Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: johnralphcarpenter on October 01, 2016, 07:10:07 PM
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Just back from the Great Dixter Autumn Plant Fair. Monksilver had a good selection of G. reginae-olgae cultivars for sale - including 'Pink Panther' at £180. (I didn't buy one).
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Wow, Ralph - they let you buy two?
;D
cheers
fermi
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The first autumn Galanthus in flower here in the garden
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Very nice.
Here's Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. reginae-olgae, from Monksilver.
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The same 'Ruby's green dream' but more devoloped and reg olg 'Naomi Slade'
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Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Cambridge'.
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Very nice John
Galanthus reg olg 'Ruby's green Dream'
Galanthus reg olg 'Blanc De chine' - bijna albino
Galanthus reg olg 'lime green tipped'
Galanthus reg olg 'Naomi Slade'
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Galanthus reg olg 'Ruby's Green Dream'
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Great Galanthus, ruben. I did not know that there are so many cultivars of Galanthus reginae olgae. Mine are all grown from seed of different locations in Greece and they are all just normal ones.
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Here are what I hope are better pictures of G. reginae-olgae 'Cambridge'.
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Good pictures Ralph, new camera?
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No, old Olympus C-765 Ultra Zoom. Had it round ten years.
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Two G. reginae-olgae surfaced today, 'Cambridge' & 'Tilebarn Jamie'. I suppose the drought has been holding them back.
johnw - +17c, +22c tomorrow.
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Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. reginae-olgae (left) compared to Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Cambridge' (right), the latter being a taller and more robust plant.
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The Galanthus peshemenii seedlings surfaced yesterday.
johnw - +14c & rain at times heavy.
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I made two previous attempts to grow Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Tilebarn Jamie' and in both case it failed very rapidly. Then a very kind friend gave me a spare pot of them and I have not looked back since. I had sixteen bulbs when I repotted them in the summer and this pot contains half of those. I have focused on the base of the plants so you can see that many of the bulbs are producing two scapes. The one in the centre must have been a twin-nosed bulb as there are three more scapes emerging. So if you wonder what the USP of this particular snowdrop is, well it certainly produces lots of flowers.
[attachimg=1]
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Looks as if the G. peshmenii seedlings will be the first in flower beating out the reginae-olgaes this year.
johnw
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so here it is always ... johnw
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Very nice snowdrop, Alan.
Here an unnamed G.reginae-olgae came up in early October, but just as I had taken this picture, the next night a vole cut it's flower. >:(
There is no sight yet of 'Tilebarn Jamie' or 'Cambridge', also last year they came up here in November, much later than in more south, and started to flower in December (just before the winter), so I'm still hopeful that they may emerge. I'm beginning to think that also daylength affects on when they flower, and it may be that autumn flowering snowdrops don't do well here in the long run, but this is only my second year with them so I can't say for sure.
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I mentioned that I had sixteen bulbs of 'Tilebarn Jamie' and showed a pot of 8 of them. The other 8 are also in a pot but this was in a more shaded part of the garden (although only a few metres away). So this second pot would have been in colder and probably drier conditions than the first. I have three noses just emerging in that pot which puts it about two weeks behind the first one. All my reginae-olgae are quite late this year, probably because we had a warm and dry spell in September. I'm sure soil temperature and moisture play a part in flowering time. If day length has an influence then presumably you would expect earlier flowering the further north you get.
I should add that the biggest threat to autumn-flowering snowdrops here is predation by slugs and snails which can be still quite active at the time the shoots emerge.
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I feel your pain, Alan - in recent years it seems there is no time of year when slugs and snails are not active. Doesn't make life any easier, does it?
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I'm sure soil temperature and moisture play a part in flowering time. If day length has an influence then presumably you would expect earlier flowering the further north you get.
Here summer was rainy and autumn dry (but cool). These snowdrops grow in the sunniest place in my garden, and I had watered them through September and October, because it didn't rain (hoping for them to come up earlier than last year). The unnamed G.r-o came up the same time as last year, about three weeks earlier than 'Tilebarn Jamie' and 'Cambridge' last year. They all grow close to each other. If cooler soil temperatures trigger the flowering then they should come up earlier here than in Europe, or perhaps they need warmer autumn to come up..
With day length I meant that some plants need longer night than day time to trigger the flowering (for instance Persicaria virginiana never manages to flower here, it starts to develop flower bud too late in the autumn as it needs longer night to do it. I got the seeds for it from Montreal, Canada, where it even produces seeds).
Here day is longer than night until almost end of September, in more southern latitudes the dark time is longer in August and September than what it is here.
It is possible that my TJ and C suffered so much from last winter that they have died, and that's why there is no sign of them. :(
I'm very happy with the unnamed autumn snowdrop which is so early that it might make it also here. :)
Luckily there are no slugs any more, they have gone to winter rest here.
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I don't want to get too technical, Leena, but I think that anywhere that is far enough north to be in Europe experiences the autumn equinox (equal length day or night) on the same day towards the end of September. But by now you will have longer nights and shorter days than I do in Cambridge. All reginae-olgae flower after the autumn equinox so if flowering is triggered by shorter day lengths then it ought to happen sooner the further north you get.
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I got the seeds for it from Montreal, Canada, where it even produces seeds).
Leena - I am thunder-struck. I would never have guessed reginae-olgae would survive a winter in Montréal let alone ripen seed there. Unbelievable given the mountains of snow there. I wonder if a hardier strain might be possible with a little inventive pollination....
john
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I agree that Montreal seems an incredible location for reginae-olgae if they are exposed to the winter. It would be very interesting to know the specifics, Leena.
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John, I meant that Persicaria virginiana flowered in Montreal and not here, it was an example of plants that need darker nights earlier in late summer to trigger flowering.
And of course the nights are here now longer.
Whatever the reason is that to me it seems that autumn snowdrops which start to flower already in September or early October in lower latitudes, come up here later (not only in my garden but I have couple of friends who have tried them and have the same experience). It would be interesting if anyone here has successfully grown them norther than where I live.
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Further north you have longer days in summer but the sun does not rise so high so you get fewer hours of strong daylight. Perhaps it's a certain number of hours of strong daylight that the Persicaria needs to make it flower?
For any bulb that flowers in autumn and needs exposed seed pods to survive the winter, flowering later where the days are shorter and the winters are colder is not likely to be a good strategy for long-term survival. So what could cause this? If the trigger to start the 'clock' were some (broadly) latitude-independent event like the autumn equinox but then flowering time occurs a certain number of daylight hours later then that would delay flowering the further north you get. But I cannot really convince myself that this postulated mechanism is likely to be correct.
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Leena - That's a relief, I should have read more closely. My G. reginae-olgaes seem to have disappeared after a mild winter.
john
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Galanthus peshmenii 'Green Flight'
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That's a nice looking snowdrop, Ruben. I made one attempt to grow Galanthus peshmenii outdoors in the garden but it never came back the following year so I have been shy of growing that species ever since.
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Leena, an unnamed G. reginae-olgae of mine always flowers earlier than ´Cambridge´and ´Tilebarn Jamie´. Obviously, the clones don´t start all at the same time. Perhaps You should try ´Blanc de Chine´, which is said to be a very early clone? ;)
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Joe Sharman sells 'Naomi Slade' as the earliest reginae-olgae in his stock. However mine was no earlier than 'Tilebarn Jamie' this year.
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Mariette, if any autumn flowering snowdrop will survive here, your early G.r-o will do it, I like it very much.
However I think I'd better just grow spring flowering snowdrops, they grow well also here :).
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Right now, in the greenhouse, the Galanthus reginae olga 'Tilbarne Jame'.
The bulb was alone in the pot in 2015.
This year they are two. the first flowering, another peak just above ground.
[attach=1]
[attach=2]
[attach=3]
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And as Hagen suggested the tiny G. peshmenii seedling has won the race as the very first snowdrop out here this autumn.
johnw
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Nice John!
Some galanthus
Galanthus reg olg 'Naomi Slade'
Galanthus elwesii 'Hogget's Narrow'
Galanthus reg olg - green blush - no name
Galanthus peshmenii 'Green Flight'
Galanthus reg olg 'Ruby's Green Dream'
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Ruben - The r-o with the green blush is very special indeed. :o
john
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G. reg. olgae are flowering here - but the G. peshmenii are just in bud - tiny, sweet little creatures, around the size of a matchstick with buds of 5 or 6mm!
All in the alpine house- they'd not be happy outdooors here.
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G. reg. olgae are flowering here - but the G. peshmenii are just in bud - tiny, sweet little creatures, around the size of a matchstick with buds of 5 or 6mm! All in the alpine house- they'd not be happy outdooors here.
Maggi - Are the G. reginae-olgaes generally growable outdoors there? I ask as they don't seem to like it here, too cold or wet perhaps though this year they would have had the baking of a lifetime.
john - 10c & drizzly.
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No John, in fact the number of 'drops happy to live outside in Aberdeen is pretty limited.
PS - thanks for the rhodo seed!
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I find the form which used to be known as Galanthus corcyrensis quite hardy here. The main planting is on the north side of the house and is in the shade most of the time the leaves are above ground. I split a clump a couple of years ago and planted them in the front garden in full sun. They are coming into flower now while the ones at the back are just appearing above ground.
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PS - thanks for the rhodo seed!
de rien.
jw
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Good to know Roma. In fact I have some "corcyrensis" here so will give them a try.
john
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Hello everyone, my first venture into snowdrop-land:
Galanthus peshmenii
[attach=1]
It is amazing how many species and forms of them there are, but if you are not in the 'incrowd' it seems hard to source any of them. So, where does one start? I tried to get some seed this last exchange but didn't get any; will try again this upcoming exchange. It would be interesting to have some insight in how these collections come into existence. Does anyone want to give some top tips? Thank you!
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It is amazing how many species and forms of them there are, but if you are not in the 'incrowd' it seems hard to source any of them.
Your best bet to buy snowdrop cultivars is to come along to one of the snowdrop events held in late January and February. The list of events is here http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=14153.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=14153.0) . These are open to all comers but tickets for the more popular events can sell out quickly. Unfortunately in England the venues are biased towards the south - although there was a Yorkshire snowdrop weekend last year. There are a few specialist nurseries that sell mail order, Avon Bulbs being one of the biggest. If you want to raise snowdrops from seed then befriend a galanthophile with a lot of named cultivars who wants to make sure these remain true by removing any seed pods.
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How do snowdrop collections come into existence? There are two strategies:
- Deep pockets - you buy plants (as per my previous post).
- Swaps. Joe Sharman built a business initially on the strength of a yellow-marked snowdrop found by his mother which he was able to swap with snowdrop collectors for other desirable cultivars.
Most avid collectors use both strategies. The difficult part about 2 is you need a starting point but it's not impossible to discover a desirable snowdrop if you are prepared to look hard. Or, if you risk a lot of money, you can buy the latest hot snowdrop, propagate it and swap the progeny around. The third alternative is to breed your own, as forumist Anne Wright ("annew") has done with great success.
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I'm doing everything Alan has mentioned. I did invest in a couple of expensive ones to start with which I was then able to swap with others and was lucky enough to find a nice drop that now bears my name .
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Thank you Alan and Emma,
Yes I was afraid of the 'deep pocket' answer... I might manage to get to a snowdrop event some time, to get started. Breeding sounds fun, but I obviously need to start somewhere. I have hundreds of snowdrops, nivalis, elwesii, doubles and 'viridapice' , all nice, but I haven't noticed much variation over the years. I will spend more time on my belly this winter, keeping an eye on them...
In the mean time, do you want to be my friend??? ;D
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Bart, the Early Bulb Day of the SRGC usually has quite a few 'drops for sale - both from the nursery stalls and the members' sales. Most of these are not daft money - especially on the members' stall - though there are often some more expensive rarities for those who seek such things.
Later SRGC shows tend not to be at best snowdrop season so fewer appear there - but there are, of course, all the shows and sales of the Alpine Garden Society and Hardy Plant Society etc - south of the Border. Some of these may well be within reach of you in Yorkshire.
The wonderful Anne Wright in York ( see the links in the forum to Dryad Nursery lists) sells some affordable 'drops every year - plenty scope there to begin a collection of unusual types. Of course, sometimes something particulaer does catch the eye - and in that case there are those who will live on beans for some weeks to treat themsleves to the object of their desires - but there are many who are not "in with the in crowd" or with the resources of Rockefeller who have lovely 'drop collections. Hang in there!
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That's great info Maggie, thanks. I had clocked Anne's lists, and then forgot again. I'll keep an eye out for it, and may actually one day make it to a SRGC or AGS event. And I'll explore a bit about raising from seed, no doubt there is some info on that somewhere. I haven't looked yet- too many subjects to keep track of...
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Bart, I might well be able to provide you with a random assortment of seed pods if you remind me around the beginning of May next year.
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That would be fantastic! Thanks Alan. Will send a pm around then.
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No its not a joke - the first yellow reginae olgae is flowering here in the garden.
From the hand of a well known UK Nurserymann.. Well done!!!
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Ghostly little thing, Ruben!
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Galanthus reg olg 'Eleni'
Galanthus elwesii 'Hogget's Narrow' - i amazed by the long and narrow petals of this one
Galanthus reg olg selection with green tips and blush
Galanthus reg olg 'Blanc De Chine'
Galanthus reg olg 'Anmarie Kee' ) without green tips
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Lovely to see them all Ruben, the yellow G.reginĉ-olgĉ is very sweet indeed and 'Hogget's Narrow' is extraordinary in the length of the petals.