Galanthus February 2008

[mark smyth]

He'll probably block my emails for this but here's Galanthus 'Alans Treat'

[Martin Baxendale]

He'll probably block my emails for this but here's Galanthus 'Alans Treat'

Why would Alan object? I think it's a very nice photo.

[mark smyth]

some people are too shy

[Maggi Young]

Perhaps he is a famous person but  though I have no idea who Mr Street is,  he looks a very friendly soul and not too shy.... it is rather a good portrait of him, I'm sure.



John F.: can't believe you galanthophiles... you're so fickle, one minute all you can see is the white mist, the next you've spotted my bright wellies! And there was I thinking you'd be blowing up the pix to spot the individual snowies.....

So, from the acres and acres of very beautiful snowdrops of all shapes and sizes I give you, my wellies!

[Maggi Young]

Fetching wellie boots, I think, covered in very pretty red tulips  Just to show that the BD doesn't have the monopoly on garish foorwear in this household
There were not, as far as I could see, any tulips waitingto flower in the woods but there werecertanily plenty of narcissus growing up fast.... eventually, down a steep bank, I spotted the first one in flower...after the sea of white, to the human eye this lonely yellow flower, plus a couple of buds showing colour , stood out like the proverbial beacon but the camera was not so impressed! I promis you, in the center of this shot there is a BRIGHT yellow daffodil 

[Maggi Young]

We were very lucky to visit this remarkable estate, where the snowdrops have found a charming and secure home.... there were so many to look at it was hard to take in the numbers. It was surprisingly easy to spot different ones once you got going.
Just as well I had those wellington boots on, because I felt very much as though I were "tiptoeing through the tulips" to try to avoid standing on any flowers. It wasn't easy, I can tell you!
As  President Ian said, we were splitting up some very dense clumps to spread them around and encourage them to multiply even more. It was fun to rummage in the leaf litter to find evidence of thousands of seedlings growing away. It was rather cold for any pollinatoors to be flying today and Ian Y said that he had noted when he was on the SRGC visit to the Castle the other week that, although it was a really lovely day, certainly the sort of day that one would have expected to see flying pollinators, there were none in evidence... Perhaps this huge colony only gets  to set seed  in occasional years when there are pollinators about.

 A very enjoyable day, in the company of nice SRGC friends, and with the help of the charming estate manager who kindly gave us some bulbs as a memento of our visit.

[mark smyth]

They're safe until the snowdrop thieves turn up like has happened elsewhere in Scotland

[Maggi Young]

Quite a lot of chaps with loaded guns around the estate here, though, Mark!
I'm told that a while ago some folk were caught having dug up snowdrops... they were marched back to the spot where they'd lifted the bulbs by Keepers, complete with shotguns, and made to replant the bulbs.... I would think that would A) concentrate the minds of those thieves to be more law-abiding in future and B) that word of it would filter out and deter any other miscreants.

I was happy to be there with the Estate Manager, I can tell you!

[Martin Baxendale]

Snazzy wellies, Maggi. Alan Street is the snowdrop expert at Avon Bulbs, a keen collector and propagator.

[Maggi Young]

Snazzy wellies, Maggi.

Thanks!



quote]snowdrop expert at Avon Bulbs, a keen collector and propagator.[/quote]
 Ah, thanks. His name was vaguely familiar but I did not know him at all.

snowdrop expert........ keen collector .....

Amazing, he looks just like a "real" person!

[Brian Ellis]

It was surprisingly easy to spot different ones once you got going.

 

[Anthony Darby]

Perhaps he is a famous person but  though I have no idea who Mr Street is,  he looks a very friendly soul and not too shy.... it is rather a good portrait of him, I'm sure.

And there was me thinking you were Street wise Maggi.

[Martin Baxendale]

I've had a reply from Rare Plants about the bulbs they supplied which should have been Gal. 'Cicely Hall' but weren't. They've turned out to be a small gracilis-like elwesii. Not hugely distinctive to my eye.

They're saying the bulbs are actually 'Cicely's Tubby'. Has anyone heard of this cultivar?

They're offering money back if the bulbs are returned, or that those who bought them might want to keep them as a "scarce clone" which will eventually, when properly released, be as expensive as 'Cicely Hall'. I guess that's all fair enough, but I've never heard of 'Cicely's Tubby' and I'm not sure I'm impressed enough with it to accept it as an equal-price substitute for the hugely desirable (and long-awaited by me) 'Cicely Hall'.

[mark smyth]

any photos?

[Martin Baxendale]

Not a very good pic of "Cicely's Tubby" () from Rare Plants, but you can see it's not much of a mark. The overall flower isn't up to much either (wasn't even before something decided to have a munch at the petals!) I think I'll be returning the bulbs for a refund after the leaves have died down.