Snowdrops: Yes Spring Is Coming

Finally we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, or should I say light in the sky for longer periods of time.    Many gardeners  say that winter is the best season.  I tend to agree but this year, I’m so done with it.   Left over plants from the garden show are ready to go in the ground.  New garden beds have been created and developed… But not yet.

I’ll have to take comfort in one of the best parts of winter, snow drop season. The frosty frozen ground is no match for the hardy, pushy snowdrop. Yearly progress in the formation of clumps is wonderful to see. Some successes and some failures are also common.   Bulbs I purchased from H. Lyman’s garden, Temple Nursery, (click the link to read about the unique way to contact Temple Nursery) last year are but one lone leaf. I’m not sure what the problem was but the large amount of money spent on the bulbs feels wasted. Purchasing snowdrops can be a challenge and in my humble, limited experience I would suggest being very careful ordering them as bulbs on the internet. My two trials so far have resulted in no viable bulbs, no matter how exciting it was to receive two packages from Turkey. Not much money spent on these so it was a good learning experience. Two great resources I have found, however, are Carolyn’s Shade Gardens in Pennsylvania and Cornovium Snowdrops in Cheshire England. Carolyn’s sends the bulbs ‘in the green’. Which means the bulb, with flower intact, come wrapped carefully and arrive moist by two-day postal service. I have ordered from them twice and both sets are beautiful and growing well in my garden. My order this year included:

• Galanthus cordelia
• Galanthus nivalis ‘Blonde Inge’
• Galanthus Stratton
• Galanthus Diggory (Diggory is beautiful and quite sassy swaying in the breeze)

Cornovium Snowdrop Nursery is staffed with the nicest people. I was a little behind this year in ordering and was having trouble getting what I was looking for. I contacted them and they so graciously let me buy a few that were listed as sold out. These are usually ordered in December or January (I will mark that on my calendar for next year) and are shipped as bulbs, not in the green, because they come from the UK. They dig them after they have gone dormant and I receive them in the fall. However they are caring for the bulbs has resulted in actual growing plants in my garden so I feel confident continuing to by bulbs from them. This year I’ve ordered:

• Galanllthus nivalis Sandersii Group
• Galanthus ‘Cowhouse Green’
• Galanthus plicatus ‘Trym’
• Galanthus plicatus ‘ Wandlebury Ring’
• Galanthus plicatus ‘Trymlet’

After the garden show I had 4 flats of Galanthus nivalis or common snowdrops.    They will go in a space by the upper pond under a large Japanese Maple. I’m hoping to create the look of England in the spring with the bulbs growing in the grass in mass. I’ll post pictures next year of my success (or failure). The beautiful white and green of the snowdrops in the frozen ground is truly a sign that spring is just around the corner. Here are a few pictures of my ever growing collection.