Galanthus in April 2017

[Leena]

Yesterday we got new snow, but today it is raining so it will melt away. Snowdrops are advancing very slowly.
Here are some from last week (before the snow).
'Mrs Macnamara'
'Atkinsii'
'The Pearl', planted last summer, very pretty.

[Leena]

About ten years ago I planted ten dry bulbs of G.woronovii bought from garden center here. Four bulbs started to grow, and slowly they have multiplied, and also seeded.
Can you confirm that these are G.woronovii? There are ridges showing in the leaves, and I was wondering about them.. Or is it just light playing tricks?
In the first picture there are the two earliest plants, and then pictures of both of them closer. The clump in the left in no1 and in the right no2 which has more striped leaves.

[Rick Goodenough]

Leena,

A lot of Snowdrop action inn your garden. Great fun to see them!

Rick

[Rick Goodenough]

Two days back a group of Snowdrop enthusiasts met here and we all went on an adventure to the Cape Cod (U.S.) garden of Jonathan and Eugenie Shaw to look at Snowdrops and other early spring gems. Here are a few shots from their terrific garden where vast swaths of drops are naturalized.

From left to right is Gerry Bennett, Paula Squitiere, Harold Cross and Stephen Shaw all enjoying tall tales of Snowdrops at lunch at our home in SE Massachusetts, U.S. Next is a very large specimen Stewartia planted in this garden in 1957 by the current owner, Jonathan Shaw. And third, is a group of G. 'S Arnott' still in bloom that were essentially growing in shaded brambles.

[Rick Goodenough]

And a few more shots from the Shaw garden visit. A nice spread of G. 'David Shackleton', A fine clump of G. n. 'Virescens', a lovely Cornus mas, and I will end the show somewhat appropriately with a drop we saw named 'April Fools'!

[Pauli]

Galanthus platyphyllos is the very last here

[Alan_b]

Can you confirm that these are G.woronovii?

I don't think there is anything else they could be.  There are other snowdrops with supervolute green leaves but their flowers lack the notch on the inner petals that most snowdrops have, and yours do.  On the other hand, the leaves don't look quite like those of the various woronowii forms that I grow.  Can you make a close-up photograph of one of the flowers, please? 

[Alan_b]

I have only two snowdrop flowers that have made it into April.  One is 'Foxton'.  This came from the collection of the late David Quinton after some of his collection was sold at an AGS bulb sale some years ago.  My notes say that it was similarly late-flowering last year.



The second is a flower I collected (with the kind permission of its owner) because it was an albino - but I subsequently discovered it is only albino in some years and perfectly normal the rest of the time.

 

[Leena]

Thank you Rick. You have a lot of snowdrops still in flower also.

On the other hand, the leaves don't look quite like those of the various woronowii forms that I grow.  Can you make a close-up photograph of one of the flowers, please?

Thank you, I was hoping you would comment, Alan. Yes, I was wondering about the leaves. I can take a close-up of the flowers tomorrow, if the rain stops.
You have a very nice albino snowdrop.

[Janis Ruksans]

I'm not snowdrop grower and it seems that they don't like me, too. But some I have.
Here one of nice findings in Eastern Carpathian mountains where grows large flowering form of G. nivalis. This one I named 'Carpathian Viridapicis'. If someone wants it - I'm open for offers.

[Alan_b]

Janis, the fashion in snowdrops these days is for more exoticism than just green tips on a nivalis.  But I'm sure if it grows well then it will find its way into cultivation because the snowdrops that stand the test of time are the vigorous good doers rather than the fashionable exotics.  I would love to see these large-flowered nivalis snowdrops growing in-situ in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. 

[johnw]

Spring has been thoroughly rotten and the weather is not quite finished with us yet.  The whole east coast has suffered hard late March freezes after a very mild start, we on the other hand got repeated snowfalls so trust we avoided bud damage on the early shrubs.  Everyone is very tired of this bizarre weather.

Opened one sealed frame yesterday to find a riot of bloom and Ken spied this big bruiser of a seedling.  The label says "seed ex 'Daglingworth', planted June 2010 ex Stella T.", this must be its first flowering.  A good stout stem so we hope the size and markings will improve in the next couple of years, one other unflowered sibling.

Fairly certain the seed was 'Daglingworth' selfed.

john

[johnw]

Ken finally got the opaque plastic off the frames.  This 6m frame was a treat to see yesterday.  Now to get the pots cleaned up and notes made.  We are terribly backed up.

Good rains on the way.

john   

[Maggi Young]

Wonderful how healthy they look in spite of their  long covering.

[Rick Goodenough]

John...they sure look fit as a fiddle in those shavings...like Christmas in April seeing all of those drops! Rick