Topic: snowdrops

[littlebabybird]

hi all, does anyone know where the best place to get snowdrops from is?
thankyou.

mine are all gone :( i know not where, they jst not there

[valmarg]

Well, now is the best time of year to buy them.  They are best bought 'in the green', ie when they have flowered and the leaves have not died down.  Most gardening magazines advertise them, but I can't recommend a supplier.

valmarg

[Robert_Brenchley]

There are loads of subtly different varieties, and I deliberately got mine from numerous different sources so as to get a range of flowering times. I've never bought in the green though; I don't believe that they enjoy being uprooted any more than any other plant, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a good time to divide clumps, but not to leave them out of the ground for more than a very brief period.

The reason for planting in the green is simply that the bulbs can't stand drying out, and so the ones you get in autumn from garden centres are often dead or badly weakened. Get them in autumn from a specialist and you gety the best of both worlds. If you plant them in the green, you won't kill them, but they will take a couple of years to recover fully.

[valmarg]

R_B, I think we are singing from roughly the same hymn sheet, insofar as the snowdrop bulbs don't like to be dried out.  Buying in the green means that the bulbs are still moist, and the sooner planted the better.

At this time of year you could go to a garden centre and buy growing snowdrops in pots, but it is the most humungously expensive way of getting them.

After mine have flowered I could dig some up and send them to littlebabybird, and so long as she planted them within days of receipt, they should be all right for next year, aka in the green.  Not out of the ground long enough to dry out.

When you see snowdrop bulbs for sale in the Autumn in packs in garden centres, just press them between thumb and finger and they will almost certainly disintegrate to dust.

hardy cyclamen are very similar, insofar as they do not like to be dried out.

BTW R_B did your cyclamen coum I sent you do OK, because the ones I have are very happy and 'naturalising' like mad.  I could send you some seedlings, if you would like.

valmarg

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're fine, thanks, and looking good. That border's a sea of snowdrops right now; it gets better every year. Despite loads of seed cases, I've yet to detect a seedling.

[littlebabybird]

valmarg, i have pm'ed you

[kimbobill]

we lost a lot of our snowdrops this year, we think bees have eat them :o

At the end of last year part our lawn became a bees nest it even raised the lawn into a hump! well the snow drops have all come out in the usual places except the clump where the nest was?

Weird perhaps they are a delicacy to bees?

[kimbobill]

we have a really old nursery and the owner is about as old, they are a fantastic couple and been in the business along time and the snow drops are available now and have been for the last month all just they are coming into flower, hope this helps