Galanthus in February 2014

[Anne Repnow]

Actually, no.  Large nivalis populations can be disappointingly uniform.  Look for evidence that the snowdrops are setting seed.  A seeding population will look less uniform and is much more likely to give rise to interesting finds.

Ok - good to know. I'll check the G. nivalis which the ants spread over the front lawn...

[Anne Repnow]

Nettetal usually falls on my birthday. So here are:
(1) 'E.A. Bowles' (last years birthday present to myself)
(2) 'South Hayes' (this years birthday present to myself) 

[emma T]

looks like an angel !

[emma T]

Does anyone know of a way to tell Galanthus nivalis from Galanthus r-o vernalis ?

[Alan_b]

I can't do it, Emma.  They speak about the median stripe to the leaves in R-O but the talk Melvyn Jope gave at Shaftesbury said that is not reliable and some nivalis have a similar feature (or there are lots more R-Os around peoples gardens than we have been lead to believe).

[johnw]

Alan - Do you suppose these non-seedling nivalis populations are sterile?

Big plantings here in the city rarely set seed.  Would it be wise to introduce some seed-grown nivalis to help with seed production?

johnw

[loes]

Does anyone know of a way to tell Galanthus nivalis from Galanthus r-o vernalis ?
[/queote]

And I'll add another question

Are there r.o.vernalis which just look like nivalis with leaves without the median stripe and flowering in the same time as nivalis?

[Maggi Young]

Nettetal usually falls on my birthday. So here are:
(1) 'E.A. Bowles' (last years birthday present to myself)
(2) 'South Hayes' (this years birthday present to myself) 

 Don't you just love it when you get a present that you really wanted? !!!!!

[Leena]

Alan - Do you suppose these non-seedling nivalis populations are sterile?
Would it be wise to introduce some seed-grown nivalis to help with seed production?

I'm also interested in this.
And another question: are crosses with nivalis x plicatus fertile and can they hybridize again with nivalis naturally?

[Alan_b]

Alan - Do you suppose these non-seedling nivalis populations are sterile?

Yes, I think they are sterile or nearly so.  I'm told (mostly in talks by Joe Sharman, I think) that many of the large UK populations are sterile.  For example I would say the one here http://www.wheddoncross.org.uk/snowdropvalley.htm is.  I'm not sure failure to set seed reduces the rate of increase but having a mixture of bulb sizes including some that are very small  probably offers protection against insects like the narcissus fly that are more likely to find and eat the larger bulbs whilst leaving the small seedlings behind.

I don't know the answer to Leena's second question but Anne has a selection of yellow nivalis x plicatus snowdrops and I'm sure Martin has tried this cross.   

[Tim Ingram]

Many plants spread without sex - for example the woodland anemone very rarely sets seed and large stands are signs of old established and undisturbed woodland. Other plants like violas go in for cleistogamous seed. So the way plants perpetuate themselves is often more complex than we imagine. Plants in natural situations are probably protected against narcissus fly partly by their very numbers and partly by the surrounding vegetation that grows up after they flower. The tidyness of gardeners may be just what causes the problems a lot of the time! (Have a look at a book by Mirabel Osler entitled 'A Gentle Plea for Chaos' - her garden may be chaotic to some but it is also very beautiful and goes with nature rather than fighting it too much). A nurseryman like myself of course has rather competing demands!

[Paddy Tobin]

We went to a long deserted garden on Monday last, untended since about 1950. There were G. nivalis and G. nivalis flore pleno and some narcissus. I could see no variation in the nivalis. Some were smaller, some more glaucous in the foliage but nothing significant.

[Mavers]

Here are some pictures of Snowdrop Valley at Wheddon Cross this February.

[Mavers]

It was an extremely windy day. My friend Peter & I were the only the ones fool enough to brave the weather so we had the valley all to ourselves. Down where the snowdrops are it was quite sheltered from the wind.
We heard a loud cracking sound & saw a huge beech tree go over on the ridge above us, thankfully it didn't fall into the valley.

[Mavers]

What lovely presents to buy yourself Boli.