Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Maggi Young on February 24, 2009, 12:03:27 PM
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Breaking news from the home of the Leucojock Club's Founder Member and anti-galanthophile Ian Young.
Bulb Despot announces find of new 'drop :o
While patrolling the garden, looking for signs of growth in his erythroniums, Bulb Despot Ian -"those snowdrops are all the same" Young has declared that he has come upon a 'drop that is different.
He can claim no credit for breeding the 'drop, since it was one that he spotted as being "a bit odd" when visiting a famous SSSI ...that is, a Scottish Snowdrop Site of Interest..... and was given permission to collect a bulb.
It is a G. nivalis with an elongated extra set of inners and a double centre, with "bits" ......
Here are the first pix of it in flower after a year..... he is keen to hear what the 'Drop Fiends think of it!!
click the pix to enlarge....
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I like it (but then I have always been attracted to odd looking things!)
Will be interested to see a picture in a couple of weeks once it opens some more.
Cheers
John
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Yes, John as you rightly say, it has only just opend and the outers have a way to go to be fuuly developed. You can just see enough of the interior to see that it is quite double...... quite interesting.....even here !
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I would not expect it to reach dizzying heights on EBay ;)
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Arthur, Ian is crushed :'(.... he had hopes of funding Erythronum visits abroad...... that's you off the Christmas card list ;D
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I think it looks absolutely wonderful Maggi,especially the stripes on the extra outers. I'm sure Ian will easily be able to fund a whole gap year on the rakings from ebay. Goodness me an ordinary old poc :o :o(apologies, I don't mean this) made £150 at auction at the Gala, all you have to do is give it the right name, someone famous or something trendy ;D ;D ;D
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Maggi, have you installed an alarm system allready...
having so many Galanthophiles around ;) ;D
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Well I like it too, but I had to be picked off the floor - the BD, whatever next? I thought the upside down weather was bad enough 8)
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That is new. The BD must have a galanthophile's eye and wet knees. ;D I BD should call it Galanthus 'Z-victor one'. ;)
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How many of us ageing Brits remember "Z-Victor 1 to BD" ?? That's a blast from the TV past, Anthony!!
Stringent security measures are already in place..... here is the BD explaing to Lily what the difference is between snowdrops and snow flakes....
[attach=1]
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I'm not sure Lily is paying attention to the lesson: she looks as if she sees a cat or a squirrel. :)
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an excellent find and time will tell when the inners swell. What are the leaves like? What was growing near it?
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Looks like it is growing near a low wall Mark? :)
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Lily says. "I'm confused. First they tell me not to walk on their flowery bits but then when they point a black box at me it's OK" ???
By the way, I think there's every chance it's a Snowrop. 8)
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You could name it Galanthus 'Fancy Smyth'? ;D
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;D ;D
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Breaking news from the home of the Leucojock Club's Founder Member and anti-galanthophile Ian Young.
The Anti-galanthophile League will be asking the BD to hand in his membership card!
;D ;D ;D
cheers
fermi
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;D ;D ;D ;D
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.....and the offending clump of snowdrops confiscated, to be distributed to non-members of the Anti-galanthophile League. ;D ;D ;D
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GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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Not only do I like BD's new snowdrop......................... I LOVE Lily tooooo!
She is a beauty..................& that Paddington Bear stare of hers is REEEALLY scarey
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Isnt the clump Leucojums?
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Isnt the clump Leucojums?
Yes, the clump pictured beside Ian and Lily is a clump of snowflakes.... that's why the text says he's teaching her about the differences........ ::)
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But isn't that a snowdrop "planted" front and center of the clump of Leucojum?
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But isn't that a snowdrop "planted" front and center of the clump of Leucojum?
No, Jim, that is a very rare and utterly priceless Snow Lily ..... not something you will ever see offered on ebay or anywhere else for that matter ..... a flower as vital to life here as Biscuits can be elsewhere......
Mike.... if you think the stare is intimidating, you should see what see can do to a cushion when the postman is at the door.... :o
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I think - its a snowdrop!
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Here are some updated pictures of the snow drop taken today.
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Are both leaves uniform in size and shape? I think it may be a young bulb flowering for the first time and will improve next year. It is lovely and deserves a place in the garden
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The leaves look perfectly normal to me Mark, I will check tomorrow.
Now I am off to watch the rugby.
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Cool. 8)
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The ant's eye view is excellent - I think it may have potential. :)
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Been having a look at the BD snowie.... I thought that it was a straight nivalis but on closer inspection.... yes, the weather is nicer here today.....we see that the leaves, though very narrow, do show a degree of folding at the edges , just a small fold.... so, plicatus involvement here, it seems. ???
[attach=1]
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In the Gradus ad Parnasum of things snowdrop, I’m afraid that I’m still mucking about in the lowlands here in Maryland. While I try to be an upstanding member of the community of galanthophiles, the separation and lack of community render me a rather poor specimen of that breed. When I hear about the largess enjoyed in the capitals of the galanthophilia, it’s hard not to sometimes grumble about the excesses of the galanthomanes. It is not that there are over 1000 named cultivars which surprises me: we gardeners are never wanting names. What amazes me is that there are people who can evidently distinguish so many.
The weather patterns here generally run from west to east; but it seems that a weather event moving in the opposite direction dropped some of the same snow that fell in Aberdeen in my garden. Perhaps this is simply an example of my naivete in the labyrinth of garden snowdrops, but here are some images of a one from my garden which, to my callow eyes, looks very much like the BD’s snowdrop.
There is no sun today and these images are not very comforting; but they give the idea.
This one has a name: 'Ophelia' – help, indeed.
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Here are two more images which did not make the first cut.
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If I keep having to do this, Maggi will think I'm doing it to boost my posting count.
Here's the third one.
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No, here it is. ::)
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Jim, it occurs to me that I have heard this name before..... question is, did I bring said snowdrop to the Young Garden ?? BD will be devastated if his 'drop is a mere impostor of another's glory :'(
Rigorous investigations are called for, I think.
It is not that there are over 1000 named cultivars which surprises me: we gardeners are never wanting names. What amazes me is that there are people who can evidently distinguish so many.
Calm your amazement, Jim....if there are a handful of people who could name a tenth of those 'drops when faced with a selection, I'd give up chocolate ::)
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Maggi,
Just for comparison purposes, here are two photographs of G. 'Ophelia' and I agree with yourself and Jim - there are many, many names and few to identify them all, except through reading the labels, of course.
Paddy
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That's the rub, Paddy, whether one has the labels or not!
BD points out to me that "his" 'drop has got three very long outers, plus three longer inners, then the neavily marked double inners.....he is confident it is not Ophelia, who, as I now recall, lives in the front garden!
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I'm just back from a visit to Howick to look at their snowdrops which are wonderful today, but the extra publicity the gardens have undertaken lately means I now have to battle people for the loos and the tearoom. I just like wandering around the gardens and I'm used to having them pretty much to myself when I do. Now I have to share, boo hoo. Good luck to you with your new snowdrop, Ian! Is that a self portrait you are using for your picture?
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Hi, Christine!
Yes, Ian's self portrait is a pencil drawing ...... Jean Wyllie and I think it makes him look like an axe murderer ( Jean is kinder, she said a mugger ::) ) rather than the benevolent Despot he really is.......... :-\
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Well Paddy, your 'Ophelia' is certainly a much more presentable one than mine.
Poor 'Ophelia': I've always though my 'Ophelia' looked as if she had just been fished out of the lake.
I've shown this one to several drop lovers over the years, and except to say that it is likely one of the Greatorex hybrids they were non-commital about the name.
It came from a well-known UK supplier decades ago.
When the weather is better I'll post more images: maybe someone will recognize it.
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Jim, I think this is the Ophelia you bought...... hope you didn't pay too much for her........ ::)
[attach=1]
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;D ;D ;D
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...... hope you didn't pay too much for her........ ::)
(Attachment Link)
I don't remember what I paid, but I'll bet it was nothing compared to some of today's prices! :o
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It is not that there are over 1000 named cultivars which surprises me: we gardeners are never wanting names. What amazes me is that there are people who can evidently distinguish so many.
At an exam question writing weekend I listened to a conversation between two biology teachers who'd both worked as students identifying tatties growing in farmers' fields. They could each identify over 50 different varieties just by the leaves. They had to visit farms to ensure the variety being grown was what they thought was there.
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At an exam question writing weekend I listened to a conversation between two biology teachers who'd both worked as students identifying tatties growing in farmers' fields. They could each identify over 50 different varieties just by the leaves. They had to visit farms to ensure the variety being grown was what they thought was there.
Quite so, the work of "tattie rogueing" is very important to preserve the integrity of a crop .....I suppose it has value for general potato crops as well as particularly for crops of seed potatoes..... one can see people walking the fields to detect and remove rogue potato varieties ....very skilled work ....BUT.... I still very much doubt that too many 'drop experts could ID very many from a "bag of mixed widgets", so to speak ::) ??? ;)
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It's all in the eye of the beholder, or should that be tattie, Maggi, and if you beholding a collection of snowies everyone is unique? ;D As for potato leaves, well, how many forms of "green with five leaflets" can you get? ::)
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I hope you is not callin' I a tattie, Anthony :-\ ;)
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Good gracious no! :o
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Well I will add another vote to the "I like it" camp. I rather like the set of outers, set of inners, then full double inside that. Rather speccy to me. 8)
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This is nice so well spotted Ian.
At least nice to someone that find snowdrops normally nice even if I seldom get exited over them, this came close.
Kind regards
Joakim