Snowdrops in February 2012

[mark smyth]

Lovely doubles Emma. Has the upward facing one remained upward facing.

[emma T]

Lovely doubles Emma. Has the upward facing one remained upward facing.

It does eventually drop down , as this picture from last year shows

[Paddy Tobin]

G. elwesii with strikingly waxy grey leaves

Ashley, I'm delighted that someone else has been taken by this snowdrop. I have commented to Paul Cutler (Head Gardener at Altamont) that I have always thought this an outstanding snowdrop, great presence in a bed. However, Paul seems never to have been taken by it. It is the form of G. elwesii which has thrived for  many years in the garden and so it has come to be taken for granted there. To me, it is an excellent plant. I saw it in another garden today labelled, 'Altamont Giant'. Now, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but, nonetheless, it is a snowdrop worth noting and, perhaps, worth naming. I saw a bulb of G. 'E.A. Bowles' in a garden today also. Nice flower.

Brian, I hope you do make a visit to Altamont at some stage. It's a lovely garden. We have great  memories of visiting there over many years and of its former owner, Mrs. North. And, 'Skyward' is fabulous but has broken my heart as I was given it twice and lost it on both occasions. I refused a further bulb from Paul on a recent visit. I'll have to admire it at Altamont and be happy with that.


Paddy

[mark smyth]

Is it possible that the silver elwesii is Marjorie Brown?

[annew]

I agree, that grey-leaved elwesii would be high on my wants list, it's beautiful.
BIG FUN today - my husband dragged me (honest) into a garden centre to look for snowdrops, and we found a tray of G. nivalis, all of which were elwesii, with a great assortment of shapes, sizes and markings, or lack of. Having beaten him down to only 10 pots, I travelled home with them on my knee enjoying the scent.
Later, he called from the kitchen, "I see you're making pickled onions again!". Puzzled I went through and found him looking at the container full of snowdrops released from their meagre pots of dank peat, soaking in fungicide after needing to have layers of rotten tunic peeled away in some cases.
"Are they edible?" he asked.
"No, they're poisonous. In fact they contain some substance being investigated as a cure for something nasty." I said.
"What, Galanthomania?" he said....

[Paddy Tobin]

Is it possible that the silver elwesii is Marjorie Brown?

I don't think so, Mark.

Paddy

[johnw]

In flower today, White Swan, Fieldgate Superb & Lady Moore and Benton MagnetMerlin

Richard- re: my comment "re: Richard's find That mark looks awfully familiar.....  "  I must have been thinking of Lady Moore  which is sort of similar and having been looking at it all week long.  


johnw

[mark smyth]

John, Benton Magnet should have a single mark at the apex

[johnw]

John, Benton Magnet should have a single mark at the apex

Hell. The hazards of copy & paste. The Benton Magnet photo was blurry, deleted and got pasted on Merlin's photo.  Now to sort out the other ones I photographed besides those posted.

Thanks

johnw

[mark smyth]

Anyone know anything about elwesii Peter Fry or maybe Try?

[mark smyth]

Two lost label snowdrops - do you recognise them? The double is probably too difficult

[JimF]

I don't know Oluna's Mother, can you tell us something about it.  Your Rosemary Burnham looks excellent and you're getting great colouration.

Now did Frank Galyon not live in the deep south?  I recall his work on magnolias so a bit of a shock that he bred snowdrops and could even grow them in that steamy climate. . . . John W.

Thanks everyone for the encouraging remarks. I've put in a request to the finder of 'Oluna's Mother' for more info.
'Rosemary Burnham' seems very happy in our area, so I just nod and thank her.

FRANK (my error twice!) Galyon lived and gardened in Tennessee which is in the south but also the Appalachian Mts. So can be hot or cool. His plants do well in South Carolina. I don't know if it is truly a tetraploid. Will examine it tomorrow but it is more gray leaved than any other.

There are hybridizers working on galanthus in the US but most are waiting to release after good testing - and the sheer time it takes to bulk up. I was thrilled last week to see seedlings of self-pollinated G. 'Spindlestone Surprise' coming up after two years. Green and yellow checking would be nice.

Jim

[JimF]

Thanks for joining us Jim, but most of all for increasing our knowledge of what is being grown in America, there are some nice elwesii selections there especially 'Cby' . . . . Brian

Glad you like "Cby", Brian. It's a personal favorite I found a couple years ago. In the pots it shows great poise and self confidence! Attached it is in profile, correctly.

[Thanks, too, Maggie, for fixing my errors. Are you a twin, because I can't imagine any one person working around the clock helping us all along! Have enjoyed your efforts for a year or so - and everyone's.]

Jim

[JimF]

G. elwesii "L Cbs" IMG_5163.jpg could be G. bortkewitchianus . . . . Mark

That never occurred to me Mark. Thanks. I'll investigate.

The woman it came from traded far and wide. She was moving so invited friends over to dig plants, but the week prior to our dig her computer crashed with all her records - none backed up. A lesson. Several of us worked to key out all sorts of genera and species knowing from whom she bought  and traded with. We're about 90% done on some 1000 species and cultivars. Two lovely corydalis confound me, but that's another post.

Enjoyed all of the photos on your previous posts, Mark. So many fascinating and enticing new ones. It's wonderfully overwhelming. Thanks.

Jim

[Shadylanejewel]

Later, he called from the kitchen, "I see you're making pickled onions again!". Puzzled I went through and found him looking at the container full of snowdrops released from their meagre pots of dank peat, soaking in fungicide after needing to have layers of rotten tunic peeled away in some cases.
"Are they edible?" he asked.
"No, they're poisonous. In fact they contain some substance being investigated as a cure for something nasty." I said.
"What, Galanthomania?" he said....

LOL - hilarious Anne!  Sounds just like a conversation at my house would go.