Galanthus in October 2017

[Mariette]

That's a lovely find, Mariette.  I am interested in the statistics of elwesii "mixtures" and what fraction turn out to be autumn-flowering.  Can you estimate this for the ones you bought?

My experience is limited : in 2011 and 2012 I bought altogether 300 Galanthus elwesii from a well-known Dutch supplier: 3 - 4 % of these were autumn-flowering G. e. var. monostictus. When I bought 200 more in the following years, they turned out to be all rather similar G. e. var. elwesii, so I suppose, he relies on other sources now.

[Alan_b]

That's very interesting, Mariette.  I presume these bulbs are imported from Turkey; CITES permits a certain quantity of imports but limits the numbers.  I am guessing they come from Turkey as it has a long tradition of exporting elwesii snowdrops but that could be wrong as I read that elwesii has quite a widespread distribution.  As I wrote previously, it would be interesting to know whereabouts these autumn-flowering elwesiis come from, but possibly even the bulb company doing the importing does not know that.

[Rick Goodenough]

My experience is limited : in 2011 and 2012 I bought altogether 300 Galanthus elwesii from a well-known Dutch supplier: 3 - 4 % of these were autumn-flowering G. e. var. monostictus. When I bought 200 more in the following years, they turned out to be all rather similar G. e. var. elwesii, so I suppose, he relies on other sources now.

Mariette, I like what you have done in planting out larger numbers of dormant elwesii and finding treasures in the lot. I planted out a sweep of 1,000 dormant elwesii last year and noted a few which were interesting. A couple were earlier than the rest, but I have not seen them nose up yet. There were three that had yellow tones, which would be fun to see again this year, but I suspect the yellow may have been environmental somehow, I should know more in February or March. A photo of one of them is below from March 8, 2017.

I have planted out smaller groups in the past and have always had an interesting one or two appear, and as with your experience, most are elwesii var. elwesii.

[Rick Goodenough]

Alan,

My experience runs along the same lines as Mariette with some similar low 2-4 percent of early blooming, monostictus or other unusual traits.

Rick

[Mariette]

That's very interesting, Mariette.  I presume these bulbs are imported from Turkey; CITES permits a certain quantity of imports but limits the numbers.  I am guessing they come from Turkey as it has a long tradition of exporting elwesii snowdrops but that could be wrong as I read that elwesii has quite a widespread distribution.  As I wrote previously, it would be interesting to know whereabouts these autumn-flowering elwesiis come from, but possibly even the bulb company doing the importing does not know that.

The lots from 2011 and 2012 certainly came from Turkey, as they proved to be a very mixed bunch. For wholesale, different provenances are mixed and exported, so snowdrops from different parts of Turkey are offered by dealers   here. Some of mine rather looked like G. gracilis, one or two even had green leaves.

As the later orders proved to look so uniform, I suppose they were material raised in the Netherlands.

The autumn-flowering forms of G. e. var. monostictus may be expected to come from the milder parts of the country. Whether there is any genetic difference between G. e. var. elwesii and monostictus, I don´t know. A friend, who was fortunate enough to see the latter growing wild, said that they prefer the less dry locations.

[Mariette]

Mariette, I like what you have done in planting out larger numbers of dormant elwesii and finding treasures in the lot.

Well, many people won´t like that because of conservation aspects.  Indeed, the sale of G. e. bulbs were for some time forbidden in parts of Germany, in others not. As the regulations have become rather strict and G. e. is even grown in fields for export now, one may be less worried to do any harm.

Your pale find looks very nice, those dainty marks in the manner of G. gracilis are definitely my favourites!

[Alan_b]

I have been reading what Tom Mitchell has to say on his web site http://www.revolution-snowdrops.co.uk/tag/galanthus-elwesii-var-monostictus/ .  He is a very good source of information because he has been visiting many wild snowdrops in-situ over the last few years.  He refers to a late autumn flowering population of Glanthus elwesii var. monostictus that has been found in the south of Turkey.  Perhaps a small proportion of bulbs from this area get mixed-in with the general imports?   

[Mariette]

Thank You for this excellent link, Alan! Brilliant pics and much to learn about species!

Obviously, Tom found the autumn-flowering G. elwesii var. monostictus in the same mild region like my friend; G. peshmenii, another autumn-flowering species, is also growing there.

It´s a pity, that the beautiful largeflowered G. gracilis Tom discovered are represented so little in cultivation here. The smallish though nice clones generally offered give a wrong impression of that species, I fear.

[David King]

Had a wander round the garden with my camera to take a few photos of snowdrops and chrysanthemums on a rather nice day.

1.  G. Hogget's Round
2.  G. elwesii hiemalis ex Beth Chatto
3.  G. Hogget's Narrow
4.  G. Remember, Remember  (normally out well after Nov 5 but this well before)
5.  G. Howard Wheeler

[David King]

A few more.

1.  G Rainbow Farm Early
2.  G Barnes
3.  G. Peter Gatehouse
4   G. Peter Gatehouse

[Alan_b]

Wow, David, a great set of photos.  I have not yet saved-up enough money to buy either of the two Hoggets from Matt Bishop, who I think is mainly responsible for distributing them.  But they are both convincingly distinctive.  I wonder how many 'Hoggets Indifferent' were passed-by in order to select those two good ones?

Edited to remove misapplied apostrophe.   

[Brian Ellis]

I am pleased to say that the Hoggets varieties were presents from two kind friends. Terry Jones was known for his Nerine hybridization and had a garden called Hoggets in Zeal Monachorum, after his death three snowdrops were noticed in the garden these were grown on at The Garden House and presumably became G.'Hoggets Narrow', G.'Hoggets Round' I assume the third snowdrop was that named after him -  G. ×valentinei  ‘Terry Jones’.

[Maggi Young]

Lots to see in Norfolk at the minute- very nice!

[Blonde Ingrid]

Some highlights from my early Autumn drops. So far an excellent and early year. A great many others through and clumps increasing in size nicely. Also delighted to see my new green tipped drop through, in my view the best I have seen for a considerable time.

Galanthus Peshmenii, doing well and multiple clumps now present.
Galanthus r-o Eleni, another Melvyn special doing well.
Galanthus r-o Tilebarn Jamie, a typical acquisition from Anne Wright, bulking like crazy!
Another G. Autumn Beauty version to add to the confusion. Mine has rather nice green wash to the inner marking.
G. Santa Claus, reliably before November for me here in Sub Saharan East Anglia. This is a satellite clump doing well.


The season is now well underway!

[Blonde Ingrid]

G. Else Grollenberg kept in a sunny spot this year and the green markings on the outers present, unlike last year.
G. Hollis
Another Autumn newbie, clumping well and looking stunning!

The season is now well underway!