Snowdrops - the winter jewels

According to Wikipedia, the Snowdrop (Galanthus - Greek gála "milk", ánthos "flower") "is a small genus of about 20 species of bulbous herbaceous plants in thefamily Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Most flower in winter, before the vernal equinox (20 or 21 March in the Northern Hemisphere), but certain species flower in early spring and late autumn. Snowdrops are sometimes confused with their relatives, snowflakes, which are Leucojum and Acis species”

However to me they just warm my heart as it means that the worst of winter is over and that Spring is on its way!

If you were thinking about getting snowdrops into your garden for this year then unfortunately you are too late – but, believe it or not, you absolutely should start thinking about 2015!!

Snowdrops are actually one of the easiest flowers to plant – and they should be done when they are “in the green”.

This means that you find a friend who has plenty of snowdrops and won’t mind giving you some. They you wait until they have finished flowering and then you dig up the bunch of bulbs. Be careful now – you don’t want to damage the little pearly white bulbs. Essentially, just split the bunch into two and take ½ of them. Make sure that you keep all the leaves etc.

Put them into a bag and make sure that you plant them into your garden as quickly as possible – don’t let them dry out. 

Pick a planting position that is not water-logged. Generally speaking, snowdrops will grow in any soil once there is no sitting water.

Place then gently into the soil and water them. This is very important as you want to establish root contact with the soil. Leave them completely alone and let the green leaves etc die back.

Come back next Winter and you should see the gentle heads starting to peep up through the soil!!

Easy. Happy planting and I hope that your snowdrops bring you many happy years!