They are on the market because some of them do survive, especially if they are bought right at the beginning of the season. The longer they are in the totally wrong environment of hot dry shops then the more likely they are to die.
People tend not to blame the producers when the bulbs fail to appear, they blame themselves for not planting them properly.
The snowdrops come "in the green"..ie with the leaves and flowers. Dug up freshly from a field. ( not dug up from the wild) I have used them several times. Cheap and excellent quality. Plant as soon as they arrive...provided ground is not frozen.
Sorry I've just seen your posts @mchua. When I said ordinary snowdrops - I just meant the bog stand Galanthus nivalis. There are loads of varieties of snowdrop, so they don't alwasy flwoer at exactly the same times
However, as already said, dry bulbs are often less successful than those sold 'in the green' because of them being stored and not always in the best conditions. Your climate, site and soil will often determine the success too, so a drier soil and a sunny site can be less productive than a damper, shadier site with lots of organic matter. Many snowdrops will do well in grass and will multiply though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have just planted 100 Snowdrops from Euro Bulbs. They looked to be really healthy plants.
I used to count them into a few bulbs per hole..maybe 5 or 7 ..to start a tiny clump. In no time at all 15 - 20 small holes can be dug and the bulbs planted. They look silly planted as single bulbs. Over the years in Wales and here in Scotland we planted several 1,000's...all from Euro Bulb...all did well. Fantastic value.
Something I learned a long time ago that Galanthus really prefer to be planted in clumps rather than singly. In our previous garden we had a wood which was full of them. We ought to have brought more with us when we moved, but we had a lot of other things to move so they got left.
Most annoying thing here is that all the special ones were planted with labels and now not a label to be found, so what any of them are is beyond me.
I've just had a look at that link @Silver surfer - they look excellent value. I've been looking at various suppliers recently, as I'd like to get some more bog standard nivalis, and they look the best price. I had a little pot of two or three bulbs that my sister gave me when I moved in here [almost 9 years ago] and I've now got lots of them around the garden, as they've spread really well. I just lift and divide the clumps to put into various sites too. A joy to have them in late winter
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
They might come up late because of the late planting. If they come up but don't flower this year, let them die down naturally and hopefully they'll do better next year. Dry bulbs aren't a complete non-starter. I put dry bulbs in pots last September, and most of them have come up. Some have flowers already, before the the ones that are already out in the open ground. I'll plant them out when we get a decent day, probably in a few weeks, and hopefully they'll then establish and spread. I've done the same in previous years with reasonable success.
Edit: I should have said, I buy mine mail order so (I hope!) they've been stored in reasonable conditions and haven't been hanging around in a shop for months, and I plant them into pots as soon as I can when they arrive. That probably maximises their chances.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Sadly, generally speaking the bulbs sold like that are dead. Galanthus absolutely hate drying out and bulbs in packets like that have been out of the ground and drying for months.
Sorry. Hope you are lucky.
Thanks for that palustris i planted around 650 bulbs through Oct/nov a good chunk of which were snowdrops in bags like those in the picture .... I will be very interested to see what actually shows ! At the moment I have very little showing ...
I'm so excited - there is going to be a small plant fair near me later this month and one of the sellers is a snowdrop specialist so there will be snowdrops in the green to be had! Some of his rarer ones sell for £££££££s. I won't be buying any of those.
Posts
The snowdrops come "in the green"..ie with the leaves and flowers.
Dug up freshly from a field. ( not dug up from the wild)
I have used them several times.
Cheap and excellent quality.
Plant as soon as they arrive...provided ground is not frozen.
https://eurobulbs.co.uk/category/galanthus-snowdrops/
https://www.thegardeningwebsite.co.uk/listing/eurobulbs-uk-ltd-speciality-snowdrops-and-true-english-bluebells/
However, as already said, dry bulbs are often less successful than those sold 'in the green' because of them being stored and not always in the best conditions.
Your climate, site and soil will often determine the success too, so a drier soil and a sunny site can be less productive than a damper, shadier site with lots of organic matter. Many snowdrops will do well in grass and will multiply though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In no time at all 15 - 20 small holes can be dug and the bulbs planted.
They look silly planted as single bulbs.
Over the years in Wales and here in Scotland we planted several 1,000's...all from Euro Bulb...all did well. Fantastic value.
I've been looking at various suppliers recently, as I'd like to get some more bog standard nivalis, and they look the best price.
I had a little pot of two or three bulbs that my sister gave me when I moved in here [almost 9 years ago] and I've now got lots of them around the garden, as they've spread really well. I just lift and divide the clumps to put into various sites too. A joy to have them in late winter
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...