Galanthus elwesii 'Trumpington'

[Alan_b]

I have managed to register another one of my snowdrops with the KAVB, my only elwesii.  I called it 'Trumpington', the name of a district in Cambridge and the locale where it originated.  I found it in 2013 and it has been bulking-up well since then.



There are other similar snowdrops but I think this one is just that little bit better than any I have seen.



I particularly like the way that the green mark frames a white tip to the outer petals.



It does have a weakness in that the marks on the outer petals are only "at full strength" on full-sized bulbs.  On immature bulbs they can be absent or weak.  But that's not too terrible; a few more pictures.

[Maggi Young]

A nice one, Alan - but  why do I find myself singing "Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb" ?
 ... Ah, yes,  Trumpton!  Happy days! 

[annew]

Congratulations, Alan.

[Alan_b]

Thank you, Anne.  I followed the link you gave in another thread and saw that you had successfully registered a good few snowdrops now.  It's a pity more people don't register as it's really not difficult and an accessible register cannot be a bad thing.

And thank you, Maggi.

[shelagh]

Great name Alan, Baroness Trumpington is one of my heroines or as we seem to have to say today heroes!

[Alan_b]

It didn't come from her garden, Shelagh, although that's not too far away.

[shelagh]

Nevertheless I shall have to look out for one when it becomes available.

[Rick Goodenough]

Congratulations Alan, a real beauty.

Rick

[steve owen]

Alan, thanks for the info about registration.
Last year one of the better seedlings here was given a provisional name which then appeared on a different bulb and  was sold as such. So the lesson for me is to register any snowdrops named as worthwhile as Alan has done with "Trumpington".

The three latest snowdrops named here are "Eileen Owen", "Paula Kay" and "Candlemas" (pics below). They join the other cultivars previously named here and shown on Scottish Rock, i.e.
Emmelina
Jennie Owen
Moonlight
St Crispin's Day.

Pics are of variable quality - I have my limitations with a camera. All the cultivars mentioned have been registered so hopefully I shan't lose any more "names".

[Alan_b]

Gerard Oud was the original advocate for KAVB registration on this forum.  I procrastinated for a while then gave it a try and found it really easy as you can send the form and photos by email.  Then Anne Wright took-up the idea for her home-bred Dryad series snowdrops.  As Steve states, the main virtue for the registrant is that you block anybody else from using the same name for a different snowdrop.     

[Mariette]

Alan, thanks for the info about registration.
Last year one of the better seedlings here was given a provisional name which then appeared on a different bulb and  was sold as such. So the lesson for me is to register any snowdrops named as worthwhile as Alan has done with "Trumpington".

The three latest snowdrops named here are "Eileen Owen", "Paula Kay" and "Candlemas" (pics below). They join the other cultivars previously named here and shown on Scottish Rock, i.e.
Emmelina
Jennie Owen
Moonlight
St Crispin's Day.

Pics are of variable quality - I have my limitations with a camera. All the cultivars mentioned have been registered so hopefully I shan't lose any more "names".

´Eileen Owen´is of beautiful proportions, and ´Paula Kay´shows the dainty marks I prefer - very well chosen, Steve!

[Alan_b]

I met Wol Staines at the weekend and he told me that some long time ago he been promised a "Trumpington snowdrop" that in the end failed to materialise.  It wasn't this one.  There is an area I know with what appears to be a large naturalised population of Galanthus elwesii.  All of this is on private land and can only be glimpsed but I spotted 'Trumpington' from a nearby pathway and was able to gain permission from the owner of that particular part of the land to lift a bulb or two.  It looked like a solitary snowdrop when I found it, in-situ picture below. 



What I actually got was a bulb (which I damaged slightly in lifting) and two small offsets.



This was in February 2013 but it has increased vigorously since then.  I try to walk along the same path every year in snowdrop time, just to see what I can glimpse, and I'm as sure as one can be that this one was not there before.  So if it bears any relation to Wol's never-seen "Trumpington snowdrop" it could only possibly be a relative, not the same one.  Some of the elwesiis in that area do grow very large but we probably have enough merely-large elwesiis by now.  Indeed I have seen several named elwesiis with a similar type of green tip but I believe 'Trumpington' is distinct and worthy of a name.       

[steve owen]

I do believe this site is suffering from a paucity of The Bard; and since some PMs have asked me why my snowdrop is named St Crispin's Day, well it's because it flowers around 25 October, the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt, for which Shakespeare memorably wrote

"This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day:". 

[Alan_b]

'St Crispin's Day' merits a passage from The Bard.  All poor 'Trumpington' got was a mis-applied quote from a defunct TV show for small children.  Hey ho!

If only I had called it 'Grantchester', which is quite close by...
"... and is there honey still for tea?"

[steve owen]

Alan, no probs, we all keep off Grantchester so that you can use it for your next worthy snowdrop and then we can use the poem!
Have you considered Gog Magog?