{"product_id":"ding-dong","title":"Galanthus 'Ding Dong'","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eGalanthus\u003c\/em\u003e ‘Ding Dong’ was selected by the late Alan Street at Avon Bulbs, and the name is a playful nod to the old ‘Ding dong, Avon calling’ adverts.  To me, it’s a relatively tall, elegant snowdrop which really stands out in a crowd, thanks largely to its long, pale olive-green ovary.  I do love these lighter ovaries on snowdrops; \u003ca href=\"\/products\/sutton-courtenay\"\u003e‘Sutton Courtenay’\u003c\/a\u003e, one of my very favourite plants, has an even lighter ovary than ‘Ding Dong’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003eThe outer segments are relatively thin, and in warmer weather they open up to show the very interesting inner marking: a lighter green ‘V’ over the sinus, with some significantly more faded marks higher up the segment, which can differ slightly from year to year.  It’s a strong grower here and soon makes a good clump, and once the bulbs are settled I sometimes see two scapes coming from each bulb.  All in all, ‘Ding Dong’ is a brilliant early snowdrop, which flowers here in the North West from around mid January.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003eThe monograph tells the story behind it.  In the early 1980s, Avon Bulbs bought a batch of ‘Robin Hood’ bulbs from Alan Ransom, Herbert Ransom’s son, but they turned out not to be ‘Robin Hood’ at all, most likely a seedling, and were never sold under that name.  By 2000 the stock had grown into a good-sized patch that visiting snowdrop lovers kept noticing, and the name ‘Ding Dong’ first appeared in the Avon catalogue in 2001.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"wrj-sources\" style=\"font-size: 0.75em; color: #8a8a8a; text-align: left; line-height: 1.5; border-top: 1px solid #e6e6e6; padding-top: 10px; margin-top: 28px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"font-weight: 600;\"\u003eSources\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome of the background here comes from Bishop, Davis \u0026amp; Grimshaw, \u003cem\u003eSnowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WRJ SNOWDROPS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57693426385222,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0970\/0701\/0118\/files\/Ding_Dong_-_CR1_2603_1.jpg?v=1792860778","url":"https:\/\/www.wrjsnowdrops.co.uk\/products\/ding-dong","provider":"WRJ Snowdrops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}