Snowdrops in February 2012

[Brian Ellis]

Brian very kindly bought me a flower of Benhall Beauty today and it is a very good match, so think there's enough to say mystery solved.

Brian hope you enjoyed your trip, lovely bunch of people & some nice new swapping contacts 

Thank you Richard we enjoyed the tour, the gardens, the church and the pub!  We all had a very nice day and were blessed by such nice weather too.  Lots of appreciative murmering on the coach going home from galanthophiles and non-galanthophiles alike.  I hope all your groups have as good a time as we did,

[David Nicholson]

So many wonderful pictures and descriptions of Galanthus, but no one really goes on about the scent. These are our Snowdrops in a little wood which we have and today with no breeze the smell was heavenly and they were full of little mining bees too. Magic!

Cracking display Eric.

[David Nicholson]

Whoops, how did I get the pics as well???

[Maggi Young]

Whoops, how did I get the pics as well???

Because Eric's pix were embedded in  his post... I fixed it for you... just call me 'Jim' 

[Roma]

Not all snowdrops smell nice.  I dug up some G. woronowii today to put on the plant stall for sale and found the scent quite unpleasant.  When I took them into the greenhouse they drowned out the very pleasant scent of Cyclamen alpinum which has been delighting me for weeks.

[David Nicholson]

Whoops, how did I get the pics as well???

Because Eric's pix were embedded in  his post... I fixed it for you... just call me 'Jim' 

Jim Well, OK then Jim, thanks very much for that. We used to have a lass called Maggi who did that kind of thing for us. Pretty good she was too.  Liked chocolate and white dogs. If you see her about remember me to her. 

[mark smyth]

Jo and I discussed scent while I was at her house. I collected some snowdrop flowers and put them in a small glass. Most had a lovely honey scent, some had none and one smelled of Germolene.

[mark smyth]

I gave Jo a pot of Marks Tall. I could have sold them over and over .....

[mark smyth]

Sadly on return from England the majority of my snowdrops were over and slugs had eaten my Green Comets.

Here are a few still looking good

Barbara's Double
Dodo Norton
elwesii Comet
elwesii Lord Monostictus
elwesii Michael Meyers Green Tipped - all with an extra petal in the spathe and one with a branched scape
Epiphany (not) - supplied by Avon. A peril of buying dormant bulbs
G71

[Palustris]

Hope you had a seat and a cuppa in the wood to enjoy them, Eric?

The Gazebo in the wood has seats in it. Have to say it is more used by the hens than by us though.
Never thought to see how G. woronowii smells.
The ones in the wood, we think are a form of G. nivalis, but in all our time here we have never found seeds or seedlings. If one cuts open the seed receptacle it is empty. Whatever it is, it makes a good show plant, in that it multiplies quickly and is very uniform in height and flowering so it is very easy to get a good potful.

[Alan_b]

..we have never found seeds or seedlings..

You have an excellent display of snowdrops but they form large clumps with some gaps in between.  You would not see that in a seeding population because the seeds would spread and the seedlings would fill in the gaps, so after a few years the spread of snowdrops would be much more uniform. 

[mark smyth]

a few more - photos not very good due to the dull day

G75
Green Pips
Little John
Melanie Broughton
Myddleton Giant - very like other large flowered plicatus
nivalis Flavescens - said to be from the original collection
nivalis Mini Me
Straffan

[johnw]

Ian - What a superb selection!

I too very much like P1020690 and can only hope it is not as temperamental as Diggory.

Brechin 2010 2 is smashing, lovely ballooning outers and a very dramtic mark with a tad of yellow which accents nicely.

Brechin 2010 6 - what a great and unique mark, so steep and sharp from what I can see.

Brechin hybrid #1 - again great contrast with the yellow eyes against the green mark.  I'm sure you will have an entertaining name for that one.

johnw

[mark smyth]

Jo Hynes' Emerald Isle

[JimF]

Here a few favorites blooming in Feb (save one) in Bellevue, WA. Most are named and known, but I enjoy them. If any looked mislabeled please let me know:

'Benton Magnet'
'Bertram Anderson'
Three buddies: 'Bill Bishop' 'Diggory' 'Cedric's Prolific'
'Hallelujah'
'Mrs Macnamara' with - forgive me! - its Adolphe Menjou moustache
'Oluna's Mother'
'Cedric's Prolific'

G. reginae olgae ssp. reginae olgae ex Rosemary Verey - an extremely prolific plant producing about 115 bulbs from 5 bulbs in 8 years - in a pot. (It bloomed in December.) A long arching pedicel I'm told is not out of the ordinary, tho is different from my other 2 forms.

'Rosemary Burnham'
'Zwannenberg'

Jim