snowdrops - bulbs or in the green?

and if you were creating a planting now you'd get 100 for 10-20 quid, and they would bulk up in a few years to some spectacular drifts ...

I'm with you on that, although I have to admit to have a sneaking admiration for the green colourings on the outer petals of that Green Tear one ... Perhaps I should sell the Ferrari and the Yacht and buy a couple of bulbs ? !!

 

i quite like the flore pleno armandii but if i had a lotto win sat id definatley bid £400 on the green tear ...just cos i could
then post it to spruce :WINK1: x

 

i suppose in some cases i hope we do actually get what we pay for (quality wise)
like what i thought was a bargain victoria plum tree for £16 of the internet :D but then i seen poundstretcher had them for £5.99
im hoping mine gets better plums for the price i paid ...i am useless at shopping thou and id rather be in a garden centre than a clothes shop

if them snowdrops and bluebells make you smile then yes you defo need them
im hoping the pinkbells seeds i bought are actually pink ..time will tell :WINK1: xx

 

that is so nice of you thank you , i have planted mine under the holly tree(from the pots i seeded them in that is) but the shoots look as dainty as fine grass at mo :o so im not even sure if they will flower this yr :( xx

 

Well ... if I get caught and have to "explain myself" then I will fall back on my well-worn phrase: "Couldn't afford not to have it" !!

I'm going to buy some snowdrops in-the-green too. I have a whole load that I lifted from my last place and planted here ... well, I thought it was a whole load, but there don't look to be very many.

I do wonder if the ones I planted this-time-last-year struggled? We had an April & May last Spring to end all dry Aprils and Mays ... and with hindsight I should have watered them (never ever thought to do that before ...)

Trouble is when i look at the catalogues I get carried away. Plant a few hundred nivalis and pleno-what-nots in the middle and them some poncy Viridapice and S. Arnott and the like around the edges - and they cost 10x as much of course ... and then some Leucojum Vernum at the back to create some contrast and height ... and all of a sudden I've racked up 6x what I budgetted for before I've even got my Plastic Money out ...

Where are you buying from Armandii? I've been looking at www.eurobulbs.co.uk and www.naturescape.co.uk. I don't know if it is coincidence but they are both using the same shopping cart software, and its a brand I've never seen before ... I wonder if they are both the same outfit, trading against each other so-to-speak.

'Course I need Bluebells and Aconites too ... and some Cyclamen for under the trees. I bought some Bluebell seed from a keen enthusiast a couple of years ago,and I can't see any sign of any having taken. I'm surprised about that - or maybe I should have grown them in "modules" and planted out? (although his advice didn't suggest that that was necessary)

Final thought whilst I'm rambling on: I've been meaning to raise the point that the RHS "The Garden" had an article recently (I can't find the blessed thing, otherwise I would quote it ...) that in-the-green may not be the best way of getting these bulbs established - the Spring drought stress being a significant problem. When I next see the Mag lying around I'll report back with chapter-and-verse.

 

i hope i have something worth exchanging,your welcome to anything ive got send me your wish list you never know your luck:WINK1: xx

 

You didn't tell me to :( You didn't phone, you didn't write, you didn't fax, you didn't email, ... :nono:

I'll have a look at Garden Supply Direct, thanks for that. 400 you planted eh? and another 200 this year eh? Hmmm ... I was thinking of planting just a couple of hundred (split up to singles, so they'll be a few years making clumps). I reckon I am not planning to plant anything like enough then ??

"They have a range of stuff in the green which might tickle your fancy!"

I do hope they don't! I've been buying from the Winter garden plant sales like they are going out of fashion ! Starting the spending spree last Autumn with 16 x 8' tall yews didn't help

"I bought some Cyclamen corms from a Market Gardener 4 years ago and put them under my Acer...............not a thing for 4 years. Then this Winter I've got flowers and leaves from all four of them, plus seedlings that have appeared from nowhere!! "

You'll get a good price for them on eBay - "Cyclamen that will self-seed years before they flower"

"I think certain seeds are awkward to get to set and Blue Bells are among them"

Didn't think to check if they were easy or not. My, new, plan was to plant some bulbs - they are reputed to self seed readily, so getting a few going is the first step. I've dug up and burnt all the Spanish ones we had here ... they are way to promiscuous for the English ones to survive ...

"I've got 40 Banana seeds of different varieties in a heated propagator and I'm not holding my breath on them coming up."

I think 10% germination is regarded as "good" for them (although Musa v. Ensete may be different, which have you got?). I put mine on top of the boiler (the lid gets almost too hot to touch), with a couple of 1cm slivers of wood under them, so the seed tray [and transparent cover] isn't actually touching the boiler. Then I put an upturned polystyrene box (fish-box type thing) over the top. That gives them a very hot period when the boiler is on, and very cool contrast overnight (my boiler is in the garage ...). Supposedly toggling the temperature between 35C and 18C (or something like that ...) for 8/16 hours makes a difference. I got about 40% germination last year (trying the same thing with some Travellers Palm seeds this year - I think they look rather fun )

 

OK, I did some Comparison, based on 100 Singles and 100 Doubles

HTML:

                     Single Double Carriage  Total
Garden Supply Direct  £8.95 £14.99    £2.95 £26.89 
EuroBulbs             £9.00 £15.00    £3.50 £27.50
NatureScape           £8.80 £14.80    £3.00 £26.60

Much-of-a-Much-ness

Prices are very similar at 1,000-off - although EuroBulbs marginally cheaper (that's excluding carriage and freebies)

EuroBulbs £3.50 postage any order size, 100 free single snowdrops with every £50 spent
NatureScape free postage on orders over £40

The EuroBulbs "offer" represents £8.95 discount on every £50 spent - which is the best part of 18% !!

Prices of other bulbs (based on 100-off):

HTML:

              GSD    Euro  NScape
Elwesii    £27.99  £28.00  £--.--
Ikariae    £27.99  £28.00  £--.--
Viridapice £--.-- £200.00  £--.--
S. Arnott  £--.-- £200.00  £--.--
Leucojum
Vernum     £--.-- £200.00 £175.99
Bluebells  £15.80  £14.00  £15.60
Aconites   £19.39  £15.00  £99.99

 

Are these special Bluebell bulbs ? or just common or garden English Bluebells
The ones my brother is desperately trying to rid his garden of each year, over a hundred new ones keep popping up :-( everywhere and not wanted

Jack McH