Galanthus March 2016

[Irm]

Wish you fall in love with RÜSCH'L JÖ.

What a name   

[Irm]

Cowhouse Green

[Roma]

Nothing rare or unusual here
Two clumps of Galanthus 'Fred's Giant'
Three different Galanthus nivalis or hybrids

[Roma]

Galanthus elwesii ( a gift from Fred Sutherland in 1992)
Galanthus 'Magnet'
Galanthus 'Dionysus'
Galanthus 'Sybil Roberta'

[Brian Ellis]

Ian Christie‎ writes :
 
"My latest find this is -  a hybrid G. nivalis x G. plicatus the main flower is single and the lower flower on the same stem is double Matt Bishop has seen this."

 Matt Bishop comments :  "Possibly the strangest snowdrop ever!!"

There seem to be one or two like this, Avon sold one last year called 'Phantom', their description:

A large rounded giant hybrid poculiform which almost always shows two scapes, the second of which resembles G.plicatus ssp. byzantinus, so two different flowers from the same bulb!

[Maggi Young]

Thought you might be busy, Ian!  Snowing here too - yuck !

[Alan_b]

There seem to be one or two like this, Avon sold one last year called 'Phantom', ...

But this one is extraordinary because the two different flower forms are on the same scape!  I have one in development which produces a good flower on top and a more aberrant one below on the same scape but that's not really a virtue.  And you have 'Saraband' with two perfect (?) flowers on the same scape.  But a double and a single together on the same scape is really something.

[Brian Ellis]

I didn't say it wasn't extraordinary, I was merely pointing out that there is another where one bulb produces two different shaped flowers albeit on different scapes.

[Alan_b]

We visited two gardens over the weekend.  The first was Carole Smith's garden near Peterborough.

I too visited Carole Smith's garden last Sunday.  I understand that Carole is considering moving house so this may have been the last time her garden was open.  In order to persuade my wife to come along we then went on to somewhere she wanted to visit, the Welney Wetland Centre.  There we were fortunate to see this fellow:


My wife felt very sorry for him, so far from his home and native land (he has been ringed in Poland).  But it turns out that he had not come so far, just from a 'rest home' near Diss where he had been recuperating.  This was the Shorelands Wildlife Centre;
 

And who is that photographed with an injured stork there?  Only Ben Potterton who doubles as proprietor of Blacksmiths Cottage Nursery (next door) and well-known amongst galanthophiles.  Small world!

I took the second image from the news article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-32504476

[johnw]

From this morning, just before the gale struck:

Hill Poe
Tubby Merlin - a superb snowdrop and increases nicely
Benton Magnet  - another superb snowdrop and increases nicely
nivalis SG (Lowick f.) - the Lowick in this particular spot remains stubbornly solo

john

[kentish_lass]

We visited two gardens over the weekend.  The first was Carole Smith's garden near Peterborough.

Thanks David - I thoroughly enjoyed the photos you posted of both gardens - just fabulous.  Real plant collectors gardens.  It amazes me seeing all the large clumps everywhere - obviously no swift moth there!  That Erythronium is just beautiful - is it for sale anywhere do you know?

[Alan_b]

... obviously no swift moth there! 

It may not be obvious from David's pictures but look up and you would see that Carole's garden is mostly shaded by large trees (that would cause many a lesser gardener to despair and give up).  A swift moth lays it's eggs on the wing in the summer and presumably instinctively seeks-out sites where the larvae will have good chance of finding something to eat.  So it may look for somewhere that is more open with more summer vegetation.  Alan Shipp, who grows his National Collection of Hyacinths on good fenland soil north of Cambridge http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/pictures/Cambridge-garden-home-world-s-largest-collection/pictures-26290272-detail/pictures.html in what is basically a field, has told me that swift moth larvae are a problem for him.  He would be about 35 miles from Carole and fenland extends much closer.  So if Carole does not suffer swift moth problems it seems to me that that is more likely down to the nature of her garden rather than their absence from the area.     

[Leena]

What a name   

What does it mean?

Irm, nice 'Cowhouse Green'
and Roma, how lovely big clumps of snowdrops!

John, you don't have any snow anymore! I'm hoping to see the first snowdrops peaking next week, if the snow starts to melt, it is supposed to get above zero degrees soon.

[Blonde Ingrid]

The first shots of a new drop that Andy Byfield asked me to garden trial, provisionally called 'Goatee Green Tip'.

Andy describes it as: '"The variety is a hybrid, probably of byzatinus x nivalis, and came from the colony where the likes of Fanny & Northern Lights came from". I can speak to the excellent heritage in regard to Northern lights!

It has a wonderful dark green inner marking which resembles a lobster tail with the slight indentations. The outer markings are delightfully green and distinct, a lighter green than Greenfinch and more finely drawn.

It appears to be a very good do'er which is always a key factor for me. It has to pass the 'Byfield aesthetically acceptable test' but I would certainly add this to my collection if encountered as an offering.

[Maggi Young]

N. B. - when the  middle picture in Ingrid's post, above, is enlarged, the image is correctly aligned!