Here in Zone 5b snowdrops start blooming in October and continue with a few in each month through April. The majority of bulbs, however will bloom at the end of February into March. Here's a few that are still blooming despite snow and ice storms.

This is a Fall blooming elwesii originally from Montrose Gardens in Hillsborough, NC.


Galanthus elwesii 'Comet' taken on December 11th


This small planting of G. Potter's Prelude started blooming in November and it still going strong.


Steve

That's amazing. They don't bloom that early here. Do you find the different cultivars you collect at differently than the species?

Loretta,

You are correct. Different cultivars and some species bloom at different times. The earliest (October) is Galanthus reginae-olgae. Later in November we see some G. elwesii hiemalis such as 'Barnes', Remember, Remember and G. e. monostictus 'Montrose'. I usually have 'Three Ships' blooming on Christmas day but right now it's under a foot of snow so that may not happen this year. In January I usually see flowers from Mrs. Macnamara (named for Dylan Thomas' .mother in law who discovered it). Here's Mrs. Mac from last January.

That's interesting. Actually the next day I found a snowdrop with a bud. I can't say that is usual for me and I am not sure which species it is. I only planted the usual types
I do like having winter blooms. It is a bit of a fun challenge for me. Right now I have winter Jasmine blooming and Hellebore 'Prelude' in bud. When you are still raking the fall leaves and the next season blooms are already starting, it makes for a short winter.

Well here's what G. 'Three Ships' looked like on Christmas Day. Not in full bloom yet, but not far away.

Ah yes, it's that time of the year again when we all long for some blooms with snowdrops I only grow G. woronowii and G. w. 'Elizabeth Harrison' and they've just started peeking through.

Leucojums are far ahead though.

Nice photo , Steve. Snowdrops can be so photogenic.
Lee-Roy, hopefully you will post your photos.

Lee Roy, I'd love to see Elizabeth Harrison once she blooms for you. I was able to buy a single bulb last year, but she is still about a month away from blooming for me

Here's some January blooming Snowdrops in Central Massachusetts.

G. plicatus Colossus


G. gracilis


G. elwesii 'Green Brush'


Lots more will be up and going in February.

Steve

steve_mass said:Lee Roy, I'd love to see Elizabeth Harrison once she blooms for you. I was able to buy a single bulb last year, but she is still about a month away from blooming for me

I will if I can remember to do so.

She's been up for two months already almost, but growth is slow, up to the point that I fear she's a goner Leaves haven't even come through the sheath yet.

I managed to acquire 1 G. lagodechianus in the green in the mean time which is blooming right now.

The G. woronowii are coming up fine this year. The first has been out for weeks while others are only now starting to emerge. Funny because they all grow in the same little patch. But they were a mixed size bulbs batch over two different years so....Glad they're there though because I thought these too were goners after the poor performance last year.

First week in March will be the earliest I will be seeing any.

I'm impressed, Steve. Usually Massachusetts is almost a month behind me here in NJ. Beautiful photos. Colossus is very nice.
I have a few in bud but they are just staying there and some of the buds are looking disformed now. It was to early for them here.

Photos taken today (excuse the non existing quality and design):

G. woronowii 'Elizabeth Harrison' and G. lagodechianus



My patch of G. woronowii. A far cry from the lush, upright, bright green clumps I envisioned to have when I planted these three years ago (thank you for LYING Google Images!!)


The Leucojum aestivum which are up for months already:

The bloom in the pot is G. lagodechianus? Looks like a nice sized bloom.
The clumps can take years to develop so don't give up yet.

LorettaNJ said:The bloom in the pot is G. lagodechianus? Looks like a nice sized bloom.
The clumps can take years to develop so don't give up yet.

That is what I bought it as yes, but the genus Galanthus is under so much scrutiny and constant name changes (the amount of synonyms for this species alone is quite staggering) that I'm not entirely trusting of the name (with however good intentions the grower had).

If interested, read this post (interesting blog btw): https://www.revolution-snowdro...

The first photo is what I imaged my G. lagodechianus would be, but it doesn't look anything like it so far. The leaves haven't fully grown yet, so we'll see.

It can still be that. I can't tell you how many times I was disappointed by bulbs but after some years, they do mature. Sometimes it is just three years, sometimes it is a lot longer. So plant something else too that will entertain you in the meantime.

LorettaNJ said:It can still be that. I can't tell you how many times I was disappointed by bulbs but after some years, they do mature. Sometimes it is just three years, sometimes it is a lot longer. So plant something else too that will entertain you in the meantime.

Patience is the key indeed.

At the moment I'm in correspondency with someone from Russia who has a few rare species on offer, but alas no pictures to accompany it.
I think I will - if budget permits - order some from him and see what these turn into.

I'm very strict in what I like as far as Galanthus (or Hostas for that matter) goes: NO glaucous, grey/green, blue/green leaves, no 'narrow' leaves and NO doubles (bye Flore Pleno, you will never have the honor of growing - or dying - in my care ) . So almost ALL modern cultivars are out which are plicatus, nivalis, reginae-olga etc.

On the other end of the spectrum, G. woronowii, platyphyllus, lagodechianus and the recently named panjutinii are VERY attractive with their broader and glossy green leaves

Which are your favorites?

I don't have a favorite per se. I haven't yet bought the collectible varieties but I enjoy looking at them. I often considered going to Hitch Lyman's open days in NY but it is almost 4 hours away. Perhaps one day.
I do have this one. Haha!

I got it more than 15 years ago and I haven't bought it again for a couple of reasons. One, it isn't pollinator friendly. The second is you really don't see the inside of the flower in the garden unless you get down on the ground and lift it. Third, it doesn't hang as gracefully as the singles. One is enough to be novel. There is a large, spreading patch in the woods in my town of Flore Pleno. Someone must have planted it years ago. It is in an area that could be very wet at times and it is doing well. This year, I am going to examine how wet that spot is to make sure that's true.
Otherwise, I pick up what I find. I do like the longer, pointed blooms. I think those were mostly nivalis because that is what was for sale when I bought it.
I like narrow leaves on my bulbs. I think it blends nicer with other bulbs but I like the wider leaf too. I like all the leaf colors. I guess I like everything you don't. Haha! I really haven't developed an opinion on what I like with galanthus because I don't get a chance to see them all.
Later, I will post some pictures from last year or before. I have only bought nivalis, elwesii and nivalis verdes (?). There aren't many sources here in the US for named snow drops, Odyssey Bulbs and Temple Nursery are the only ones I am familiar with and neither were good at providing photos of what they were selling in the past. I see now you can search some of the images but it wasn't like that when I first looked into it.
Steve, who is your main source?

I'm enjoying the show! I'm curious as to where you purchase some of the more unusual snowdrops?

Here's a handy list:

https://www.pumpkinbeth.com/20...

Almost all are from the UK which due to Brexit won't be exporting anymore (phytosanitary certificate + CITES permit).

A way to get around this is to have a private person buy internally and have them send it to you because neither are nessecary for private exchanges.

I do have a cousin in England but he isn't the type to ask. The UK has some great stuff we can't get here.