galanthus wanted

[mark smyth]

that last one looks very like ikariae 'Seersucker'

[Anthony Darby]

Does anyone out there have any spare platyphyllus (not the one advertised as ikariaea latifolius (platyphyllus)) to exchange for a krasnovii bulb?

[mark smyth]

Anthony I know someone with the right G. platyphyllus but as far as I know she has never let any go. She may be tempeted by the swap. Most others who have it dont so be very wary of a one for one swap

[Anthony Darby]

Let me know if she wants to talk turkey Mark. I think krasnovii is a very elegant snowdrop and platyphyllus would compliment it nicely.

[ArneM]

I think I will get some of them in March/April.

[Anthony Darby]

Anyone sorted out the problems with 'South Hayes'? It's still on my 'most wanted' list but seems to have disappeared off the radar?

[Alan_b]

Me too, but that's a lot easier said than done - particularly if you don't have deep pockets.  Personally I'm all for trades rather than purchases but then you need to own something equally desirable and in sufficient numbers that you can spare a bulb.

[Anthony Darby]

.... but then you need to own something equally desirable and in sufficient numbers that you can spare a bulb.

So true Alan.

[mark smyth]

It will/should appear at some of the events this year.

[Brian Ellis]

you need to own something equally desirable and in sufficient numbers that you can spare a bulb.

That is a problem but then it shows the worth of trying you hand at growing some from seed, whether a deliberate cross or not, in a few years you never know what you might have from those lovely virescent ones.

[Alan_b]

That is a problem but then it shows the worth of trying you hand at growing some from seed, whether a deliberate cross or not, in a few years you never know what you might have from those lovely virescent ones.

Last year I found an early-flowering elwesii with a big fat seed pod, extracted the seeds, potted them up in compost covered by a layer of grit.  So far nothing, nada, zilch, zippo.  Not a sign of anything germinating.  I must be doing something wrong - in fact, given my level of knowledge and experience, probably several things wrong.  Any hints on raising snowdrops from seed (please respond on another thread if you feel this is taking us off-topic)?   

[Martin Baxendale]

Any hints on raising snowdrops from seed (please respond on another thread if you feel this is taking us off-topic)?   

Where to start? Alan, keep watching this thread. I'll try to find time to post some general seed sowing stuff tomorrow. In the meantime, assuming the seeds were fully ripe (yellow seed pod) and you sowed them right away, not letting them dry out, and kept the compost moist all summer, it's not too late for them to germinate. I'm finding in these mild winters (this and last year) that some of my seed (I sow hundreds of seeds from my crosses every year) is becoming reluctant to germinate. I blame the ridiculously high temperatures and almost total lack of frost in England last winter and this.

I've just given those seed pots that aren't germinating a few trips into the freezer - just for an hour at a time to just start the pots freezing through, then out again to let them thaw, repeating as often as I have time to do it. I'm hoping that'll get them moving.

Some seed (especially reginae olgae) is germinating like cress in the mild weather, but others are much slower than in past, colder winters.

You could try doing what I've done - a few spells in the freezer, but don't leave them in to freeze solid for too long - just enough to start freezing then out again. Or maybe even in the coldest part of the fridge for a week.

[Alan_b]

I think there is every possibility that my seeds were not kept moist throughout the summer - it's impossible to do this when I go away on holiday (and I am not that good at remembering such chores anyway).  But many snowdrops grow in regions where the summer climate is hotter and drier than ours so I was hoping they could withstand my neglect.

[Martin Baxendale]

Alan, I've found that pots of snowdrop seeds are best kept slightly moist (but not wet) during summer. If the seeds dry out completely for a long period, they seem to go into a deep dormancy and may take a number of years to germinate, if at all. For the same reason, they need to be sown straight from the pod.

[Anthony Darby]

My seed pots are kept on a bed of sand and the snowdrop pots receive very little direct sunlight. Seeds sent from Germany all germinated the spring after they were sown.