Galanthus March 2023

[Stefan B.]

Galanthus woronowii 'Elizabeth Harrison'

And several G. woronowii with different markings on the inner petals.

[Stefan B.]

And a few more nivalis from Slovenia

[Anne Repnow]

I like the G. woronowii with unusual markings, Stefan!
This one is an almost albino, called 'The Naked Truth', selected by Freddy van Houtte

[Mariette]

This looks very nice, indeed! My G. woronowii often show very reduced marks, but not to the extent of this lovely selection.

[Stefan B.]

Anne, really nice selection... if you come across a dealer that offers it, please give me a shout, I want to buy it, I love it!

[Stefan B.]

I remembered that I also have one with a small marking but it is not blooming this year, this is a photo from last spring.


Here is a G. woronowii with olive yellow, it didn't bloom this spring, next spring I will compare it with 'Elizabeth Harrison'

[Leena]

Stefan, you have very nice different G.woronowii. I have found that it is not as reliably hardy here as G.nivalis.
Mostly it is hardy, but last winter I lost several G.woronowii plants, one was very nice grown from Holubeck seeds and I'm sorry I lost it.
My other G.woronowii are all quite similar to each other.

[partisangardener]

G.woronowii is here too not completely hardy.
G.plicatus is more hardy but we had sometimes winters here in Bavaria with some losses.
G.elwesii loves it more on the dry side but is then nearly as reliable as nivalis.
Today I had a look at my local gardener they had about 20 small pots with healthy looking G.elwesii. In one pot there were several with little green markings on the outside. Another one had two stems with twin flowers.
I took these ones and have a try how they fare in my garden.

[Leena]

Axel, thank you for your experiences in hardiness.
You have found very nice G.elwesii. Here we don't usually have potted snowdrops in shops in spring, though there are some other spring bulbs.
In couple of bigger cities there are Plantagen garden centers, and I've heard that they sometimes carry also snowdrops in pots (imported from Europe), but the closest Plantagen to me is over 100km away.

[partisangardener]

Leena your beauties you show us here, are something to dream about, its a pity that many plants are a far way off.
In my city you find usually none or a very small amount each place. Which fits me well, because a Galanthus event would overwhelm me.

G.elwesii and G.woronowii is usually imported from Georgia and Turkey. At least in Turkey they manage their wild populations sustainable.
The potted ones are in many cases doomed. Substrate and watering issues is mostly the reason. Many have mold infections, so if ever, you have to look close.

[Anne Repnow]

I totally agree with you - potted snowdrops from shops ought to be quarantined before planting them amongst established snowdrops.

Here the snwodrop season is drawing to an end. There are still some late ones in flower and those very, very late ones (like G. platyphyllus) still to come.
But some really cling on - like 'Funny Justine'

[Mariette]

Some late arrivals - ´Washfield Warham´ recalls fond memories of visits to Elizabeth Strangman´s nursery.



An unnamed G. nivalis, found by a dear friend. I like the fresh contrast between white flowers and darkgreen foliage, especially at this time of the snowdrop season.



Another unnamed one, a G. elwesii presenting its flowers well above the foliage.

[Stefan B.]

Mariette, nice pictures and plants!

Here are my last snowdrops...blooming half a month earlier than usual due to the warm winter.

Galanthus platyphyllus


and Galanthus nivalis 'Bunch', which probably won't open because of the warm weather...

[Leena]

Mariette, I love your plant communities. All go so well together and there are so many plants.
The last picture is really wonderful, with helleborus in the background and that snowdrop does look nice with flowers held high above foliage.

Stefan, nice to see a picture of G.platyphyllos.

[Leena]

Here are some pictures taken yesterday. Temperature was +6C and snow was melting fast. Snowdrops were revealed when snow melted.
'Lerinda' grows in my earliest spot.