Galanthus March 2009

[David Quinton]

I first thought that it may be Fiona Mackenzie but it doesn't look like the one I grow under that name. As I recall, the green outer markings are more pronounced than those in the photograph. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me? I will check this evening when I get home.

[Martin Baxendale]

The one labelled "Mackenzie" in the photos is an elwesii, judging by the leaf, and 'Fiona Mackenzie' is a green-tipped nivalis. There's no sign of anything preceding "Mackenzie" on the label, just blank label, so maybe it's just an un-named green-tipped elwesii given to him by Ron Mackenzie.

[Martin Baxendale]

Sorry, brain not working well today. My point being that  the "Mackenzie" on the label may simply signify the donor, rather than being a snowdrop name.

[Gerard Oud]

This topic does show pics of extreme snowdrops, from very small to very big. For the last category are the following pics of nivalis Maximus which is still in culture here in Holland. This snowdrop does easily 35 cm, i do have found also one with green stripes on the outer petals and 35 cm tall.

[ichristie]

Hi Gerard and all, I post another picture of the odd double which I showed earlier, it is beside an ordinary double and G Dionysis,  cheers Ian the Christie kind

[Martin Baxendale]

This topic does show pics of extreme snowdrops, from very small to very big. For the last category are the following pics of nivalis Maximus which is still in culture here in Holland. This snowdrop does easily 35 cm, i do have found also one with green stripes on the outer petals and 35 cm tall.

Gerard, is nivalis 'Maximus' sold in Holland, and does it look like pure nivalis, not a hybrid (with no plication on any of the leaves)? If it is pure nivalis and commercially available, I wouldn't mind getting some to try breeding with in case it's a polyploid. Do you know who sells it, if anyone does?

[Gerard Oud]

I do, for a very Dutch price 2 euro each and its definitely a pure nivalis.

[loes]

Gerard,

what do you feed your snowdrops?
i also grow Maximus but mine are not 35 cm long,20 at the most.

[jamouatt]

I received three mailed deliveries of snowdrop orders in the last five days. Two orders were well packaged save for the doubling over of the larger drops to get them into the packaging.  This has resulted in some of the leaves (and flower stems) being cut through. The bulbs are very soft in both of these parcels, I feel more care should be taken to maintain a healthy leaf structure to give the bulbs a fighting chance to regain their full strength after flowering. The third parcel was perfectly sized for the contents (and did contain the largest plants) with no drop suffering any mishap, the bulbs were all firm too and seemed to have been fed steroids by the size and condition of the plants. As some of these bulbs cost £20 to £40 each I find it a very poor show and will not be ordering again from these two sources. My question is, is it normal to find the larger snowdrops folded over like this?

Thanks

John

[Brian Ellis]

Sadly John it is often the case that they are folded over like that and the structure of the leaf damaged - if not the scape.  I have also received £25 snowdrops where the bulb is very poor, buying snowdrops from some of these sources can be a bit of a lottery despite the prices.

[David Quinton]

John,

In my experience some suppliers do tend to fold over the leaves and flower stems to get them to fit into the boxes they have available. This year none of my bulbs had folded over leaves but some were definitely suffering dehydration after being out of the ground for some time. Clearly they are unlikely to recover this year and are likely to enter dormancy a lot earlier and therefore run the risk of being smaller bulbs next year as they miss out on the few extra weeks of photosynthesizing. Some suppliers are definitely more careful with packing than others and do seem to take pride in the way in which the plants are packed.

I have to say that for something that costs, as you say, £20 to £40 pounds you would expect a little more care in packing. Would you accept other purchases to be as poorly packed I wonder? Ultimately it is down to us, as consumers, to vote with our wallets, or purses if we feel let down by certain sources. It does seem to be a perennial problem (no pun intended).

Make sure that you give the plants a good feed and water well as soon as you can. Whilst that won't mend the broken leaves it may well help the bulb for next year. It may also be worth removing the spent flower so that all of the available energy goes back into the bulb and not into seed production.

Cheers,
David

[annew]

A couple of years back I had £50 of snowdrops sent in a jiffy bag. I was not impressed.

[KentGardener]

A couple of years back I had £50 of snowdrops sent in a jiffy bag. I was not impressed.

   

That is terrible!

[David Quinton]

A couple of years back I had £50 of snowdrops sent in a jiffy bag. I was not impressed.

   

That is terrible!

It's not all that bad, I mean, depending on what variety you buy now, you may only get one snowdrop in a jiffy bag for £50!  At least it was plural.

Sorry Anne, but I just couldn't resist and I don't mean to belittle the experience. I guess that you don't use that supplier any more?

[Anthony Darby]

I only ordered one and didn't get it.

Here's some out in today's sunshine:
Galanthus krasnovii;
G. plicatus 'Bill Clark';
G. plicatus 'Ailidh';
G. lagodechianus;
'Tubby Merlin' - note the slug-eaten flower;
G. nivalis 'Blewbury Tart';
a tiny yellow nivalis;
Galanthus platyphyllus opening a wee bit more.