What am I doing wrong?

[David Nicholson]

I wonder if the Galanthophiles could give me a bit of advice please? In September 2006 Sue Gill was good enough to send me three bulbs of Galanthus Hippolyta which I grew in the greenhouse. There was plenty of leaf and a couple of flower stems but they didn't open, so this year I tried them in my bulb bed, with exacly the same result, see picture below.

Last year Ann Wright sent me a couple of bulbs of G. Lady Elphinstone and these too were planted in my bulb bed. I got leaves and a couple of very short flower stems but again they didn't open-picture below.

The bulb bed is orientated roughly North/South in a shaded situation. The soil is my normal garden soil with lots of added sand and grit together with some mushroom compost in the lower levels of it, and a good sprinkle of bone meal. A patch of G. nivalis in another part of the garden flowers every year, but doesn't multiply much.

What am I doing wrong?

[Martin Baxendale]

David, by the looks of them they're just a bit too small to flower properly yet. They most likely just need to settle in and build up their bulbs to full flowering size. Most snowdrops resent being moved around, and will often take a couple of years to get settled back in, especially if they were disturbed while in leaf and root. They look healthy enough, so I'd just give them some liquid feed through this Spring (full-strength Tomorite tomato fertiliser, Phostrogen, or some other high-potash liquid feed is ideal) as often as the bottle or packet recommends.

[mark smyth]

Lady Elphinstine looks like it's flower has been eaten off. Like Martin says they are best moved dormant

[KentGardener]

Hi David

definately looks like there may have been a mouse munching at the Lady E.

regards

John

[Anthony Darby]

I have mice but they never touch daffs or snowdrops.

[mark smyth]

More likely slugs.

Margaret Owen told me she has a problem with voles eating the emerging flower heads of Hellebores

[KentGardener]

it's the little black slugs that are a problem in my garden - but a friend swears it is the mice that munch the snowdrop flower buds in her garden.

regards

John

[David Nicholson]

Thanks guys. It looks as though I need to feed and wait to see what happens next year.

[gote]

Mice??
I believed Amaryllidaceae were safe for mice and other fourlegged predators.
I have never observed any damage of that kind to any Galanthus, Leucojum or Narcissus and I have them in the open ground.
Göte

[Maggi Young]

Mice??
I believed Amaryllidaceae were safe for mice and other fourlegged predators.
I have never observed any damage of that kind to any Galanthus, Leucojum or Narcissus and I have them in the open ground.
Göte

But Göte, do the mice know this? And with the transfer of some genera to Alliaceae, perhaps this means the mice knew all along that some plants were on their menu !!??

[Katherine J]

And with the transfer of some genera to Alliaceae, perhaps this means the mice knew all along that some plants were on their menu !!??

Exactly what I thought!

[gote]

My mice know and I assume that they are aware that many Amaryllidaceae have silica needles in the tissues.
They do love Corydalis and Crocus which do not have this deterrent.
Are Galanthus now Alliaceae?
Göte

[mark smyth]

A friend saw a grey squirrel eating her Galanthus bulbs

[Martin Baxendale]

A friend saw a grey squirrel eating her Galanthus bulbs

I'll bet it had a sore mouth afterwards! Those silica needle-crystals can make finger-tips tingle and sting when cleaning up snowdrop bulbs. Rodents might try eating them once or twice but I imagine they'd soon lose the taste for them.

In my garden, slugs generally leave snowdrops alone too, except for the flowers, which the little black slugs go for. I wonder if the flower segments have lower levels of silica crystals? Some snowdrop flowers have very 'glistening' flowers which look like they have a lot of crystals in the segments, but others are less so and may then be more edible to the slugs. Having said that, I had just one clump of reginae-olgae this year attacked by a swarm (??Maggi please insert correct collective noun) of tiny pale brown slugs  which seemed intent on stripping the leaves - that's never happened before.

[Martin Baxendale]

Another thing - when the little slugs go for snowdrop flowers, I find they usually strip the flower segments and the anthers but leave the style alone. What's that all about? I'm not complaining, as it means such attacked flowers can still be pollinated (the slugs don't usually eat the ovary either) but why not the style??