Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Hagen Engelmann on December 01, 2014, 05:51:56 AM
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Now is christmas time.
And the Gem (Galanthus elwesii monostictus) GRÜNE WEIHNACHT is a real gift to our galantophile world.
It is blooming in the right time
Here you can see the size of the flower.
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Another nice Gem is CAMOUFLAGE.
We all know a galanthophile with camouflage clothes.
I like flowers with colored patterns too. Not only green and green and green............
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Mark, GRÜNE WEIHNACHT is in the pipeline. :)
Alan, YORK MINSTER is a very well known building
and York does sound like Jörg, doesn't it? ;)
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and York does sound like Jörg, doesn't it? ;)
Oh yes, of course. Another snowdrop along the lines of 'Alan's Treat' (= Alan Street)
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Good sized tepals on 'Grüne Weihnacht' Hagen. I look forward to that one becoming available, especially at this time.
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I liked the size of 'Grüne Weihnacht' Hagen, very impressive.
Definitely one to look out for in the future.
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Hagen,
Again and again,beautiful plants.
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Hagen, both 'Camouflage' and 'GRÜNE WEIHNACHT' are fine lookers. I look forward to the day these will be available widely. Congratulations.
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Mark Symth asked me to post these three photos of some of my fall-blooming G. elwesii:
1. G. elwesii var. monostictus Hiemalis Group: pretty typical with long outers and a small mark, starts blooming in mid-November
2. G. elwesii var. elwesii: blooms in very early November, nice X mark, rarer because not monostictus?
3. G. elwesii var. monostictus Hiemalis group: blooms in mid-November, I like the shape of the flowers, the unusual ovary, and the nice markings inside and out. I showed this here last year, and, no, I haven't chipped it. I have no real experience doing that.
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I think the snowdrop in the bottom photo needs chipping ;D
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2. G. elwesii var. elwesii: ... rarer because not monostictus?
Undoubtedly
3. G. elwesii var. monostictus Hiemalis group: ... no, I haven't chipped it. I have no real experience doing that.
I have not ventured into chipping myself but if I wanted to sell snowdrops in the UK I would have to learn or I would rapidly be overtaken by all the other vendors who know how to do this and can thereby bulk-up snowdrops more rapidly. So, Carolyn, I think you have to learn chipping in order to stay ahead of the game. There are plenty of experts in Europe who could teach you and I don't think it takes too long to learn the basics. You just need to find a way of bridging the distance.
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Galanthus plicatus 'Mary Hely-Hutchinson
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Galanthus plicatus 'Mary Hely-Hutchinson
That is one long pedicel, isn't it?
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Goodness Paddy, barely through the ground here ::)
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Christmas is early this year... G. plicatus 'Three Ships'
It worries me. Our November was so warm that many snowdrops are already peeking out of the ground.
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Goodness Paddy, barely through the ground here ::)
But, it's in home soil here. lol
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But, it's in home soil here. lol
;D ;D
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Hi I don't know if any of the other Galanthus fans on here remember back in March in the snowdrops for identification please post I showed some pics of a snowdrop I did was unable to identify. I followed mother advice given to me. Here is a pic of the snowdrops now, one is in bud, it's going to flower a lot ealier then when I first showed them.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7560/15952553961_0a23621f4e_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126223196@N05/15952553961/)
image (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126223196@N05/15952553961/) by johnstephen29 (https://www.flickr.com/people/126223196@N05/), on Flickr
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Its Galanthus elwesii. Are you growing it in the house?
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I only brought it into the house when I noticed the flower bud.
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Nothing special, as Joe Sharman might say, but really rather lovely on a bright December day - Galanthus elwesii Hiemalis Group (a form from Avon Bulbs).
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That is a cheery sight in the sunshine, Tim. The light-deprived amongst us might say that a ANY " bright December day" was in itself a cause for celebration, of course ;)
So very dark and damp here -though some will be under snow in the west today :-X
I feel so sorry for the flowers doing their best to enliven our world in these conditions. Great to see some sun from you :)
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Hi mark has the mild autumn caused it to flower early do you think?
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Very nice, Tim. What I particularly like about your garden is that you have so many good well-established snowdrop clumps. I'm so paranoid about pests and diseases that if any group of snowdrops gets close to reaching double figures then I split it up to reduce the risk of loss.
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Hi mark has the mild autumn caused it to flower early do you think?
Its probably just Hiemalis Group. The first of mine are only open today as are 'Peter Gatehouse' which are always way behind compared to those in other gardens
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Does the hiemalis group flower through to march? That's when these snowdrops were last in flower.
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elwesii Hiemalis Group flower now and usually have a small horseshoe shaped mark. Maybe its up early because of the mild weather
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Hi mark that's what I though too, I also have noticed some plicatus showing some buds, probably same reason.
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Very nice, Tim. What I particularly like about your garden is that you have so many good well-established snowdrop clumps. I'm so paranoid about pests and diseases that if any group of snowdrops gets close to reaching double figures then I split it up to reduce the risk of loss.
Alan, I wonder if there might be more safety in numbers and that lifting, dividing, replanting etc puts bulbs in more danger than in their being left undisturbed.
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We have a large enough garden that snowdrops can be divided and grown up in larger groups quite widely separated from one another and my experience has been that new individual plants quite often don't appear the season after they are planted whereas well established clumps go from strength to strength, so I would agree with Paddy. They also look so good en masse. We try to grow them in amongst many herbaceous plants such as Brunnera macrophylla, hostas etc. (and nettles!) which must reduce the risk of damage from Narcissus fly and Swift Moth caterpillars. I also value cultivars that set seed and spread in this way (even though this goes against the Galanthophile grain) because this allows for selection within the garden and replenishment if there is a serious pest or fungal problem. With certain varieties (eg: 'Gerard Parker' and 'Trym') I deliberately sow seed pods in different parts of the garden to encourage this because both of these are such good plants.
What is so nice about the named forms of course is the link with so many gardeners and personal friendships, which is an aspect I referred to in my first AGS diary entry. There is a lot of sharing that goes on between gardeners, which includes sharing our gardens, and I have always found it hard to put plants on a pedestal even though individually they can be extraordinarily beautiful.
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The major known predator on my garden is the larva of the swift moth; I have never yet found non-shooting bulbs with a narcissus fly larva inside when lifting and dividing in the green. I also had an outbreak of stagonospora about five years ago which, fortunately, has not recurred after I took measures to prevent it spreading. Since my swift moth larvae do not have an inexhaustible appetite and, given a sufficient food supply, often move on without consuming the entire bulb there is much to be said for the defensive power of a large clump of snowdrops. But how does one get from what is often a single bulb as the starting point to a large clump? The strategy that works for me is not to put all my eggs in one basket and to divide my bulbs to keep in different places as soon as I am able.
My other problem is that I do not have a large garden and so I do not have room to display my snowdrops in the way that Tim can, Paddy also I suspect (although I have never seen his garden).
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For safety´s sake I tend to spread precious snowdrops in the garden, too. But in my experience many selections mutiply much faster if left undisturbed till they have built a decent clump.
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My bulbs are being divided next year for the first time in maybe 5 years. The only one I can remember diving recently was Wendys Gold and that was because I gave some away
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Paddy also I suspect (although I have never seen his garden).
Have a rootle around the forum some time, Alan - you'll see some lovely photos from Paddy's garden over the years.
:)
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For safety´s sake I tend to spread precious snowdrops in the garden, too. But in my experience many selections mutiply much faster if left undisturbed till they have built a decent clump.
I think you make a very good point there, Mariette. It seems to me, too, that the best increase is found by leaving the plants alone in peace. I often wonder if the difficulty so many report in even keeping some 'drops alive, let alone increase them, is caused by the repeated chipping on the new varieties- hich never get the time or peace to settle down and grow "naturally" and this allows them to fall prey to any passing germ or disease.
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Have a rootle around the forum some time, Alan - you'll see some lovely photos from Paddy's garden over the years.
:)
Oh, I know that Maggi. The impression I have is of a large garden with many different vistas.
No plant I can think of relishes being disturbed and although snowdrops are remarkably tolerant of being moved 'in-the-green' it cannot do them any good in the short term. It's more debatable if they mind being disturbed when dormant. And I would have thought it is clear that in an over-crowded clump with too many bulbs competing for a limited supply of nutrients they will suffer also. If you see a large naturalised undisturbed population of snowdrops you will see that they are not much given to forming clumps and I think Nature must be trying to tell us something by this.
I've been nurturing a snowdrop called 'Green Light' for 10 years now, growing it both in pots and in various locations in my garden. Every so often it goes into overdrive and I have about eight bulbs of quite good size where there was one large bulb the previous year. I have achieved this more often in pots than in the ground and I cannot see any correlation with disturbance the previous season.
Picture 1 is from 20th February 2009. The three pots at the front show 'Green Light' a few days after moving from a garden bed to pots (in-the green). I kept the larger pot on the right and traded the two smaller pots.
Picture 2 is the contents of that pot in March 2010 after I disturbed it to see why it had produced so many leaves. I put those two bulbs back in the pot.
Picture 3 is what I got out of that pot in May 2011; I count about 22 noses or 16 individual entities. That was achieved growing in a pot with annual disturbance.
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A more knowledgeable collector told me years ago, that some snowdrops need regular splitting, whereas others don´t like to be torn apart after just having managed to produce a second or third bulb. The thing is to know, to which group Your cultivar belongs.
Indeed, obviously some clones have to produce their own "milieu" in the soil before they are willing to multiply. Occasionally this may take several years.
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I am of the general opinion that, if your clump of snowdrops is looking stunning, then that year is the year to either dig it up, replenish the soil and split them, or alternatively to carefully abstract a few from the edge of the clump and put elsewhere as insurance. Of course nowadays people seem more interested in recouping their money!
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Of course nowadays people seem more interested in recouping their money!
Perhaps that's because they cost a lot of money! But as long as you bulk-up and swap you can keep costs down.
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Hi I've just been in the garden having a look around & noticed this little chap, Galanthus Gracilis already in bud. Really getting a head start.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7577/15360932024_96d070c2cc_c.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126223196@N05/15360932024/)
Galanthus Gracilis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/126223196@N05/15360932024/) by johnstephen29 (https://www.flickr.com/people/126223196@N05/), on Flickr
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A more knowledgeable collector told me years ago, that some snowdrops need regular splitting, whereas others don´t like to be torn apart after just having managed to produce a second or third bulb. The thing is to know, to which group Your cultivar belongs.
Indeed, obviously some clones have to produce their own "milieu" in the soil before they are willing to multiply. Occasionally this may take several years.
High time for information like this to be formally recorded but where on earth do we start?
johnw
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Something a little different in "December Snowdrops" - these 14ft giants are "flowering now " at the Trentham Estate (http://www.trentham.co.uk/), Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire :
[attachimg=1]
Pity about the van in the photos which spoils the picture a bit.
http://www.uttoxeter-news.co.uk/EDDIE-GLEW-Willow-weaver-designs-creates/story-25468414-detail/story.html (http://www.uttoxeter-news.co.uk/EDDIE-GLEW-Willow-weaver-designs-creates/story-25468414-detail/story.html)
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I like those!
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Do they have electric???
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No I don't think they light up, Hagen.
[attachimg=1]
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No I don't think they light up, Hagen. (Attachment Link)
They do in Cottbus Maggi. And green LED bulbs at that. ;)
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Often my eyes light up, John and Maggi. ;D
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I thought I would look online for the Cottbus snowdrops John mentioned. Instead I found this very comprehensive web resource on snowdrops created, I think, by Maria Mail-Brandt
http://www.gartenlinksammlung.de/galanthus_schneegloeckchen.html (http://www.gartenlinksammlung.de/galanthus_schneegloeckchen.html)
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Yes It is a good website, it's where I got her booklet 'Schneeglöckchen ABC' (in German). I expect there are lots of updates since 2010 :)
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They do in Cottbus Maggi. And green LED bulbs at that. ;)
Don't know about that, John - but I do remember the lovely giant 'drops shown and mentioned by Lina and Loes in the Snowdrop Events 2012 pages. Not sure if they were lamps or not.
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I thought I would look online for the Cottbus snowdrops John mentioned.
Bear in mind that Cottbus is where Hagen- and his green goddesses- live : http://www.garten-in-den-wiesen.de (http://www.garten-in-den-wiesen.de)
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Don't know about that, John - but I do remember the lovely giant 'drops shown and mentioned by Lina and Loes in the Snowdrop Events 2012 pages. Not sure if they were lamps or not.
No,they are just giant plastic snowdrops
But I do have snowdroplihgts(and a lot of other unnecessary stuff)
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No snowdrops here yet and last night it snowed so I have to sow seeds. :) Holubeck Galanthus seeds arrived last week, I was happy to receive G.trojanus, G.koenenianus, G.nivalis from Italy and G.elwesii from two locations from Turkey. I hope to see these germinating in spring 2016 (but if some germinate already next spring that is a happy surprise). When I sowed them I noticed differences in the size of the seeds, G.koenenianus seeds were much smaller than others, perhaps also the plant is smaller..
I have sowed once G.plicatus seeds and they were bigger than any of these seeds, but they were fresh so that may be the reason.
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Here is AMIGO. Nothing special in shape or color, but a fine moment of flowering.
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Hi leena I sowed some Galanthus Transcaucasia seed in March and they started germinating a few weeks ago so goodluck with your seed. Has the cyclamen seed arrived ok?
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Has the cyclamen seed arrived ok?
No, not yet, perhaps Christmas slows the mail.
How did you keep the Galanthus seeds? Warm - cold?
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Ok hopefully they won't be long before they arrive, I filled two pots with good draining compost surface sowing and covering with grit, then they went outside in a shelted spot at the back of the house and left to there own devices, all I did was keep an eye on them to make sure they did not dry out too much. They will not have had much cold as it was a very mild winter here, when I noticed the germination starting I brough the pot inside, they look like grass. The germination seemed to coincide with the adult bulbs starting to grow, so I don't know if you want to wait till spring to sow your seeds or sow them and put the pots in a cold frame or greenhouse then put outside in the spring. It took eight months all told.
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Thank you John. Here it is now freezing or close to freezing outside and getting colder in January, so I can't put them outside now :(. I have sown Galanthus seeds twice earlier, the other ones were fresh seeds sown in summer and they germinated the next spring without a problem, and the others were dry seeds which I got in February. I kept them in moist and warm for six weeks and then placed them in the root cellar in cold for three months and they didn't germinate in the spring. Then the pot was outside all summer and again in the root cellar the next winter and the seeds germinated the following spring. Now that I think that maybe the six weeks warm period was not long enough, in nature the summer is much longer before the weather cools in the autumn.
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Hi leena is it frost free in your cellar? From my own experience with the Transcaucasia seeds it seems not to need a cold period to germinate, they just start when the adults start growing.
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Bill Baker's Early (in the greenhouse)
both of these were showing no green on the outers last year, shame they are so variable.
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Hi leena is it frost free in your cellar? From my own experience with the Transcaucasia seeds it seems not to need a cold period to germinate, they just start when the adults start growing.
Mostly it is frost free, only when it is -25- -30°C outside, then it may be below zero also in the cellar.
I think I will keep these seeds inside longer now. If they don't germinate in the warm, then I can always put the pots outside next autumn.
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Those nice McNaughton's at MacPlants are adding snowdrops to their listing regularly.... sold in pots - http://macplants.co.uk/viewItem.php?id=8887&searchText=galanthus&plantTypeId=0&aspectId=0&soilTypeId (http://macplants.co.uk/viewItem.php?id=8887&searchText=galanthus&plantTypeId=0&aspectId=0&soilTypeId)
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I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a snowdrop fillies new year . Best wishes to all especially Maggi who keeps us all in check :-* :-* :-*
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Yes, Emma!
Merry Christmas Maggie and everyboddy at SRGC!
I
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Mrs McNamara on Christmas day outdoors. The sharp eyed will have noticed that our local robin is a bit of a galanthophile!
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A lovely photo, Alant!
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Galanthus plicatus 'Colossus'. I don't recall having this out on Christmas Day before.
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This is flowering with us too only a few miles away. Interestingly last winter was also very mild (and wet!) but the big flush of snowdrops in the garden - which were as good or better than I ever remember them - was still in February. It will be interesting to see what happens next year - shoots of ordinary G. nivalis are only just appearing now.
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shoots of ordinary G. nivalis are only just appearing now.
They're up an inch or more here Tim.
johnw - +15c and rain at times very heavy.
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Wonderful addition this morning as 'David Baker' has emerged and is looking lovely!
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We are snowed in...
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We also, but only outside of the greenhouse..... ;)
MRS MCNAMARA in best condition
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Nice potful Hagen
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Here is some 'outside' Mrs Macnamara.... I wasn't sure if today's sun would succeed in persuading her to open, before it melted all the snow. In the end it achieved neither thing!
Tim DH
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It is odd how some things flowering at Xmas last year are weeks behind this year while others are ahead...
I have nice clumps of Three Ships, Mrs Mcnamara & Colossus out. The big drifts of nivalis around the castle and moat are barely visible, I'm usually worried about getting leaves cleared before Xmas so we aren't walking on them.
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Maybe the nivalis know something about the weather that we don't...
It is the same situation in my garden, nivalis barely visible, many others far ahead. And now - after an extremely warm December - there is snow and hard frost. Clever G. nivalis...
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In the moment we have a yellow and a green G plicatus. Our yellow SCHORBUSER IRRLICHT is very early and the yellow color is in progress. The other is THREE SHIPS and it seems it is a little bit envy, because it is "only" green.....different characters......
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Hagen is not easy to follow for a Jr. member, particularly after that stunning yellow. Congratulations, Hagen.
This G. elwesii has been blooming since Christmas and I snapped this shot yesterday...just a nice early one with deep green inners.
Happy New Year Maggi and all here on the Forum! Rick
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Hello Galantophiles
do not forget, tomorrow already is next year......... ;)
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Hagen - great picture and good way to introduce the New Year :) This is a rather lovely and delicate snowdrop from Avon Bulbs so here it is again to begin a chime of bells...
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Happy New Year, Friends! :)
(The photograph Galanthus caucasicus)
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Happy New Year to all :) In good health !!
Another Monostictus just in flower :D
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First straight forward nothing special G. nivalis open today. Will take a picture when it stops raining!
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Putting this in here as it was there on December 30th 2014, but today was the first time the sun has shone enough to take a photo. Never seen our G. nivalis flower this early before. Odd, the ones in the Snowdrop Wood are still only just showing their noses.
[attachimg=1]