December 2014 snowdrops

[Paddy Tobin]

Goodness Paddy, barely through the ground here

But, it's in home soil here. lol

[Brian Ellis]

But, it's in home soil here. lol

 

[johnstephen29]

Hi I don't know if any of the other Galanthus fans on here remember back in March in the snowdrops for identification please post I showed some pics of a snowdrop I did was unable to identify. I followed mother advice given to me. Here is a pic of the snowdrops now, one is in bud, it's going to flower a lot ealier then when I first showed them.


image by johnstephen29, on Flickr

[mark smyth]

Its Galanthus elwesii. Are you growing it in the house?

[johnstephen29]

I only brought it into the house when I noticed the flower bud.

[Tim Ingram]

Nothing special, as Joe Sharman might say, but really rather lovely on a bright December day - Galanthus elwesii Hiemalis Group (a form from Avon Bulbs).

[Maggi Young]

That is a cheery sight in the sunshine, Tim.   The light-deprived amongst us might say that a ANY " bright December day"  was in itself a cause for celebration, of course 

 So very dark and damp here -though some will be under snow in the west today 
 I feel so sorry for the flowers doing their best to enliven our world in these conditions.  Great to see some sun from you

[johnstephen29]

Hi mark has the mild autumn caused it to flower early do you think?

[Alan_b]

Very nice, Tim.  What I particularly like about your garden is that you have so many good well-established snowdrop clumps.  I'm so paranoid about pests and diseases that if any group of snowdrops gets close to reaching double figures then I split it up to reduce the risk of loss.   

[mark smyth]

Hi mark has the mild autumn caused it to flower early do you think?

Its probably just Hiemalis Group. The first of mine are only open today as are 'Peter Gatehouse' which are always way behind compared to those in other gardens

[johnstephen29]

Does the hiemalis group flower through to march? That's when these snowdrops were last in flower.

[mark smyth]

elwesii Hiemalis Group flower now and usually have a small horseshoe shaped mark. Maybe its up early because of the mild weather

[johnstephen29]

Hi mark that's what I though too, I also have noticed some plicatus showing some buds, probably same reason.

[Paddy Tobin]

Very nice, Tim.  What I particularly like about your garden is that you have so many good well-established snowdrop clumps.  I'm so paranoid about pests and diseases that if any group of snowdrops gets close to reaching double figures then I split it up to reduce the risk of loss.

Alan, I wonder if there might be more safety in  numbers and that lifting, dividing, replanting etc puts bulbs in more danger than in their being left undisturbed.

[Tim Ingram]

We have a large enough garden that snowdrops can be divided and grown up in larger groups quite widely separated from one another and my experience has been that new individual plants quite often don't appear the season after they are planted whereas well established clumps go from strength to strength, so I would agree with Paddy. They also look so good en masse. We try to grow them in amongst many herbaceous plants such as Brunnera macrophylla, hostas etc. (and nettles!) which must reduce the risk of damage from Narcissus fly and Swift Moth caterpillars. I also value cultivars that set seed and spread in this way (even though this goes against the Galanthophile grain) because this allows for selection within the garden and replenishment if there is a serious pest or fungal problem. With certain varieties (eg: 'Gerard Parker' and 'Trym') I deliberately sow seed pods in different parts of the garden to encourage this because both of these are such good plants.

What is so nice about the named forms of course is the link with so many gardeners and personal friendships, which is an aspect I referred to in my first AGS diary entry. There is a lot of sharing that goes on between gardeners, which includes sharing our gardens, and I have always found it hard to put plants on a pedestal even though individually they can be extraordinarily beautiful.