Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Alan_b on August 31, 2015, 10:45:10 AM
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Taylors Bulbs are selling packs of Galanthus plicatus Washfield Warham, billed as "the latest flowering snowdrop". You can buy them here, for example: http://www.garden4less.co.uk/Galanthus-Washfield-Warh-bulbs.asp (http://www.garden4less.co.uk/Galanthus-Washfield-Warh-bulbs.asp) . This is the first time that I can think of where a major player in the bulb market (like Taylors) has sold a named snowdrop cultivar. Am I right?
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I think you are correct
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Galanthus plicatus 'Washfield Warham' on the Taylor's bulb packet doesn't exactly square with the photos of that cultivar shown in the forum - such as here (see also http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6818.msg190732#msg190732 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6818.msg190732#msg190732) and others, all showing a sort of "moustache" mark)
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pic on Taylors Bulb packet
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It would be interesting to know what will come up from the packeted bulbs.
:-\ :-\
By the way, Mark Smyth - your snowdropinfo.com links don't seem to be working.
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I've been trying to contact the hosts for days but no one is answering the phone
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So perhaps this is Galanthus plicatus 'Taylor's Washield Warham'?
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I'm going to get some just to see what they actually are
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I understand that "Washfield ..." snowdrops originated at the Washfield Nursery in Kent. This was run by Elizabeth Strangman, who seems to be best-known for her work on Hellebores. There is also a "Washfield Colesbourn"; I don't know if there are any more.
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Washfield Titania
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I think you are correct
Not exactly - I believe these have been offered for some years:
https://www.blomsbulbs.com/rock-garden-and-herbaceous-border/galanthus/nivalis-s--arnott (https://www.blomsbulbs.com/rock-garden-and-herbaceous-border/galanthus/nivalis-s--arnott)
http://www.peternyssen.com/snowdrop-sam-arnott.html (http://www.peternyssen.com/snowdrop-sam-arnott.html)
http://www.peternyssen.com/our-shop/autumn-planting/miscellaneous-bulbs/snowdrops/snowdrop-hippolyta.html (http://www.peternyssen.com/our-shop/autumn-planting/miscellaneous-bulbs/snowdrops/snowdrop-hippolyta.html)
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Not exactly - I believe these have been offered for some years:
You are quite right Maggi, you can add Eurobulbs to the list who sell Plicatus Warham...
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Eurobulbs sell Plicatus Warham??? Where ??
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...and Hippolyta, here : https://eurobulbs.co.uk/galanthus-snowdrops.html
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And Marshalls seeds are selling Warham bulbs with a photo of a double......
http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/galanthus-plicatus-bulbs-warham-pid8966.html (http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/galanthus-plicatus-bulbs-warham-pid8966.html) - my word - a bit of a muddle around , methinks.
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=1241.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=1241.0)
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Galanthus "Warham" is supposed to originate from the grounds of Warham Rectory in Norfolk. I think "Warham Rectory" is a synonym for "Warham". "Washfiled Warham" is presumably named for its similarity to the original "Warham" but is not the same.
Also in circulation (From Wol and Sue Staines) is Galanthus byzantinus ex Warham which is completely different but really does originate from Warham Rectory.
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many thanks Maggi , I had look at EUROBULB.nl
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Thanks, Maggi; the only named snowdrop for sale at my local (upmarket) garden centre was "Washfiled Warham" from Taylors. There were 13 packets on the rack, reduced now to 12 as I bought one out of curiosity.
Now that you remind me, I may have seen "S. Arnott" offered for sale before, never "Hippolyta".
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I emailed Taylors about the photo on the packet but they haven't replied
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Here is what I got, with the dry outer covering to the bulbs removed. I normally like to see pristine white in these circumstances so I am suspicious about these, although goodness knows what pre-treatment they might have had. They are certainly all alive and the bulbs are of a decent size (one of the 7 originals had an offset).
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I note that Eurobulbs reckon their Warham flowers in early July!!!!
Tim DH
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The reply from Taylors ...
"Dear Mr Smyth,
Thank you for your email and for showing us your photograph of Washfield Warham. I have done some preliminary investigations but need to dig deeper. Please leave it with me to look into this further.
Kind regards,
Adam Taylor"
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There is a stock photo here http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-galanthus-plicatus-washfield-warham-snowdrops-white-flowers-green-67225991.html (http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-galanthus-plicatus-washfield-warham-snowdrops-white-flowers-green-67225991.html) that is supposed to show 'Washfield Warham'. Those snowdrops look quite similar to the ones on the Taylors pack.
As does the image here from Benington Lordship http://www.beningtonlordship.co.uk/snowdropgallery.shtml (http://www.beningtonlordship.co.uk/snowdropgallery.shtml)
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So many of them look very similar, particularly in a photo, that it's hardly surprising ;)
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Well all snowdrops look much the same, don't they? However in the case of 'Washfield Warham', the green mark on the inner petals is normally depicted as very thin indeed above the notch, which is quite an unusual and therefore distinctive feature. Paradoxically, this distinctive feature is not, I think, shared by the snowdrop after which it was named, 'Warham'.
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The "stock photo" sellers often have their plants mis-named.
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The "stock photo" sellers often have their plants mis-named.
Indeed they do. I recall an article about snowdrops by a national newspaper illustrated with a photograph of Leucojum vernum earlier this year!
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It seems that Mark Smyth won in the end. This year, Taylors have dropped the 'Washfield Warham' name and are selling (what seems to be) the same thing just as Galanthus plicatus (selected as late flowering).
My sick-looking bulbs from 2015 produced no flowers and showed all the signs of stag. on their leaves. When I took them out of their pot yesterday the bulbs had mostly been reduced to husks. I took a photo of the small remaining live parts.
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