Galanthus Feb 23

[Tim Harberd]

My best yellow seedling has put up four flowers (following last year’s two), so reasonably vigorous. The yellow is (IMHO) better than either parent (Bill Clark and my favourite un-named sandersii) Sadly its a bit small, only 12cm high. This seedling produces plenty of pollen. It received a good dose of Mrs Macnamara’s in return. (Black plastic spoons work very well for pollen transfer.)

Tim DH

[annew]

Full on snowdrop mode here - most people I've asked have reported an exceptional year for flowers. The yellows are loving the sun.

[annew]

While everything is flowering, I'm having a little fun with images.
The first montage is of our Myths and Legends series of ipocs
The second of twin-flowered cultivars performing well this year: left to right Chantry Green Twins, Mrs Thompson, Kite, One Drop or Two.
Finally a surprise twin in the poculiform seedlings!

[annew]

Our poculiform Dryad Blizzard is HUGE this year. And KERA is a crinkly delight. Don't try to tell it apart from Diggory at ten paces.

[MarcR]

Anne & Tim

Lovely show!  Mine haven't started yet, but the green shoots have broken ground with a promise.

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Anne,
      I've been trying to get Diggory up a bit. ... No progress so far! How tall is your Kera?
Tim DH

[annew]

It's about 15cm high. I didn't breed it, it is Estonian.

[Maggi Young]

Your garden is looking fantastic with the cyclamen and galanthus, Anne!

[annew]

Photo taken from my favourite seat 

[Maggi Young]

Photo taken from my favourite seat 

....well, that's good news, you got to rest yourself on it for at least as long as it took you to get the photo!!

[annew]

Got it in one!

[Jörg]

I see so many beautiful and interesting bells with you. I would like to show a gift from Kai here.

[annew]

Very nice Jörg!

[annew]

Checking the seedlings this morning, it really struck me how the relative lengths of outer and inner segments vary in the ipocs. I usually tell people that, effectively, poculiforms (pocs) have 6 outer segments and inverse pocs (ipocs) have 6 inners.
The different lengths of the outers and inners on the ipocs can radically change the shape of the flower.
This is demonstrated by the following snapshots taken just now. With a greater difference in length, the flower has much more leeway to flare out.
In the images below, the first of each pair shows the shape of the flower, while the second shows a view from underneath.

[annew]

Last images below. The final 2 photos show the pair of seedlings that started me off on this track. I'm rather partial to the little EYE-POC.