Back in 2017, I felt hooked by Galanthus (snowdrops). In DEC of 2017 I planted 60 Galanthus woronowii

The thread "fantastic snowdrops (Galanthus) site & Kentucky region questions" in Bulbs forum



The resulting 6-8 plants was a bit of a letdown. I was happy I got some specimens to take hold but, well, I planted 60!

Anyway, the pic above was from a week or two ago. The one below is from yesterday.



That is five years of growth. They're not exactly breaking any reproduction records but I do love what I have. Between budget issues and the seemingly looooong time to expect spreading, I am on the verge of giving up my dream for a large expanse. And the risk of specimens not surviving planting/babying stage makes me even more loathe to commit resources to buying/planting.

That said, I've seen some articles online about planting in the brown. That makes a bit more sense to me given that the greens have been able to furnish the bulb with resources without interruption. I'm thinking about digging mine up when they turn brown and replacing spread out a bit back into the ground immediately.

Most of the online references are clearly UK-centric. So .. For those snowdrops growers among you in the US... Thoughts???

I've had good luck with mine by waiting after they flower then digging and seperating and replanting. Like you said they are not a house on fire as far as spreading out. I've just been trying to buy about 100 every few years and planting them around.

My experience has been that the species nivalis is the most prolific and spreads the fastest. I have elwesii in another area and they are spreading too, but not nearly as quickly as nivalis. Both of these are readily available from bulb vendors like Brecks and Van Engelen. I also have been fascinated by the many cultivars, but they seem to be more of a UK passion and they are hard to find in the US. I've been getting single bulbs "in the green" of various cultivars from Carolyn's Shade Gardens but they are really pricey and sell out fast. The cultivars have been multiplying from those single bulb purchases, but very very slowly...

With the nivalis species, I've started digging up some of the clumps after they have bloomed, or even while they are blooming, divided them into multiple smaller clumps, and replanted them. Easy to get large swaths of them in a few short years. Here is one area where I've been doing that on a small scale, but I plan to step up my game on those this year.

Each one of those nivalis clumps in the above photo can be divided into 3 or 4 smaller clumps. If I do each one this season, I'll have quadruple the number of clumps next year. It will likely only take a year or two for those divided nivalis clumps to reach the size they are now and then I can do it again and again...

I live in the Uk and grow many forms of Galanthus, both species and named forms. Once planted I find they increase fairly quickly in a few years from producing one flower to ten. Nivalis and Woronowii seed around freely but to get a larger spread I would also dig up your clumps preferably while dormant and replant singly. It may look a bit sparse at first but you will eventually get the desired effect. But natural colonies take many years or even decades to establish huge areas of bloom. The photo is of a natural colony in a graveyard. Of course you could venture into twin scaling or chipping but that's a whole different ball game. Good luck though, it will be worth it.

Joff Elphick publishes a UK-based snowdrops price list for 70+ varieties. Some are eye-popping prices!

Anyway, galanthophiles enjoy!

https://www.joffelphick.co.uk/...

31 Pounds for the cheapest one!

crawgarden said:

😍😍😍

My first planting of dormant bulbs of G. woronowii was also a let down. They're not the most expensive snowdrop out there, so buying new ones to increase success wouldn't exactly break the bank.

Division can either be in the green after flowering or in summer when the bulbs are dormant. As long as they don't dry out I find either way equally succesfull.

Earliest up until this point had been 04 March!

Here is my clump of Trumps. I bought a single bulb from Carolyn's back in 2019.




I plant all of my named cultivars in those small aquatic mesh pots to protect them from voles.

It is snowdrop time! LG, I've been ordering a few named cultivars from Carolyn for several years now. Don't have many vendors here in the U.S that sell diverse galanthus cultivars.

I haven't taken any photos yet, but on a recent walkabout, I see them poking up. Only two little patches are blooming already.

The snowdrops are in full swing here! I really enjoy them. Hopefully you will have some photos to share soon, Terri.

These are the two little clumps that are blooming so far.

'Magnet'


The plant marker tag is missing on this one. I know it is a named cultivar from Carolyn's Shade Gardens and I have additional notes that I indicated where I planted the snowdrops along the fern bank, so hopefully I can id it. I have such a hard time keeping plant markers in place. This year I have a new approach with slate markers that I splurged on. We'll see.

My notes show two cultivars planted in the 60-65 foot segment along the Fern Bank. The possibilities for that second photo are either 'Scharlockii' or 'Starling'. I hope to get a positive id when it opens up more fully.

Nice clumps, Terri. I just love to see snowdrops scattered about.
I use these metal tags from PawPaw/Everlast labels for my snowdrops. I write on one side with a pencil and the other side with a China Marker. They seem to hold up pretty well. The white plastic markers only last a couple of years before they become brittle and break.

Pen is for size comparison.

My problem with plant tags is that they won't stay put. I live in the woods, so leaves always need to be raked out - I'm guessing they get misplaced when raking, or it could be from dogs and nieces and nephews trampling on them - probably a combination of factors. I've tried so many things.

In addition to whatever plant tag method I try, I now have marked each garden bed out in 5 foot increments and make a note in my plant inventory database which 5 foot section where it is planted. Drives me nuts when I lose the id for a specific cultivar of something.

This year I splurged on these oversized slate markers on tall looped stakes for marking out cultivars for some of my plant genus collections. I use a label maker with silver metallic tape to mark them. It may not work any better, but they look nice while they are in place. They are large enough that even if they get uprooted, I should still be able to find them and put them back.

I'll be making up a label for 'Magnet' today and will snap a photo when I set the marker out.

Slate plant marker