Galanthus February 2008

[Hagen Engelmann]

oh, a day of light and shadows.
What are the sources of destroying?

[Hans J]

Hagen :

in St.Anne's was a big fat larvae of narcissus fly .....maybe I can save this bulb
in Henry's White Lady was only one little bulb which has survived

....in all other was only labels ......bulbs complete destroyed....

[art600]

On page 1 of this thread Paddy Tobin showed 'Anglessey Abbey'  On page 16 Anthony Darby showed a different snowdrop under this name.

I bought an 'Anglesey Abbey' at Glen Chantry on Wednesday that was like Paddy's plant.

I am not yet a galanthophile, so would like to know which plant is the true 'Anglesey Abbey'.

[Maggi Young]

Given the notorious capacity of galanthus to be highly variable, I would suggest that both these plants could pass as Anglesey Abbey...... from my reading on the matter... it seems that the green markings are minimal and the plant has a tendency to be poculiform with the longer inners and no markings......so both Paddy and Anthony's plants seem to fulfill the "rules" ... I use that term loosely... VERY loosely!  A search around  for photos seems to reveal a slight preponderence of those with tiny marks but a number of poculiform white flowers... so... you pays your money... and you remain utterly confused...... so, that' my rather jaundiced view on the matter...let's see if the experts agree ??!!

[Brian Ellis]

You should have said hello at Glen Chantry!  Paddy's picture is the one we hope for, when I bought mine at Ashwoods there were several in pots of which only one was like this (needless to say I bought it).  I believe you may have both forms when it clumps up and it is best to select the better ones and remove the others.

[art600]

Brian
I chatted to Penelope, but spent most of my time in the tea room as I had my mother with me.  She is 93 and was in a wheelchair so the cold wind was not to her liking.  Even helped with the drying of the cups and saucers.
It was a great day.

I do not wish to upset Anthony, but his plant does not appear to have inners nearly the same length as outers, surely a defining feature of Anglesey Abbey.  I think it looks a good plant, but do not see how it can be Anglesaey Abbey.

Two plants I greatly admired at Glen Chantry were Bill Bishop & Little Ben, but are they not the same plant?  How do they differ?

[Diane Whitehead]

I decided to see what the eBay snowdrop that sold for £123 looks like.
I found a description and photo of Clovis in Snowdrops.  It is one
of the lampshade types, like the better-known Trym, where the usual
outer petals are replaced by a second set of inner petals.  However,
Clovis does this only occasionally, and the rest of the time has a varied
combination of outers and extra inners.

I may be on my way to an eBay fortune - I just have to monitor my elwesii
with two outers and 4 inners for a few years and see if it is going to do
anything fancy.

[KentGardener]

Good luck Diane - I was so surprised at the price Clovis got.  I think it is an ugly looking plant - and if I purchase a plant for something special, I would expect it to at least behave and do it nearly every year.

I would be interested to hear what your 2 outers and 3 inners does do next year.

I was having a discussing about inners and outers yesterday to a friend.  We found various 4 outer petal plants whilst out walking.  Some had four inners and four outers,  some had only three inners and four outers.  I said that I thought the 4 inners and 4 outers would be a more stable plant over the years than the unmatched number of petals, that I thought may be a one off 'mistake'. 

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? 

John

[Alan_b]

I also admired Little Ben at Glen Chantry and took a picture.  Unfortunately in this close-up you don't quite get the sense of scale.  It's a small but chunky snowdrop.

[art600]

Alan b

Did you think it closely resembled Bill Bishop?

I liked the short stem in both cases

[Martin Baxendale]

Bill Bishop has longer outers and a different mark - more uniformly thick and more of an upright V-shape than Little Ben. I'll take a pic of Bill Bishop this afternoon to post for comparison. My single Little Ben bulb was chipped last year so isn't flowering for me to do a side-by-side comparison.

[Brian Ellis]

Well then I spotted you Art, if you are the chap who parked near the entrance for ease of access?  Having lost Bill Bishop and admired Little Ben I bought both!  Here then is a comparison shot, as they are both of the Mighty Atom tribe similarities are there, but I wonder if they fit Martin's

Bill Bishop has longer outers and a different mark - more uniformly thick and more of an upright V-shape than Little Ben.

I am hoping that in the ground the one on the left (Bill Bishop) will flower earlier than the one on the right (Little Ben), as they were both Wol's plants I am trusting his judgement.

[art600]

Brian

That was me - forgot that galanthophiles had to form an orderly queue, and arrived early.

[Martin Baxendale]

Brian, you should find that the outers on Bill Bishop lengthen as the flower ages. Also, the outers tend to get to their longest when the buld is settled in and growing strongly. Ones that have recently been chipped and/or potted or otherwise disturbed don't seem to get so long in the petal.

The marks in your photo look quite distinct to me. Bill bishop has a darker mark, and tends to be the same sort of thickness throughout its length - whereas Litte Ben has a paler mark, which is wider at the ends and narrower in the middle. The V mark of Bill Bishop also sometimes bleeds up a little towards the top half (or basal half) of the inner. I'm sure yours will turn out to be right.

Here's a quick pic of a fully developed flower from my garden.

[Martin Baxendale]

I was also going to say that in your pic Little Ben looks like it's fully developed and about to start going over, whereas Bill Bishop appears to be a young flower that is still developing and should still lengthen its outers more (although if it was recently potted then it might not get to its optimum length.

Also, I think it's a bit clearer in my more open flower what I mean about the colour and shape of the mark on Bill Bishop. It's a more uniform thickness and a little more upright than in Little Ben.