Galanthus for the garden

[Hannelore]

The galanthomany has catched me also. So I'll go to Nettetal in February and - surely - will buy something there. But the masses od hybrids are confusing me.
I understood that the easier a snowdrop is to propagate the cheaper it is. So. if I want to buy bulbs that form nive clumps in the garden in a few years I should buy cheap cultivars?

I'm looking for a yellow sort, a poculiforme and perhaps a bigger one autumn florishing. Back to home I wish to plant them at their place.

So, I'd be happy to get some recommendations please.

Hannelore

[annew]

I find the true poculiforms difficult in the open garden (at least the more affordable ones). There are easier inverse poculiforms such as Trymposter and Trumps which are vigorous gaden plants. A good, cheaper, large autumn flowering variety is 'Barnes'. It flowers from the beginning of November here in the north of England. Spindlestone Surprise/ Primrose Warburg (these may be the same ) are relatively cheap yellows that are good garden plants.

[Alan_b]

Sadly, I think there are many good snowdrops that you are unlikely to find on sale because the vendors assume that everyone has them already and therefore they could not command a high price.  The first ever named snowdrop (not counting flore pleno) was Galanthus 'Scharlockii' which was named in 1868 so is 150 years old this year.  Yet you rarely see it on sale in the UK now.

Perhaps your strategy is wrong?  Why not buy an expensive cultivar and as soon as you have two bulbs, offer to swap one with a friendly galanthophile in exchange for a number of their easy-to-grow bulbs.  You are likely to get far more bulbs per unit of currency that way and also the benefit of their expertise as to what grows well.       

[Carolyn]

Or you might buy an expensive cultivar and it dies on you! In my experience (not just galanthus, but all plants) the more expensive the plant, the more likely it is to be consumed by a nasty disease or by slugs, pheasants...

[annew]

Certainly our slugs have very expensive tastes!

[Hannelore]

I don't have slugs that eat green plants. I only have Roman snails and I feed them well. So they eat the eggs of all slugs and the little slugs in my garden and I have no problem.

Hannelore

[Alan_b]

Most of us who have been growing snowdrops for a while have more than we need of some varieties and these, typically, are the ones that do well and bulk-up quickly.  So we sell or swap or give-away the spares.  Hannelore would be best-served by making friends with people like us because I believe she is more likely to find the varieties she is seeking as 'spares' from an established collection than on a typical sales table (based on my experience here in the UK). 

[Hannelore]

Hello Alan,

you are right, but there are two problems: I don't have something to swap besides some seeds of which I'll publish a list in short time and snowdrops simple Galanthus nivalis that cover the garden of my mother like a meadow since more than 50 years.
The second problem is the postage from the UK to Germany. I have very bad experiences with that. Bulbs came here seeming healthy, but then started to rot and died in some weeks. I presume that the airplanes that transported them flighted so high that the bulbs were completely frozen, because that happened only in winter. That's why I hope to get something from the British merchands in Nettetal.

Best wishes
Hannelore

[Blonde Ingrid]

I presume that the airplanes that transported them flighted so high that the bulbs were completely frozen, because that happened only in winter.

That will not be the cause as commercial passenger planes maintain a baggage hold temperature of 15C, for cargo planes it is around 7C.

[Leena]

The second problem is the postage from the UK to Germany. I have very bad experiences with that. Bulbs came here seeming healthy, but then started to rot and died in some weeks.

I presume these were bulbs sent in the green? I've had similar bad experiences.
Try bulbs from Dryad Bulbs dormant summer list next summer (I don't know if this will be the last year when we can order from Britain to EU). There are many quite cheap and good ones there and I have never had any failures from Anne's dormant bulbs in five years time I have ordered them, so I really can recommend them and especially when they were sent dormant in the summer! 

[Hannelore]

I presume these were bulbs sent in the green? I've had similar bad experiences.
Try bulbs from Dryad Bulbs dormant summer list next summer (I don't know if this will be the last year when we can order from Britain to EU). There are many quite cheap and good ones there and I have never had any failures from Anne's dormant bulbs in five years time I have ordered them, so I really can recommend them and especially when they were sent dormant in the summer! 

Thank you, I have bookmarked the URL of Dryad Bulbs and try it next summer.

Hannelore

[Harald-Alex.]

The galanthomany has catched me also. So I'll go to Nettetal in February and - surely - will buy something there. But the masses od hybrids are confusing me.
I understood that the easier a snowdrop is to propagate the cheaper it is. So. if I want to buy bulbs that form nive clumps in the garden in a few years I should buy cheap cultivars?

I'm looking for a yellow sort, a poculiforme and perhaps a bigger one autumn florishing. Back to home I wish to plant them at their place.

So, I'd be happy to get some recommendations please.

Hallo Hannelore, I come back to Your ask for snowdrops Magdeburger Riesen. I found one source in SARASTRO Christian Kress Austria, who had selected this huge sort from Galanthus elwesii. The second information is from Michael Camphausen, who has this sort in his Galanthus Catalogue with foto as a variety of Galanthus plicatus. see foto.
Michael Camphausen is himself in Nettetal this year with a snowdropsortiment, You can ask him directly. (and if you meet him, please give him geetings from me! :-) ) I myself and my wife are in this time in Scotland to visit snowdrop-parks as Castle Cambo Gardens!
Greeetings from Germany via Scotland
Harald Alex

Hannelore

[Harald-Alex.]

Hallo Hannelore, I started many years ago, as I got a pot of Galanthus elwesii from OBI and planted this in a place under Corylus avellana shrups where many years grows normale G. nivalis. The bees where active and the flowers developed many fertile seeds.
In all places arund they germinated and I found seedlings with G elwesii types. After separate cultivation I got many new snowdrops with interesting flower markers, with different leave-types and flowertimes. One of the selected types started flowering last year in middle November together with the G. r-os!
The "production" of new types goes on and so every year has new surprices for me! :-).
This was the start for my infection of galanthomanie and after a Snowdrop tour to East-England  in februar 2015 this manie was virulent!
Then I started to build up a snowdrop-garden here in Döbrichau, 2017 with 60 varieties and this year with ca 120!
Greetings and all the best in Nettetal!

Foto 1: - the start place with G. nivalis, G elwesii and many new seedlings.
Foto 2: - a seedling -G. elwesii type with yellowish markers
Foto 3: - a group of strong seedlings with leaves of elwesii-type and frosthard big flowers and very fertile seed under the left flower.
Foto 4: - a seedling with early flowers, fototermin 29.112017

[Hannelore]

Just back from Nettetal here my captures:

1 Trumps
1 Spindelstone Surprise
3 S. Arnott
1 nivalis poculiformis
3 Pots each with a clump of Scharlockii
1 pot full with woronowii
2 regina-olgae 'Tilebarn Jamie'

In all I spent 123,50 Euro, so I'm really content and I think I can now add some early spring eyecatchers to my garden (as soon as the soil is no longer frozen).

Hannelore

[David Lowndes]

That looks like a great selection. S. Arnott is an excellent Snowdrop and Trumps is vigorous and attractive.