growing galanthus and fritillaria

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jeroen55

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growing galanthus and fritillaria
« on: October 02, 2012, 10:27:22 PM »
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

Daisy

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2012, 10:06:22 AM »
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
Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS

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oron peri

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2012, 10:31:01 AM »
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.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2012, 10:36:46 AM by oron peri »
Garden Designer, Bulb man, Botanical tours guide.
Living and gardening in Tivon, Lower Galilee region, North Israel.
Min temp 5c Max 42c, around 450mm rain.

jeroen55

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2012, 07:27:02 PM »
Thank YOu very much for kind information,

best regards

kasun

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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2012, 11:26:26 PM »
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.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

Daisy

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2012, 03:04:37 PM »
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 :)





Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS

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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2012, 03:42:04 PM »
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?
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2012, 03:42:56 PM »
Also by the way, is it growing through Lotus bertholetii?
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

Daisy

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2012, 07:30:42 AM »
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 :)
Amateur gardener, who has gardened in Surrey and Cornwall, England, but now has a tiny garden facing north west, near the coast in north east Crete. It is 300 meters above sea level. On a steep learning curve!!! Member of both MGS and RHS

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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #9 on: November 02, 2012, 09:56:06 AM »
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!
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

HansA

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #10 on: November 03, 2012, 11:03:16 PM »
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.
bulbgrower on the balearic islands, spain
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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2012, 11:03:33 AM »
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.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

HansA

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2012, 03:33:51 PM »
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 ::))
« Last Edit: November 04, 2012, 03:40:24 PM by HansA »
bulbgrower on the balearic islands, spain
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John

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2012, 03:58:43 PM »
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.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

HansA

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Re: growing galanthus and fritillaria
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2012, 08:19:38 PM »
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?
bulbgrower on the balearic islands, spain
landscape architect