Snowdrop suppliers in the USA

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:51:25 PDT
Boyce Tankersly asked
>We have been contacted by an author working on a Galanthus book who would
>like to include nurseries in the USA that carry a wide selection.
>
>A quick internet search of my favorite bulb suppliers didn't turn up a lot
>of diversity.  Are there one or more nurseries that offer a number of taxa
>for sale within the USA?

The only nursery I know of in the USA specializing in Galanthus is 
the Temple Nursery in New York state, proprietor Hitch Lyman. It has 
no web presence -- indeed, Mr. Lyman doesn't even use a typewriter 
and corresponds in a fine italic hand, which forces me to revert to 
my college courses with Lloyd Reynolds to respond. Also, he follows 
the outdated British practice of shipping plants bare-root in growth, 
and they don't settle in as quickly as those shipped dormant.

I haven't seen many kind of snowdrops offered by US nurseries. When I 
was selling surplus bulbs I offered a few from time to time, derived 
from stock I originally bought from the UK before the CITES 
restrictions were so severe. I think some of them are being offered, 
or will be soon, by Illahe Nursery.

I think there are more varieties grown, and probably sold, in British 
Columbia, but they could not legally be imported to the US without 
CITES permits.

This is a real problem for American gardeners who would like to 
explore snowdrop cultivars. I know a couple who have good collections 
brought from England, but they don't sell them. As for true species, 
Temple Nursery has a few.

A few years ago John Grimshaw gave a very helpful workshop at a 
meeting in BC about how to propagate snowdrops by twin scaling. Some 
of them are also very fast increasers naturally. There is really no 
reason why some American grower should not invest in ethically 
propagated stock from overseas and build up a good business in this genus.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA




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