Galanthomania in the US
Mary Sue Ittner (Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:18:23 PST)

I expect that Galanthus would be difficult for me to grow which may
be one reason why I too don't understand this fascination. But seeing
them in mass is quite nice and I enjoyed some of the stands I saw in
private gardens in Portland, Oregon when I went to a NARGS winter
study meeting. We all have our favorites and grow things that others
might find uninteresting which is probably a good thing. I am
reminded that one day when out hiking and coming across a Fritillaria
affinis, one of my hiking buddies who was interested in native plants
and I were excitedly looking at it. We knew there were some that had
been seen in this area, but neither of us had ever seen them and we
had looked for years. Another hiker who did not share our interest in
flowers turned to someone else and said in a very surprised voice:
"Is it that brown (word brown spoken with disgust) flower they are admiring?
I would probably never even buy a Galanthus, but certainly not at an
exaggerated price.

Mary Sue

At 08:40 AM 2/26/2012, you wrote:

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers