Terry L. Ettinger Horticulture Consulting Services
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Recommended Bulbs, Corms & Tubers -
Snowdrops
I've always said that I don't mind our cloudy, snowy Central New York winters - as long they're no more than about three
months long (e.g., November, December and January). Apparently, however, Mother Nature didn't get my memo, as it's not unheard of to get a good snow
well into April - and, once, as late as Mother's Day weekend!
The good news is that one of our most common "minor" bulbs, snowdrops, did get the memo and
are therefore
almost always in full bloom by the end of February, above right -
and sometimes as early as mid- to late January! Note in the picture
above that the snowdrops are easily in bloom a full week, or more,
before the crocus along the right edge of the picture.
Similar to many other common spring-flowering bulbs, the roughly twenty species of snowdrops (Galanthus) are native to native to dry woodlands and low mountains from southeastern Europe (e.g., Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) to Caucasus mountains in Turkey and beyond. Regardless of species, all feature pure white flowers consisting of three long petals that enclose three shorter petals that are tipped with green, above left.
The flowers and foliage emerge from teardrop-shaped bulbs that are roughly one inch tall and one inch wide. The bulbs
are widely available at local garden centers and through mailorder sources beginning in late summer, and cost anywhere from
a little more than $1.00 per bulb to as little as $0.30 per bulb if you order them in multiples of 100.
While the bulbs are
easy to find in the fall, I've had the best luck establishing clumps of snowdrops in our yard,
above right, by transplanting bulbs "in the green" as soon as their
flowers start to fade in mid- to late May. Using this technique, you
can begin with a clump of ten bulbs, and have between two and three
hundred bulbs by dividing and replanting individual bulbs from the
resulting clusters three inches apart and three inches deep, every other year for six years!
If you don't have any snowdrops in your landscape or garden, this is
definitely the year to start. Mix them with winter aconites, above
left, crocus, at right, and/or February and March-blooming
Lenten
rose, and I promise that it'll be easier to make it through every
long Central New York winter to come!
For more information on transplanting snowdrops "in the green," click on the link to "Garden Journeys" video along the right side of this page. And, if you want more information about the wide range of snowdrop varieties, to go "Judy's Snowdrops" website.