Galanthomania in the US
James Waddick (Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:14:59 PST)

Dear Friends,
We US gardeners hear of UK garden galas
involving hundreds of people pouring over acres
of Snow Drops as the first hint of spring breaks.
This Galanthomania has resulted in record
breaking sales of single bulbs of special cvs (A
single bulb of G. woronowii 'Elizabeth Harrison'
sold at auction for a record £725.10 or
US$1,145.06 !!). Public gardens in the UK open
for tours, sales and auctions of plants.

I personally did not think there was a
market in the US for single Galanthus cv bulbs
for $40 or 50. I made an informal survey of a
half dozen friends who I knew were at least
vaguely interested in the genus and aware of UK
fervor. I was very surprised at the interest
and heard of some US nurseries selling bulbs for
the $50 to $100 each range and selling out very
fast. The degree of incipient Galanthomania
surprised me. I started to get inquiries if I
knew of a source for various lists of cvs
available for sale, or was I planning on
importing bulbs from the UK and could they order
a few more?

I grow maybe a half dozen or 10 named cvs
a couple of which I recently priced on US and UK
web sites and found they sell for much more than
I would ever pay.

So I am still somewhat awed at the seeming interest in Snow Drop Mania.

What do PBS members (Especially those in
the US) think of this whole thing?

Do any of you buy $20, $50 Galanthus bulbs?

Do you think you might be a Galanthophile ?

Is the whole thing totally a fad;
overblown and doomed to obscurity in the US?

What's the most you have ever paid for a single Galanthus bulb?

Thanks for your indulgence and feel very
easy deleting the whole post if you think it is
totally silly.

Best Jim W.

PS: Incidentally, the Galanthus here are
pretty much in full bloom although the earliest
are done and 1 or 2 are not yet up and open fully.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +