Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: Anthony Darby on November 14, 2006, 09:24:11 PM
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In the summer I received a bulb of Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Tilebarn Jamie' and planted it next to a trough in a south facing gravel border. Two flower buds have been sitting at soil level now for several weeks but refuse to elongate. Should I 'throw in the towel' and accept that this snowdrop won't grow outside in sunny D or should I give it some more cold autumn weather? :-\
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Anthony, I'd get the bulb up and check it out. Doesn't sound like it's happy. May have a nasty grub in it, not rooted properly, or maybe some sort of rot. Tilebarn Jamie isn't, I find, one of the strongest-growing forms of reginae-olgae, but it shouldn't sulk like that just cos it's in bonnie Scotland. If it isn't nice and firm and well-rooted, I'd get it into a pot of v. gritty compost and water with fungicide after checking for grub-holes that might indicate something inside.
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Thanks Martin. Clearly you are one I can Bond with? ;D
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my TB Jamies are rubbish this year. Single flowers on small stems
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Sorry about that Mark, but I read it with great relief as the one I bought earlier this year also just had one flower. Would it be the weather? :'(
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Mine are only just poking through in the alpine house.
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Just found this post - TileBarn Jamie didn't have any flowers for us - but then again, something ate them all as soon as they broke the surface! I am blaming mice I think... (or the squirels maybe?)
Only another 12 months to wait!
John
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John I would blame either a bird or a slug. Pheasants have a bad reputation for pulling the head off snowdrops. The chances of a Pheasant are slim unles you live near a shoot.
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I have planted Galanthus reginae olgae as bulbs and in the green in sunny and shady places in my garden, just up the hill from Tony. Although plants in pots do OK those planted out do not thrive. Incidentally spring flowering galanthus are not brilliant outside here. I blamed eelworm or some other beasties. Slugs like the early flowers. The clay soil is cold and wet, despite 30 years of top dressing.
My Galanthus reginae olgae in pots increase slowly and I have some seedpods from this years flowers. Hopefully [big hope!] they will have crossed with G. peschmannii but I doubt it.
At present Galanthus reginae olgae 'Hyde Lodge' is in flower, One bulb had twin flowers and the other a single flower. The picture shows the twin flowered stem and one flower is bigger than the other but as the bigger flower aged, the smaller flower increased in size.
I like the texture of the petals.
If I were Tony. I would lift the bulb, pot it into good gritty compost and keep it in a frame until it bulked up. Then I would keep some bulbs in the pot and put others into a trough. I am not convinced that Galanthus reginae olgae is at all happy in wet cold Scottish soil.
I know it grows well for a friend who lives on the Fife coast. In sun it flowers well. In shade it increases well. His bulbs when tansplanted here did not flourish!
I think it would prefer woodland conditions in colder, wetter parts of the country
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Mark, please could you tell my pheasant that? I suppose it's a refugee, but I'm thinking of starting a shoot myself...
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Hi All
I am in the middle of a large sprawling town so I think that discounts the pheasant idea. Could be a slug, maybe - but it was a clump of about 30 bulbs and not a single flower survived more than 1/4 inch above the ground - it must have been a very hungry slug - or a gang of them. The toads can't be doing their jobs properly.
The clump has now been split and spread around so that we don't lose a complete years flowers in one fell swoop again.
Sandy - your picture doesn't seem to have made it onto the forum - can you please try again so we can see the flowers (look in 'Additional Options' for adding images).
thanks
John
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John are the bulbs OK? It could be Narcissus fly grubs hard at work at this time of year. Have you seen flowers or just no sign?
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Hi Mark
I have dug up the clump to check the bulbs and also took the opertunity to split the clump up a bit - they were fine with no problems below ground. It was just anything that had managed to get above ground that was munched. It is depressing because the scapes are still there and have grown a bit - but with nothing on the top of any of them.
At least the bulbs are healthy and they should have extra energy for next years flowers!
thanks
John
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It's even more annoying when something eats all the emerging flower buds off a bunch of Gal. reginae-olgae seedlings when you've been waiting for 4 years to see the first flowers, which is what happened here this autumn! >:( And I'm hoping some of them will be successful hybrid crosses. But another year to wait now to find out!
Here, I usually find it's those little black slugs that are to blame, both in autumn and winter-spring, for getting the snowdrop flower buds. I found some the other morning munching through the very tips of snowdrops poking throughj even before the flower buds were showing. They were eating holes in the tops of the sheathing leaves, presumably to get inside and hollow out the flower bud even before emerging.
Slug pellets are the only answer I'm afraid.
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I wonder if some forms have more interesting flavours as all my shoots Peschmenii were eaten below ground level last year and not by slugs. Perhaps I will try some leaves on my salad. I have also had problems in some areas of the garden with damage to snowdrop shoots and the slug pellets were ineffective and untouched, but the bulbs continued to suffer damage. My feeling is that this was either mice of wood pigeons. So where damage occurs now I cover with a little netlon which seems to discourage whatever the pest is. One day I will catch the little perishers.
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Blimey - sorry to hear that Martin - my 12 months is nothing to compared to 48 months waiting. Let me know where you are and I can send any surplus slug pellets I have to you ready for next year!
I find that I keep an eye on things for months and months - then, just when I turn my back for 5 minutes something horrid happens (be it slugs or mice or squirels or pheasants - or whatever little blighters ate the TileBarn Jamies!).
Today the holidaying cats have left my house after enjoying a four week vacation and gone back to their permanent home. I have enjoyed their company but am glad they have departed before the majority of snowdrops start to break the surface in earnest. I looked after the cats last February for a month and swore 'never again' at that time of year after experiencing the damage that 8 cat paws scratching away can do!
cheers
John
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Here I hope is the picture of glanthus reginae-olgae 'Hyde Lodge'
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Well done Sandy - I can see the picture now - very nice it is too.
thanks
John
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very nice Sandy. Does it always have two flowers per scape?
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I dug up my 'Tilebarn Jamie'. Bulb is fine, but the flowers are just not extending. Have repotted in 'gritty compost' and plonked it in the greenhouse. Growth is slowing down in there, but another pot of Narcissus viridiflorus has a flowering stem, so the long hot summer has been productive.
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Hi to All,
Just suggesting to look out for the gold finches,???they love to pick out the young buds. >:(
They got to town on my Hellebores orient,last spring,too late before I noticed the buggers. :'(
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Hi Ian
it may not be mice but field voles - due to their actions I've given up growing trilliums as it is utterly disheartening to discover the little B******s have eaten through the new stem about a centimeter above ground level.
It is a particular problem if you're near to rough grass land, in my case a neglected lawn in the garden next door.
however now the neighbours have concreted over the garden and built a HUGE shed - I may try again.
Sue
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are you sure the are Goldfinches
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Well Mark,how could we ever be sure what happen,unless we have seen it he,only suggesting after what went on here,see them in action on a small apple tree, stripping all the blossom in a few hours,and last spring they left me just the remains of promising Hellebores,Sure it could be vermin to,but if there Golfinches present look no further.
Ever grown Dierama from seed? watch out for the large vermin just as the gemination get started,the come from all directions to feest on the young sprouts,and leave you with the remains of the seed box,usualy upside down,overnight :'( :'(
Geebo.
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That's bad news for us in central Victoria as European Goldfinches are one of the introduced bird species in our garden! Actually they appear to be only visitors, especially around water during the summer. I must check if they visit during "Snowdrop Season"; our main bird pests are the sulphur-crested cockatoos which have taken to shredding the Daffodils as they come into flower!
cheers
fermi
in Central Victoria where the smoke haze from distant bush-fires has reduced visibility to around 300m!
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Geebo it's usually Bullfinches that take buds off trees
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Hi Mark,
You so right,after getting up this morning,i know my Belgium ornitology had left me confused,In Belgium the Bullfinch is known as Goldfinch,and the goldfinch here is know in Belgium as aThistelfinch,hence they feed on the seeds of the thistel and red spotted heads,from there my mistake,I would like to appologise and put it right.Still the bullfinch is wors than the blackbird.
Geebo, ::) ::) :-X
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In the summer I received a bulb of Galanthus reginae-olgae 'Tilebarn Jamie' and planted it next to a trough in a south facing gravel border. Two flower buds have been sitting at soil level now for several weeks but refuse to elongate. Should I 'throw in the towel' and accept that this snowdrop won't grow outside in sunny D or should I give it some more cold autumn weather? :-\
Hi Anthony - I wonder if the problem comes down to growing conditions?
In their natural habitat, reginae-olgae seem to favour north facing, shady places, often between rocks where their roots will be cool and where some dampness is always available.
I wonder therefore if dampness, or rather the lack of it in our recent very dry summers, is at least part of the answer to the problem you have experienced?
I have just today heard of at least one well known grower who keeps his r-o's damp all the year round and has had, what were described to me as, 'fantastic results'.
I cannot speak for conditions in your part of Scotland, but here in the south of England we have had 18 months of almost drought like conditions - in previous years my r-o's (and I grow about about 20 different forms of them) have generally performed well with no significant problems noticed, either with flowering, or with reproduction - this year however, after the 2nd very dry summer in a row (with a dry winter in the middle, thrown in for good measure!), I found that performance was more mixed.
I had one clump of 'Tilebarn Jamie' flowering quite normally, whilst another did no more than produce its leaves then go no further. I also had some other forms of r-o where, like you, the flower buds barely struggled above the surface and then just stopped.
Interestingly these flower buds, on very stunted stems, did eventually come into flower within the past week, but of course a month or more later than would normally be the case.
I wonder if this long drawn out flowering process is as a result of the heavy rains we had in October thru December, after an almost rainless summer, belatedly creating the right conditions of damp, combined with the milder December temperatures that we have been experiencing, belatedly encouraging growth.
As a matter of routine, I always put a thick layer of alpine grit down directly over my snowdrops (mainly just to help keep track of them) - in future, I intend to both increase the thickness of this layer, so that it acts more like a mulch, & also to follow the practise of the well known grower and to make sure that I keep the r-o's damp throughout the year.
It will be interesting to see if this has any impact upon performance next year!
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You could be right Chris? Normally our summers are quite wet, but last summer was an exception with a week of temperatures above 30oC (first time since 1976). I can grow trilliums and cypripediums in full sun here, but as my snowdrop was not well established it may have suffered? We are now having gales of over 80mph with driving rain and Hogmanay has been cancelled in Glasgow and Edinburgh (and I suspect Stirling?), with 3 centimetres of water on my lawn!
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events in Belfast and I guess elsewhere in N Ireland have been cancelled. Belfast City Council was ready to put on a £250000 concert in the city centre.
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Anthony - hope that you survived the deluge! Happy New Year to you.
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Further to the 'Tilebarn Jamie' saga. I transferred it to a pot and kept it in the greenhouse over the summer. In September I put the pot outside in a sheltered, uncovered bulb frame. It is flowering, but not yet open, now!
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Anthony - as discussed last year, the only explanation I can think of for such a late appearance of the flowers on 'Tilebarn Jamie' is lack of moisture in the late summer/early autumn.
As the soil was so dry here in the south, in August/September, I watered my g. reginae-olgae and was rewarded by quite a good show - my 'Tilebarn Jamie' flowered in early October and stayed in flower until well into November.
I have put down a good mulch of coarse grit over the top of the bulbs, which I find helps to retain the moisture/keep the plant cool.
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That fits exactly. Will try a third time with this plant and report in due course. Thanks Chris.
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That fits exactly. Will try a third time with this plant and report in due course. Thanks Chris.
Anthony - look forward to comparing notes in, say, November this year!
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my reginae olgae finished weeks ago but ssp vernalis is now in flower. This is from Italy and the ones from Sicily are just about to open
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Hi Tony nice flower. I have reg olgae vernalis but mine just sulks. Under what conditions do you grow yours please?
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My brother-in-law has a few hectares in the middle of Sicily. He
is usually there in spring and summer, and I would like to go over
next spring to see some spring flowers and to collect seeds of some
fall-blooming ones.
When are seeds ripe for Sicilian reginae-olgae (and Narcissus elegans
and serotinus)?
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Ian where are your's? Mine are out in the open in a raised bed
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I don't know about Sicilian Galanthus but I do know that Narcissus serotinus pods ripen very quickly, within a couple of weeks of flowering.
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I am sure you know Joe Sharman's views on cultivation of reginae-olgae varieties. At his talk on Tuesday night he re-iterated that in the wild they grow in damp gullies where their roots are kept cool. Mine will be moved forthwith! I am pleased to say I had my first fix of the season as I was able to buy a couple that I had wanted to add to my collection. ;D
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Mine are mostly in a raised and usually well drained bed (not last year). I think I might try moving most of them later to a new location to see if I can get some improvement. don't suppose I would be as keen if I could get it right more often
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I am sure you know Joe Sharman's views on cultivation of reginae-olgae varieties. At his talk on Tuesday night he re-iterated that in the wild they grow in damp gullies where their roots are kept cool. Mine will be moved forthwith!
Brian - Joe is right (see my 2006 post on the previous page of this thread « Reply #27 on: December 31, 2006, 05:15:12 PM ») - I remain convinced that moisture, at the right time, is the key to good performance with r-o's.
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I grow all my bulbs pretty much the same way.In clay pots of John Innes topped with grit and plunged in sand beds built on the greenhouse floor.These never dry out which is a problem for some bulbs but I have to adapt to my conditions.I repot every year and almost never feed. The G. reginae olgae vernalis do well this way and ordinary r-o self seed in the sand. I cannot grow them outside because althogh the plants flourish the buds are always eaten by slugs(in the greenhouse also sometimes)
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Thanks all for your advice. I will try harder (and smarter)
Tony I too have had problems with slugs (or some pest) with Reg Olgae and Peshmenii but have found a place they don't frequent so much. I wonder if they are more tasty than the others ???
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Melvyn Jope, who has bred some very interesting new forms of g. reginae-olgae subsp. reginae-olgae, has written an article for the RHS Daffodils, Snowdrops & Tulips Yearbook 2007-2008, entitled "The cultivation of Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. reginae-olgae under glass", which gives an interesting insight into his propagation & growing technique.
Well worth a read!
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Chris' comment raises a gripe which I would like to share.... I am aware that the YearBooks of the various RHS groups are, theoretically, avaialable for sale to non-members BUT I have always found, when seeking to do just that, I can never find anywhere on the relevant website so to do. Very frustrating. Is it too much to ask that there be an easy link for this purpose, rather than having to make a general enquiry and be re-directed? MIND YOU< that is precisiely the method folks must use to find such things from the SRGC, so perhaps I'd best shut up :-[ :P :-X
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It gets worse Maggie. If, as an RHS member, you ring up or email the RHS you are told that the Yearbook (Daffodil, Snowdrops and Tulips) is available from RHS online for £11.95 plus P&P yet if you admit to being a Snowie and have catalogues/newsletters etc sent to you on the subject you find that it is also available at £8 inc P&P (as a special rate). I believe one of my friends who is a member of the Wakefield Tulip Society ordered hers well before it appeared on the RHS website.
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About 9 years ago I bought what were nominally three but turned out to be five bulbs of G. reginae-olgae from Avon Bulbs and planted each of them in various random locations around my garden. This was my first foray into "exotic" snowdrops.
The one in the sparse grass at the base of my Silver Birch struggled and died out after a few years.
The one under a Laurel bush in deep shade with no direct sun flowered each year but never managed to bulk up and I accidentally killed it in an attempt to re-locate it.
The one in my front bed, a sunny open location facing south west with a light sandy soil did well and bulked up for several years then the clump completely vanished from one year to the next.
The one under a Chestnut tree in an area so dry that nothing except a Hebe grows there in summer bulked up well for longer than bulb number three but again completely vanished from one year to the next. I could find no trace of the bulbs.
My big success was the one I planted in a little bed immediately in front of the house. This faces south west and must surely get particularly warm because it is right next to the wall of the house. It's a good thing I did not know anything about snowdrops then because everything I read would indicate this was an unsuitable location. This bulb did very well and bulked up to a nice flowering clump for the first six years or so but seems to have slowed its rate of increase lately. It is underneath a Wisteria and almost underneath the eaves but the location may have got dryer as the Wisteria has grown. This bed has a gravel "mulch" but it cannot get very wet as the drive beyond drains in the opposite direction. I moved some of these bulbs to under my climbing Hydrangea further along the front wall and these are doing well. And some I moved to a new raised bed underneath the Chestnut - it's a bit too early to say how these are liking it there.
I find the flowers are prone to attack by slugs or snails (or something). Sometimes you just see a trace of the stalk when the leaves appear a month or two after you did not get a flower! And in my case clumps of the bulb are prone to vanish without a trace for no reason I can determine. Finally, I would like to point out that conditions in a cool damp location in Greece might equate to a sunny location in the UK!
P.S. I have been asked to clarify my location. I live in East Anglia, close to Cambridge. It is dry here but that does not deter the slugs and snails!
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Brian what all did Joe have for sale?
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Alan looking at my scrappy notes it was leaf mould in gullies (therefore shaded) which would be moist...I only pass on what I heard!
Mark there were four tables of plants, three of them were snowdrops and included Courteen Hall, Barbara's Double, Wonston Double, Wasp (Hooray!!), Kyre Park, Heffalump, Bill Clark, Falkland House, Longstowe, Three Ships, some greatorex doubles, Wendy's Gold, Saint Anne's, Scharlockii, Tiny, Curly, Washfield Warham, Lady Beatrix Stanley, Atkinsii, John Grey. Hill Poe, Lapwing. Melvillei, Mighty Atom, Mrs macnamara, Peg Sharples if my memory (not always reliable) serves me right. I understand his mail order list is out next week.
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Mark there were four tables of plants, three of them were snowdrops and included Courteen Hall, Barbara's Double, Wonston Double, Wasp (Hooray!!), Kyre Park, Heffalump, Bill Clark, Falkland House, Longstowe, Three Ships, some greatorex doubles, Wendy's Gold, Saint Anne's, Scharlockii, Tiny, Curly, Washfield Warham, Lady Beatrix Stanley, Atkinsii, John Grey. Hill Poe, Lapwing. Melvillei, Mighty Atom, Mrs macnamara, Peg Sharples if my memory (not always reliable) serves me right. I understand his mail order list is out next week.
These names mean very little to me though I suspect many others reading that list will have had their hearts started racing ! I only recognise about half of those names, shows my anti-white fever vaccination was worth the money, don't you think? Of course, I will now go to Mark's site to see which of them I didn't know the names of he has photos for... just in case there's anything interesting ::)
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if it was nt so late I'd post them here. All great plants
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Argggh! Someone selling Wasp. :'(
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Anthony I have found it very miffy. I'll not say how many I had but it was doing very well but this year I'm down to 2 noses - so far
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I had heard Wasp was not easy too. But when you've got to have it.... ::)
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I had heard Wasp was not easy too. But when you've got to have it.... ::)
This is my point about breeding new snowdrop cultivars. Wouldn't it be nice if new cultivars like Wasp weren't miffy and difficult to grow. Wouldn't it be nice if there were new cultivars deliberately bred to be strong-growing, fast-clumping, reliable garden plants. There'd be a lot less disappointment. The trouble is a snowdrop like Wasp is usually found as an established clump in an old garden and may be decades old by the time it's discovered, quite possibly already prone to disease and maybe only really happy growing in the original conditions where it was found (its ecological niche).
New seedlings, bred and selected for good garden requirements (vigour, disease resistance, willingness to clump up fast) could be exciting and interesting and also not an expensive and disappointing gamble. It's a real shame some of the best snowdrops of the last 100 years (Magnet, S. Arnott etc) were triploidsfrom which it was almost impossible to raise new seedlings. If only one of them has been a tetraploid, we'd have had people deliberately breeding and selecting donkeys years ago.
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Martin I believe what you said earlier about the growers holding back snowdrops to keep the price high. There is a guy in Belfast micropropping 'Wendy's Gold'. I was there a few years ago and saw 10s of 1000s of them in all stages. The first have already gone to Holland for planting out. The big boys arent happy
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Alan,
I meet the Galanthus reginae-olgae on the Taigetos (Peleponnes). It grows between those flowering plants. I grow it in my frame and in meadow but always in full sun. It flower well, increase too and self seedlings appear. Perhaps I have a good form.
Location of G. reginae-olgae in the wild. In April I saw only the leaves!
Galanthus reginae-olgae in frame.
Galanthus reginae-olgae in meadow.
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fantastic middle photo. I bet you dont have trouble with the Narcissus fly!
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Franz - what a lovely clump of snowdrops - they look really great in the sun & very healthy!
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Mark,
I have no Narcissus fly!
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Great clump, Franz.
Paddy
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Martin I believe what you said earlier about the growers holding back snowdrops to keep the price high. There is a guy in Belfast micropropping 'Wendy's Gold'. I was there a few years ago and saw 10s of 1000s of them in all stages. The first have already gone to Holland for planting out. The big boys arent happy
As my wife is sat watching football I thought I would try and broaden my understanding of the snowdrop world and so can somebody tell me who or what are 'the big boys'
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I don't know either, but just you wait until the boys are back in town. Eventually they will make a surreal TV serial about it called 'Twin Scales'. :P
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Franz your shot in the wild shows a marvellous display of Anemone pavonina - I really do like them
(see previous page Re: Galanthus reginae-olgae
« Reply #58 on: January 11, 2008, 08:10:50 PM )
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Franz your shot in the wild shows a marvellous display of Anemone pavonina - I really do like them
(see previous page Re: Galanthus reginae-olgae
« Reply #58 on: January 11, 2008, 08:10:50 PM )
isn't is Anemone coronaria ???
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If only one of them has been a tetraploid, we'd have had people deliberately breeding and selecting donkeys years ago.
You want to breed and select donkeys now Martin? I'm all for that. Nice creatures, donkeys. Suppose asses/mules are triploid too are they? So again, the further breeding and selection stop.
Following which profound contribution to this topic, I shall retire gracefully and return to irises.
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Fortunately, polyploidy doesn't exist in the animal world. Animals are diploid (with the occasional haploid).
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Ian, you are right it is Anemone pavonina.
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Thanks Franz I wasn't absolutely sure without a close up. I had a nice plant of this last year but the wet summer may mean that it is lost. Do you grow at home?
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No Ian, I lost it in a hard winter.
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What is Anemone pavonina? I am just a little confused to it .,
Can you give me more details about this.,?
Anemone pavonina is the Wind Flower:
http://www.ashwood-nurseries.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9
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I think of Anemone nemorosa as being the "windflower" ::) ???
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A. nemerosa for me also. This goes to show why common names do not work
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With anemos being Greek for wind presumably wind flower could apply to Anemone pavonina or A. nemerosa?
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I thought it was the group called Japanese anemones that were 'wind flowers'??
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David,
Me too. The Anemone hupehensis (I think that is the right species name) types.
To at least briefly mention Galanthus reginae-olgae..... they're still in flower here along with the last of the G. peshmenii. So cool to still see them there a month after they started.
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Paul , my G. peshmenii and reginae-olgae [ex Munich Bot. Garden] are still in full bloom in
my garden , but reginae-olgae 'Cambridge' is only just now pushing throughthe ground ,
so prolonging the season .
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Otto,
I think I got that one from Marcus this year... no sign of it above ground as yet. Very pleased to report that my first ever deliberately sown Galanthus seed (G. regaine-olgae ex Sicily) from 2004 have buds appearing. I only discovered them today, just peeping above the ground. If they stay at this timing in relation to the others I have, that will also give a nice lengthening of the season for them. Very, very chuffed to finally have a Galanthus from sown seed. I even photographed them today, for posterity!! ;D
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The Galanthus reginae-olgae are still in flower here at the moment. Attached is a pic. Also a pic of one of the buds on my pot of seedlings. I've also realised since then on checking my records that the seed actually came from one of our SRGC contributors (via a seedex), but before I knew him here. Small world eh?
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Full of promise Paul. I just have reginae-olgae out at present but up are the bulbs I bought last spring (day before I went to Australia), of G. elwesii 'Emerald' (as it is grown by Denis Hughes at Blue Mountain Nursery) or 'Hughes' Emerald' as Susan and I know it or 'Emerald Hughes' as apparently it is known in the UK. whatever, it is a large and robust form originating in the Blue Mountain nursery. I bought 3 bulbs for $20 each (ouch) but each of the 3 pots, when I planted them out in February, had 7!!! bulbs in it.
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Well that makes them MUCH more reasonable, doesn't it. ;)
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Tidying up a cold frame this afternoon I was very surprised to see the first Galanthus reginae-olgae in flower, this one had self sown in a pot of Erythronium which I have not repotted for some time.
Not a particularly elegant flower but nevertheless a very welcome arrival.
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I have my first about to open in the greenhouse.
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Nothing showing above ground here yet - but this year they will have a fighting chance as I have actually remembered to move the potted palm that sits in the spot during the summer! ::)
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Mine will be late this year - they're all still in plastic bags waiting to be re-potted or planted out (along with a few thousand other snowdrops, crocus, etc) :(
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Mine will be late this year - they're all still in plastic bags waiting to be re-potted or planted out (along with a few thousand other snowdrops, crocus, etc) :(
Martin
I thought plastic bags could result in bulb losses and have preferred to use paper bags.
Sympathise with your repotting state - I still have Crocus and others to do. Snowdrops were a priority this year - none showing so far.
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I have them in plastic bags with plenty of bone-dry fine composted bark, which absorbs any surplus moisture and keeps them perfectly dry. The bark does need to be very, very dry though. Also they are mostly seedlings and small bulbs from chipping, so don't give off a lot of moisture. Must get on with repotting and planting out, though.
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Hello everybody
I'm new to this forum but people might like to know that we have had G. reginae-olgae in flower for about a week in our Suffolk garden. They seem a bit earlier than normal. Many have small green lines on the outer petals, about one third up from the apex. I have not seen this before.
I grew the bulbs from seed a few years ago. Would post a picture but haven't worked out how to do this yet.
The first G elwesii are also just showing. One flowered on 30th September last year so these may be a bit later this year!
We have not had rain for weeks and the soil is dry and cracked but it has been warm. What controls the exact flowering time seems a bit of a mystery
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Welcome to the forum Mike, some of mine are now up too, but not surprising when we are so near and Ann Borrill had one in flower last week when I went, seasons are topsy turvy! I look forward to seeing lots of pictures of your super snowdrop collection ;D
Take a look at this page for help on posting pics:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2.0
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hello Michael it's good to 'see' you in here
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Morning Michael, let`s have some "white" fun together. Here is a good place for drop-informations ;)
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Dear Galanthophyls!!! ;D
I'm some "white" fun too ;D
Could you give me an advice about Galanthus reginae-olgae leaves frost-resistance during winter? As I think it overwinters after fall-flowering with green leaves till spring? Does it exist the frost-resistant clones of this one? Or such forms that push the flowers in fall and the leaves only in spring? ??? ??? ???
Many thanks!
Dima.
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Welcome, Michael, good to have you join us in this hotbed of white fever. ;D
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My first reginae-olgae is up today. Nothing special just the species. Time to get the slug pellets out to save the cultivars
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Dear Galanthophyls!!! ;D
I'm some "white" fun too ;D
Could you give me an advice about Galanthus reginae-olgae leaves frost-resistance during winter? As I think it overwinters after fall-flowering with green leaves till spring? Does it exist the frost-resistant clones of this one? Or such forms that push the flowers in fall and the leaves only in spring? ??? ??? ???
Many thanks!
Dima.
I have never had problems with frost damaged leaves. They overwinter in Denmark without any protection. (-15c)
The enemies here are slugs, snails and in spring Narcissus fly.
My first RGO have just popped up in the greenhouse. Outside there is still no sign of them.
Poul
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Poul!!! My kind thanks!!!! Will try it in my climat in Donetsk or in Kiev!
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Foliage can look very sad after a night when it has gone down to -8oC in my garden, but as soon as the temperature rises the leaves soon regain their shape.
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Thanks, Anthony! So after when it has gone down to -8oC they lost solidity but still alive, so I should try it at me.....
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Having a first go at posting some photos, thanks Brian for the help.
We have two unnamed reginae-olgae that flower around now. One that flowers before the leaves with weedy scapes that fall over with the slightest breeze and the form shown (I hope!) with very sturdy scapes and leaves evident. This year there are a few green lines on the outers. The leaves are not affected by frosts here (ca. -5 min.) but the slugs do find the flowers rather tasty, we haven't tried them yet. Anybody got a good recipe?
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Well done Mike, loads more in due course please ;D
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the slugs do find the flowers rather tasty, we haven't tried them yet. Anybody got a good recipe?
Any French escargot recipe should do. There might be a problem though, if the slugs have been ingesting poisonous plants like snowdrops. Does the poison remain active in the slug?
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Good to see your reginae-olgaes. My ?peshmenii are always weedy but multiplying. I feed them now and in the spring but they do not improve
Anyone got any idea how to improve weak stems Galanthus
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Good to see your reginae-olgaes. My ?peshmenii are always weedy but multiplying. I feed them now and in the spring but they do not improve
Anyone got any idea how to improve weak stems Galanthus
Viagra? ;D
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hello David! Where have you been hiding! Are you here for a snort of something white ;D
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hello David! Where have you been hiding! Are you here for a snort of something white ;D
Hi Mark
I've been lurking. I'll try and get a couple of photos over the weekend of my r-os but I fear that the weather may prevent me from getting a good shot. In the meantime I'll go back to lurking unless there's a double entedre to be had ;)
Tilebarn Jamie is on the way and elwesii 'Barnes' has just poked through. Tilebarn Jamie is a couple of weeks late for me but the r-os are three weeks early! Very strange.
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I have r/o Cambridge coming through in open ground, but no sign yet of AJ Marr, Baytop, Hyde Lodge, Mette, Sofia or subsp vernalis, all also in open ground. Very dry here, may be affecting things.
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Hi David
You mentioned you have G. e. 'Barns' showing. I have been wondering whether there are different clones labelled 'Barns' around. Our first G. elwesii opened today, 3rd Oct. (30th Sept. last year). Clumps of these flower through October into early November. We do not have a name for these but they look a bit like 'Barns' in Marks photos.
We also have two other clones bought as 'Barns' that don't start flowering until Nov./Dec. but have similar flowers.
Can anybody confirm what the true 'Barns' is like (photo?) and when it is expected to flower.
Here are photos of the early flowering plant taken on 9th October last year.
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Hi Michael,
Interesting that you spell it 'Barns' as opposed to 'Barnes'. I received mine labelled as 'Barnes'. Apparently it is very similar to 'Earliest of All' in appearance but the latter is supposed to be 3 weeks later (according to the bible). As I don't grow 'Earliest of All' I can't comment but that may be where some confusion may arise. Mine came from Rod and Jane Leeds who I believe acquired their stock from Oliver Wyatt's garden at the Old Manor, Naughton in Suffolk.
I don't have any photographs to compare yet and it will be some time before I have any as the tip is only just showing. I will post a photo as and when it's out.
David
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Two contrasting forms of Galanthus reginae-olgae in flower today. The first is from a plant that I selected from seed that I collected in Paleopanagia Peloponnese seventeen years ago. The second is another plant that I selected, partly because of its robust constitution, and named Lefki.
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Two contrasting forms of Galanthus reginae-olgae in flower today. The first is from a plant that I selected from seed that I collected in Paleopanagia Peloponnese seventeen years ago. The second is another plant that I selected, partly because of its robust constitution, and named Lefki.
Both are gorgeous Melvyn. The first is very delicate and elegant.
johnw
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Melvyn, I am impressed. That first one is as good as 'Angelique'! 8)
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Melvyn, they are both extremly beautiful! Thanks for posting them.
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So very different but each shows off to perfection, congratulations Melvyn :)
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Melvyn - re: that first elegant long reginae-olgae. Did you collect seed from a very special or similar plant(s) that resulted in similar offspring or was it just luck that this one appeared amongst normal reginae-olgaes.
If it was luck then you hit the jackpot.
Always of interest to me and others I'm sure.
johnw.
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Both very attractive Melvyn, and showing admirably how much variation there is in the r-o group. Is the first a good doer too?
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Having a first go at posting some photos, thanks Brian for the help.
We have two unnamed reginae-olgae that flower around now. One that flowers before the leaves with weedy scapes that fall over with the slightest breeze and the form shown (I hope!) with very sturdy scapes and leaves evident. This year there are a few green lines on the outers. The leaves are not affected by frosts here (ca. -5 min.) but the slugs do find the flowers rather tasty, we haven't tried them yet. Anybody got a good recipe?
Look in "Cooks' Corner" topic Mike. ;D
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Look in "Cooks' Corner" topic Mike. ;D
Lesley - Was that recipe the banana (slug) split?
johnw
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Melvyn,
Wow, those two really do contrast, don't they. Amazing!!! I love both of them. Thanks for showing us.
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Two little, white, autumn treasures. Very nice Melvyn. Could you tell us a little bit more about LEFKI?
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Thankyou all for your kind remarks.
A little further information as requested. The G. r-o 9236 was collected as seed when I was leading a Cyclamen Society field trip to the Peloponnese to study Cyclamen rhodium ssp peloponnesiacum in April 1992. I had not seen Galanthus in the wild before and collected a couple of seed pods so it was pure chance that the result would be to produce the flower that you have seen. It is not a particularly strong grower but has increased reasonably well since it was separated from the other seedlings.
Hagen, you asked a bit more about G.reginae-olgae Lefki. Starting in the 1990's I grew a lot of G.r-o's from seed from wherever I could get it then selected out what I thought were the best. Being only too aware that its easy to think our ' geeese are swans' I invited one or two galanthophiles to come and look including Ruby Baker, Phil Cornish and Matt Bishop. They made helpful comments and as a result some of the selected plants were described in the Snowdrops book ( Lefki is described on page 130)
As G.r-o's are named for Queen Olga of Greece it seemed appropriate to use female names for them, in some cases after people that I have met in my travels in Greece. The name Lefki means white in Greek (as in the White Mountains in Crete) so that seemed doubly approriate. As with all G.r-o's they have to be well grown to show their full potential and show why they were selected in the first place. From the hundreds of seedlings that I now grow a few more selected forms are coming into flower and I hope to post a few more photos in the future.
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Thanks for the extra information Melvyn, I bet G. r-o 9236 would look good if it was in a substantial clump.
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Some of mine out at the moment
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Good to see the fine pics of G.r-o from you. I doubted of mine. But they couldn`t come out. The narcissusflys were faster. No intact bulb.
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Melvyn, thank you for the story of LEFKI. A very good habit is most important for normal marked snowdrops ( but should be also for unusual marked drops).
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David
I think my spelling was a result of not concentrating very well. Yours is correct.
It would be nice to see a good photo of authentic 'Barnes'
I believe the 'Barnes' at Anglesey Abbey doesn't flower until late Nov./Dec.
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Weeding out the woodland bed today and found this short chap lurking amongst the plantains!
Assuming the reduced stature is a response to the dry conmditions here this autumn.
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A very generous friend sent me two bulbs of a reginae-olgae with green tips at the end of the outer petals.
They flowered for the first time this weekend and I attach some poor photographs for your comments
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Very nice Arthur, what it is to have such good friends!
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Arthur, my comment is that Ilike it very much!, green tipped G.r-o's seem to be very unusual.
It was a good day to be growing reginae-olgae under glass with a bit of warmth in the air on a clear autumn they are very fragrant, particularly Eleni.
The photos are:-
Tile Barn Jamie.
Eleni and
the very choice Autumn Snow.
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I can't contribute to the pest culprit question, except to observe that I set 40 mouse traps in my cold frames a couple of nights ago ('have no mercy' is my philosophy WRT small mammals) and seven of them caught mice in the first night. Three more the next night. There seem to be many more of them about this year than last, here in Wiltshire.
I have a general question regarding Galanthus r-o, namely what are the best cultivars in the opinion of other forum members? The only named clones that I grow are 'Cambridge' and 'Hyde Lodge', the first of which I think is excellent. All mine are in pots at the moment, where they seem to do fine, but I'll put half of them outdoors in a sunny bed next year.
Tom
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the very choice Autumn Snow.
I certainly have to agree with that Melvyn, is it a selection from the wild?
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AUTUMN SNOW is really a seldom drop, Melvyn. Never heard of a poculiforme Gro. Good news!
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Brian, I was very fortunate to be given Autumn Snow by a friend who, like me, grows as many Galanthus as she can from seed, knowing that I am concentrating on G. reginae-olgae she gave it to me and I am slowly building it up both by natural increase and twinscaling.
Now that temperatures have dropped germination is coming along really well. The first photo shows seedlings from seed sown collected in April this year, only three years to wait!
The second photo shows the variation you can get, these were sown in June 2006 and moved into this pot earlier this year. The tallest flower is 24cms from the soil whereas others have only just come through the surface. An exciting time of the year, you never know what goodies are going to emerge.
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The second photo shows the variation you can get, these were sown in June 2006 and moved into this pot earlier this year. The tallest flower is 24cms from the soil whereas others have only just come through the surface. An exciting time of the year, you never know what goodies are going to emerge.
That is amazing, I hope you have some pleasant surprises. I'll certainly have to start looking into growing from seed.
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a couple of pots in flower now.
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Mature bulbs of this new selection consistently produce four inner and outer perianth segments,to give what I think is a lovely symetrical flower.
I have named it Galanthus reginae-olgae Tessera, Greek for four.
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:o Wowed yet again!
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Equally wowed :o :o
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:o :o :o! speechless.
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A fantastic snowdrop, Melvyn, congratulations :D
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And it looks really nice and appropriate while most "three" flowers, (Iris, Trillium, Weldenia) look like travesties when they produce an extra.
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Melvyn, a good name for a nice flower. Now I know for ever the Greek 4!
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Impressive, and no doubt a very desirable plant?
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Four of my favourite Galanthus reginae-olgae.
Mette, in the garden this afternoon, I love this lant because of its elegant form with very long pedicels.
Sofia because its such a robust plant which many people are now growing.
Evienia, the largest of all my G.r-o's with an outer perianth segment length of 40mm.
Fotini, I think she speaks for herself.
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Very nice indeed. Quite distinct.... good grief, I never thought I'd hear myself say that.... Mette stands out so well against the autumn colours behind. Sofia is deliciously chunky....I like her the best....Evenia is just too long and thin for my taste ;) and the green one is too green!
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Oh no Maggi, the green is delicious, so cool and minty. :)
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My goodness. Just when I was happy with my lot, Melvyn produces a four petalled r-o and then caps it off with a green one! 8)
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How lucky you are Anthony, every time I see these wonderful snowdrops I wish I was happy with my lot ;) Both 'Fotini' and 'Sofia' are to die for.
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I was sure, That we can find all varieties of Galanthus nivalis also in the other species. But what a fine G r-o virescens, called FOTINI. Melvyn you are a lucky beggar.
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Melvyn, Fotini is really beautiful, stunning! . Is it a strong grower? Some virescent snowdrops are bit difficult.
I have one bulb of Sofia but the flower is not very good. Two of the inner segments are fused to the outers, it looks very distorted. Have you come across this problem? I am hoping it will settle down by next year.
I also have Galanthus r.o. Eleni which looks very good with quite broad outers and a nice mark. I think this is also one of yours Melvyn.
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Melvyn, Fotini is really beautiful, stunning! . Is it a strong grower? Some virescent snowdrops are bit difficult.
I have one bulb of Sofia but the flower is not very good. Two of the inner segments are fused to the outers, it looks very distorted. Have you come across this problem? I am hoping it will settle down by next year.
I also have Galanthus r.o. Eleni which looks very good with quite broad outers and a nice mark. I think this is also one of yours Melvyn.
Thank you all for your positive responsesabout the G.r-o's.
Michael, yes Fotini is a very strong grower regularly producing two flowers from a bulb.
Sorry to read about Sofia, maybe it does just need to settle down as it has never shown this tendency with me. Yes, Eleni is one of mine and is obviously doing ok for you under your regime so if Sofia doesnt look right next year please contact me again.
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Melvyn,
Fantastic!! Brilliant flowers on the names hybrids,and the Tessera is very, very cool. And stable too!! :o Thanks for the pics. 8)
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Melvyn, thanks for showing 'Fotini', it is really an outstanding snowdrop! :o
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Rob where did you get 'December'?
Are you going to the Gala? It's in your county this year.
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Mark,
Have the invites been sent out yet?
David
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this is one from the Pelopennese which has been labelled as ssp vernalis. It is flowering with leaves and has a substantial flower
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Not yet David.
Tony that's a lovely shaped snowdrop
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So I heard on the grapevine. News travels extremely fast in the snowdrop world
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here is a pic from today from my
Galanthus reginae olgae f. corcyrensis
very late in this year !!!
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That is a very good photo Hans.
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Thank you 'Big Master ' ::)
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Yes, Hans, lovely light and an excellent background to show off the white of the flowers. White flowers can be a nuisance to photograph accurately.
Besides the photographs, it is a lovely plant.
Paddy
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Paddy -thank you ;)
to say the truth - on the ground is a net to protect the plants for black birds and other ....this looks not so nice ....but in this time we had a lot of leaves and so I could make nearly natur conditions :D
Hans
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here is a pic from today from my
Galanthus reginae olgae f. corcyrensis
very late in this year !!!
Hans - mine is even later than yours this year & has not yet opened its flower - but not suprising as we have been a bit short on sunshine ::)
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Ha, Ha, Hans,
So, it was not as natural a photographic setting as I first thought - just as all photographers do!
Paddy
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Paddy ....pssssst :-X
Chris - I had always only single flowers on my corcyrensis ...today I saw this group
It seems they are not very variably !
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Nice shot Hans
Here is my G reg olgae "Cambridge"
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Thank you Ian :D
I have read anywhere ( but where ? ) that G.r.o. 'Cambridge' is also a G.coryrensis form ....
Can anybody confirm this ?
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I have read anywhere ( but where ? ) that G.r.o. 'Cambridge' is also a G.coryrensis form ....
Can anybody confirm this ?
Hans - see page 129 of the 'Snowdrops' book which says that 'Cambridge' was formerly placed in the taxon G. corcyrensis & goes on to say that Kath Dryden originally offered it under this name.
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Chris - yes ...you are right ;)
I have read this in a older plantlist from K.Dryden !
Thank you
Hans
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I also think Hans' photograph is delightful. 8)
Anthony
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Lovely photo ,Hans. The leaves show up the snowdrops so well. The first flower on my Galanthus corcyrensis was open on October 23 and I expect to have flowers till the end of January. Who needs all those different named varieties when one snowdrop can give flowers for such a long period? I note Aaron Davis does not recognise corcyrensis as a form or sub species of Galanthus reginae-olgae but as a non expert I can not see my snowdrops as fitting either subsp. reginae-olgae or subsp. vernalis.
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Thank you Anthony and Roma :D
For me is G.corcyrensis a form of G.regina olgae ....but not from G.r.o. ssp. vernalis !
The earliest G.r.o. ssp. vernalis I have seen on Sicily near the coast -they have flowerd on end of December /beginning of January ....some KM later in the Mts. the plants flowered in February/March .
I have a lot of G.r.o. ssp. vernalis from different locations ( Calabria,Gargano,Montenegro ) ....all start here in February/March .
I dont understand why the populations from the Taigetos mts. and Corfu are so far away ....and never would found any plants between ....
Before some year I have visit Corfu and I saw this plants on many places ...I do not believe that they are naturalized .....
The plants start there in middle of October ( depending from the altitude)
My G.r.o. from Taigetos starts in normal years in middle of September .....but in this crazy year also later !!!
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Hans
My reginae-olgae are all late this year - some are only now poking through the soil. ???
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Some images of Galanthus reginae-olgae seen last week in the Taigetos Mountains in the Peloponnese. The first six images are of plants seen in the Langada Pass where they were seen in their usual considerable numbers in ones and twos or small clumps.
The remaining images are at a location on the west of the Taigetos. I am reluctant to say where because when I visited another well known location in the Vyros Gorge the plants had nearly all gone. For those that know the two sites, only a hundred meters apart,the first which used to be recognised by a gateway (the gate was removed a couple of years ago) had less than ten plants still growing in the bracken. The second under the large tree looks very different because the top courses of the stone wall have been removed and just one plant was found. I know they were fine in April as I collected some seed from there but now I can only assume that they are very late(unlikely) or that they have been removed.
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I like them all, but 3, 5, 9 & 10 stand out as special for me. :)
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Very sad to hear of natural populations being depleted. :'(... I, for one, am content to enjoy the photos 8)
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Me also
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Some images of Galanthus reginae-olgae seen last week in the Taigetos Mountains in the Peloponnese.
Melvyn - many thanks for posting, always good to see them growing in their natural habitat. Great pictures - particularly liked that fabulous clump in No 9, must have been quite something to see close up.
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Lovely to see them in their natural habitat Melvyn, I love those pale ones (1 & 3) - they look so delicate. Awful to think that they are being taken and such sights will not be seen again :-\
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Galanthus reginae-olgae ssp. corcyrensis flowering now.
An earlier flower had a 'window' so I could see the marking when it was too cold for the flower to open. ;D
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How good of the slugs to give you such a convenient window!
Paddy
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Galanthus reginae-olgae (corcyrensis) has emerged still flowering from the melting snow.
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Galanthus reginae-olgae (corcyrensis) has emerged still flowering from the melting snow.
Roma - No problems flowering reginae-olgae in cool summer Scotland? There was an article in the Daffodil Yearbook on the problems growing and flowering it in Bergen and solutions.
I have hesitated to try it out here, operhaps I should take the plunge this year. Any tips?
johnw
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John,
When I went to work in the Cruickshank Garden in Aberdeen in 1977 there were two forms of Galanthus reginae-olgae growing there. One form flowers in October and needs a dry sunny spot. I do still have it at home but it doesn't do very well. The form pictured was called corcyrensis till Aaron Davis did his PhD. It starts flowering in November and can keep going till February. At the Cruickshank it grows in a south facing bed near a large birch tree so would be fairly dry in summer (in the years when we get one). The bulbs increase well and spread also by seed. In my own garden it is at the back of the house and gets no sun most of the time it is in growth and does not dry out too much in summer. If you can find corcyrensis rather than reginae-olgae I think it is well worth a try. I expect the galanthophiles will correct me on taxonomy if I have got it wrong.
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Thanks for the report Roma. Sounds like they're worth a try. I have corcyrensis and even a pot of seedlings coming up since Christmas.
johnw +1c at midnight.