When do snowdrops come up?

Garden noob · December 2018

Are your common snowdrops coming up yet?

I bought some snowdrops in the green a couple of years ago and they didn't come back. I tried to improve the soil drainage and planted more in the green last winter... No sign of them yet. Do I need to be more patient?

BenCotto · December 2018

Yes, mine are poking through but no more than half an inch. My tend to favour damper spots but they are all over the garden, probably several thousand. I just let them get on with it; if they’re in the wrong place I move them and the time of year doesn’t seem to matter. I wonder if the received wisdom to move them in the green is a bit of a myth.

Hostafan1 · December 2018

Picidae said:

I wonder if the received wisdom to move them in the green is a bit of a myth.

I read an article by one of the "national collection holders" and most certainly debunked th.e "myth" . He said moving them in the green damaged the roots. He always marked where the clumps were and moved them whilst dormant.
Buying them in the green rather than dry bulbs might be a different matter.

Mr. Vine Eye · December 2018

Mine planted in September from Aldi are all poking out of the soil - along with crocuses and narcissus.

im excited it's the first year I've planted them

Garden noob · December 2018

Oh dear, I think perhaps my snowdrops have died in the ground

My attitude to gardening is very much that if a plant dies, it wasn't meant to be. I don't want to stress over plants that don't want to grow in my garden... Apart from snowdrops! I love snowdrops, especially as there's hardly any other colour in the garden when they come up.

So what's the best strategy for getting snowdrops to grow...?

(Thankfully my cyclamen coum are flowering nicely - I love them for a bit of winter colour

)

Posy · December 2018

Difficult, snowdrops. I bought some, years ago and planted them in different parts of the garden but all, to my mind, the same conditions. In some areas they romped away and I have divided clumps, dug some up by accident and put them back, the dogs run over and dig round them. No problem, they are happily increasing. In other areas they hardly showed and died out within three years. In one place they vanished without trace. I think you have to do your best but be philosophical about them.

*Astrantia* · December 2018

I had a few snowdrops a couple of years ago but they too have disappeared. I have quite heavy clay soil but I know someone who lives a couple of miles away she has more sandy and very very stony ground and has literally thousands of snowdrops they grow like weeds in her garden!!!
she dug up some bulbs earlier in the year to give me I’ve put them in pots and they’re just starting to poke out of the compost so I’ll be interested to see how they get on in the coming weeks.

Garden noob · December 2018

Come to think of it, I bought some winter aconites a few years ago and they didn't like this spot either. They're often grown with snowdrops, so maybe I should try elsewhere?

I didn't have great success with my winter aconites in the green (probably 70% died), but a few of the ones planted in the raised bed looked strong last winter.

Do you reckon it's worth trying the same spot with snowdrops? And would you plant dried bulbs, or in the green?

fidgetbones · December 2018

I often move snowdrops around the garden. From an initial clump when I moved in, I now have thousands. I dig a clump up in the summer, when the leaves have died away. I replant the bulbs in the new spot at once. I space the bulbs about two inches apart and then leave them until they get overcrowded again. At this time of year with congested clumps, there will be some loose on the surface. I pot those up to give away or fill gaps in spring. The trick to snowdrop bulbs is to never let them dry out. They need to be replanted as soon as possible after lifting. A mulch of compost never hurts either.

Fairygirl · December 2018

I've split and moved mine when dormant - mainly through summer. My sister gave me a little pot of them a year or so after I moved in here. I now have quite a few clumps dotted around. They aren't the 'usual' kind, and they're normally a bit later to flower.
I have a few starting to poke through in the last week or so.

Is it possible that squirrels have dug up and eaten them, garden noob? They like the little bulbs because they're not buried too deep. The aconites are the same. They often get my small alliums for that reason.

Lyn · December 2018

Hostafan1 said:

Picidae said:

I wonder if the received wisdom to move them in the green is a bit of a myth.

I read an article by one of the "national collection holders" and most certainly debunked th.e "myth" . He said moving them in the green damaged the roots. He always marked where the clumps were and moved them whilst dormant.
Buying them in the green rather than dry bulbs might be a different matter.

That was what the RHS said on that programme of A - Z of garden plants.
I move mine anytime they’re in the way, they pop up everywhere, some are showing now, some are not, depends how deep the get pushed in the ground. I’ve sent boxes of them to friends, not in the green, they flower.
One year we had a herd of cows trample on these and pushed them deep, they didn’t flower the following year.

When do snowdrops come up?

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