solid - not good.
For Christmas I got a torch that goes on your head and I christened it tonight and was running around the garden bringing in frozen pots of tender plants.  Great gift and very bright light - not very flattering though 

Jennie - Why not sink your pots in woodchips in a frame within your tunnel?  Our pots freeze solid from January to March but the chip insulation prevents damage. And this is Canada!  We seal the frames shut with white plastic in mid to late December and remove it in mid March. By Monday night I'm sure all ours will be frozen stiff.

I have posted this shot before.

johnw

[Oakwood]

Just to remind how the snowdrops look fantastic naturally in the wild  , when growers don't want some exclusive forms from their plant nature; but it happens not rarely they could acquire some malaise both in wild and in gardens. I put here G. woronowii normal flwrs from my last year spring tour into the W Transcaucasia and also some Horror plants from there and one more unhappy plant of G. nivalis I named Chuguyster find in our BG. So, what do you choose to really grow??       

[KentGardener]

Nice pics Dimitri.  I remember the last time you showed 'Chuguyster' (2 or 3 years ago?) - my kind of weirdness  .  Does it do the same every year?

[Oakwood]

Nice pics Dimitri.  I remember the last time you showed 'Chuguyster' (2 or 3 years ago?) - my kind of weirdness  .  Does it do the same every year?

thanks, John! yes. it is like this all years that it grows at me and in our BG

[Maggi Young]

As a follow-on to Dima's question "So, what do you choose to really grow?? " I will add this..would you want a kitten with three eyes or five legs?
 
I'd be surprised if the answer were yes.... so what is the attraction of these deformed flowers?

[Oakwood]

As a follow-on to Dima's question "So, what do you choose to really grow?? " I will add this..would you want a kitten with three eyes or five legs?
 
I'd be surprised if the answer were yes.... so what is the attraction of these deformed flowers?

SUPER!!! Exactly, Maggi!!!!!!

[mark smyth]

Big money on ebay would be my guess Maggi

[mark smyth]

And i would give the spikey woronowii a home says Mark freezing while out bird watching