The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: jeroen55 on October 02, 2012, 10:27:22 PM
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hello everyone,
Is anyone has expierince growing galanthus and fritlaria s in portugese climate,,( central portugal) we are zone 9 ,last winter had -7 c, but it seems exeptionel.
ground is hardly frozen,light frost for couple of weeks.
i have been moved here recently ,havent seen anyone selling fritlaria or any galanthus.
summers are warm and dry here ,wet winter ,so i would like some advices from experts in med climate .
thank you.
kasun
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kasun. I planted some bulbs of Galanthus elwesii last autumn.
They grew and flowered well. I am hoping they will do the same this winter!!
Daisy
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Kasun,
Most Fritillaria originated to the Meditterranean will do well in your Climat: persicum, acmopetala, rhodia, etc. while for Galanthus, for sure the autumnal ones; G. reginae-olgae and peschmenii, for winter: G. ikariae, G. fosteri and as Daisy suggested G. elwesii might do well but needs colder conditions.
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Thank YOu very much for kind information,
best regards
kasun
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Just a thought but as well choosing the best location for the planting perhaps a deeper planting than you would normally do for species such as G. elwesii. This should keep the bulbs that bit cooler and help prevent desiccation. Oron what do you think?
I can quite imagine Daisy getting away with growing this.
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I found the first flower of my Galanthus elwesii open yesterday.
It is the only one of the clump to be above ground so far.
Why it has come up to flower so early, I don't know, but it is flowering on a shorter stem than usual.
Daisy :)
(http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss112/daisyincrete/001-12.jpg)
(http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/ss112/daisyincrete/002-10.jpg)
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Hi Daisy,
It will partly depend on the source of your bulbs. I too have Galanthus elwesii in full flower in a pot here in London. I have a number of autumn flowering clones all of which are var. monostictus though there are autumn forms of var. elwesii which has two marking on the petals. I believe that they come from lower altitudes in western Turkey. Not that far away from where you live. So perhaps it's not so surprising that you are able to grow them. Do you know where your bulbs came from or were they just purchased from an shop in a packet?
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Also by the way, is it growing through Lotus bertholetii?
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John, the Galanthus elwesii came from Eurobulb in the Netherlands.
Yes it is growing through Lotus bertholetii.
As my garden is so small, everything has to be in layers!!!!
Daisy :)
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I have just checked their website and it does say they are imported from Turkey which almost certainly means wild collected so it would depend on the region they came from. This would explain why you have ended up with autumn flowering which should be better in your climate!
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Here on Mallorca I grow a few species for several years - G. reginae - olgae, G peshmenii, G.cilicicus, G.fosteri, G. ikariae, G.elwesii and G. elwesii monostictus - G. elwesii monostictus is one of my favourites as seedlings appear regulary (small plants at the left of the flowering plant) - surprisingly also a cultivar which is said to be an G. nivalis x elwesii is doing fine. This season I will see if G. plicatus is also growable here. Have not seen Galanthus in trade in Spain - all my plants came from Germany, Great Britain or Netherlands.
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Hi Hans, they look very happy are any of your elwesii and ikariae autumn flowering? Presumably you grow your Galanthus in a shady part of the garden or up against a rock face etc.? I have not come across the 'Ferdinand von Rayski' which does have nice markings.
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Thanks a lot John,
I checked some notices - first of G. elwesii monostictus flowered at about 10th of november last year - this year it will be similar (earlier than some of the autumflowering species), most will flower in November and December, some in January and few in february (some british cultivars as Kite, Jessica, Big Boy...). G. reginae-olgae and peshmenii started recently to flower and a good number of them are still in the ground. G.ikariae are still seedlings.
Most plants grow, as you suppose, in shadow of bushes or stones and do not get any irrigation.
I think with the time the autumflowering plants will dominate more and more in my garden, they have just more time to grow and produce seed - an interesting process.
'Ferdinand von Rayski' is a german selection - said to be G. nivalis x elwesii, should be the latest flowering snowdrop here.
Here a picture of a few plants which started flowering the first week of december 2011 and the same plants two months later (with a lot of germination - in my terrace ::))
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I have some early flowering G. elwesii monostictus which flower alongside G. reginae-olgae. The hybrids between to two are strong growers but I still have to grow them in pots as I have no place in the garden that I can plant them. They wouldn't get enough light. I also have an autumn flowering G. ikariae which flowers about the same time but haven't managed to get any crosses at all from this clone.
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Very interesting cross - do you have a picture of your plants?
Are they similar to 'Autumn Beauty' sold by Wisley Garden Center a few years ago?
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Sorry I didn't reply quickly. I do have an image which I will try to post. It isn't very exiting though but I feel it might have hybrid vigour and grow better outdoors, at least for us here in the UK. Not tried yet though.
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Here's clone A. With Athyrium niponicum 'Wildwood twist'
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Thanks a lot John, it is a beauty!!
Could you also post a picture of the leaves, please - I am curious to see how much/ if something of reginae - olgae is visible in the leaves? Did you use reginae - olgae as podparent?
I am thinking about crossing a green tipped reginae - olgae with a green tipped monostictus - perhaps will get a green tipped cross?
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Me too. The parent was G. elwesii. I may have to take a pic of the leaves again to post a pic.
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Thanks John - I wish you good luck with the cross!
Actually four Galanthus species are in flower - three of them are on this picture - G. elwesii monostictus (front), G. cilicicus (middle) and G. reginae-olgae (back).
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And quite a boldly marked Cyclamen rohlfsianum too.
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Here's a cross between Galanthus peshmenii and G. reginae-olgae, clone D. Which I have to say isn't all that exciting!
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Nice Galanthus, John! Being an hybrid is it more vigorous than the two species?
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Two nice ones flowering today - Galanthus reginae-olgae and G. elwesii monostictus.
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Hans, again I have only just seen this posting. The G. peshmenii cross isn't so far more vigorous than either parent.
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I see that Galanthus reginae-olgae has already been discussed on this Forum. I wrote out the following to persuade my friend that they were Snowdrops which we saw and not something else.
Galanthus reginae- olgae. AUTUMN SNOWDROP
Seen growing in the Castor River Gorge, Kastori ,Lakonia
“Leaves….. usually appearing after the flowers
Flowers white, the inner tepals green, heart-shaped mark at the notched end.
Woodland and rocky places. Oct-Dec. Sicily, SW Yugoslavia and W Greece. Very similar in appearance to the common Snowdrop ….save for its autumn- flowering habit. The flowers are sweetly scented “
I have quoted from the book of Marjorie Blamey and Christopher Grey- Wilson WILD FLOWERS of the MEDITERRANEAN as several of my friends were confused, as I was, about Snowdrops in autumn
When I saw that there were so many Snowdrops I allowed myself to pick one for photographic purposes. It was either that or lie in the mud
Here are some close ups which show the heart- shaped mark clearly.
Now some information about the name
Galanthus= with milky- white flowers
This plant was first described in 1876 by Theodoros Orphanides who named it Galanthus reginae-olgae meaning of Queen Olga who was then Queen of Greece.