Galanthus March 2016

[Hagen Engelmann]

Tim, the number isn't important.  To grow the right few ones, this is the important thing 

[Alan_b]

Hi Maggi,
    In your opinion.............How many different cultivars does one need to grow before one is diagnosed as a Galanthophile?

i wasn't asked but in my opinion if you buy snowdrop bulbs for more that £5 per bulb you should be diagnosed as a Galanthophile.

[ashley]

Lovely photos Maggi.  Snowdrops here are almost over, but a couple of weeks ago in a brief warm interlude I watched huge amounts of snowdrop pollen being brought into the beehives.  Today it was mainly berberis, willow and dandelion.

Digressing further , what is that rhodo above the patch of Corydalis malkensis?  Very nice foliage.

[Hagen Engelmann]

i wasn't asked but in my opinion if you buy snowdrop bulbs for more that £5 per bulb you should be diagnosed as a Galanthophile.

That is hard Alan. If you want to buy a paeonia, you have to pay always(i think) more than £5 per plant.
So everyone is a paeonian freak who is buying a paeony? Hm, Hm, Hm ....

A Galanthophile is happy to get a fine new plant for money ...

[Alan_b]

Is a paeony freak a paeonophile I wonder?  I agree there are other plants than snowdrops that don't come cheap, but in terms of cost per gram then snowdrops must surely be amongst the most expensive.  At least with a paeony you get more weight for your money.

We're all happy to get a fine new plant as a gift or as a swap but only galanthophiles are crazy enough to pay large sums of money for snowdrops.  Ian Young, by the way, maintained that most of the snowdrops in his garden have arrived as gifts from people wanting to convert him and Maggi into galanthophiles (I heard him give a talk earlier today).  So it seems even if you maintain a public stance of indifference it doesn't stop the snowdrops coming.     

[mark smyth]

I'm a new paeonophile

[MR GRUMPY]

Galanthus nivalis 'Fifty Shades of Green'
(Attachment Link)
My most exquisite snowdrops in March is this deeply green nivalis,shaded in different tones:
Galanthus nivalis 'Fifty Shades of Green' It is big flowered, keeps its green tinges for a month...
will put a smile on your face, isn't it? (Attachment Link)

Definitely put a smile  on my face Valentin .Most definitely the best scharlockii I have seen this year  .

[Tim Harberd]

Just for you Mark! A bunch of my peonies from last year.

Tim DH

[mark smyth]

wow

[Hagen Engelmann]

Just for you Mark! A bunch of my peonies from last year.

Tim DH

big Paeonia in small hands  very fine picture
a colorful world (not only white, green and a little bit yellow)

[Hagen Engelmann]

  So it seems even if you maintain a public stance of indifference it doesn't stop the snowdrops coming.     

true words, Alan     

[johnralphcarpenter]

i wasn't asked but in my opinion if you buy snowdrop bulbs for more that £5 per bulb you should be diagnosed as a Galanthophile.

How about £20?

[Maggi Young]

Lovely photos Maggi.  Snowdrops here are almost over, but a couple of weeks ago in a brief warm interlude I watched huge amounts of snowdrop pollen being brought into the beehives.  Today it was mainly berberis, willow and dandelion.

Digressing further , what is that rhodo above the patch of Corydalis malkensis?  Very nice foliage.

The honey from your bees must be delicious, Ashley, with such a nice variety of flowers contributing.

 If this is the rhodo you mean in this  pic.....


 it is Rhododendron orbiculare

[Maggi Young]

true words, Alan     

In which case we would be expecting a large parcel from Germany? 

I have bought a few snowdrops over the years - trying to see if they will do well here - many don't and  many are so unstable as to colour and marking as to be indistinguishable from any other. No wonder Ian never buys any!

[ashley]

The honey from your bees must be delicious, Ashley, with such a nice variety of flowers contributing.

Thanks for the rhodo ID Maggi
I'm not sure whether snowdrops contribute much nectar but find that they are a key source of pollen to support early colony expansion, provided weather conditions in February are occasionally warm enough for foraging.