A gardening friend e-mailed me Saturday morning suggesting I look out my window because her snowdrops were up and blooming. Since my snowdrops are in a sunny spot right below the library window, it's possible to check on them without going outside. And as it happens, I had already checked on them Friday afternoon because a number of Upper Midwest gardeners had snowdrops on their posts for GBBD.
Mine weren't showing on Wednesday, but two days later and voila! Given this coming week's weather forecast of temperatures between 45-50 degrees F. and rain, I am expecting my snowdrops will definitely continue their growth spurt. Now I need to get out and check on the Hellebores, and see if there are any other surprises lurking in the far corners of the garden.
Typically snowdrops are dug and sold just after blooming "in the green." This is a common practice in the U.K. where dozens of snowdrop specialists offer plants for sale each spring. It is so rare an occurance in the U.S. that I know of only two people who follow this practice. One is Carolyn of Carolyn's Shade Gardens. Alas for me, I forgot to check her website early enough and there are limited choices left.
The other source is Hitch Lyman of Temple Nursery. Hitch is very low-tech. You must buy his paper catalog; no on-line sales. But reading his descriptions and seeing Carolyn's photos will convince you to start a collection. And Hitch's catalog alone is worth ordering and reading. It is so beautifully written and produced, it is a treasure in itself. (Temple Nursery, P.O. Box 591, Trumansburg, New York 14886. The catalog is $3.00).
Mark shot the above photos around 2:30 p.m. yesterday. You can see that one group is barely up while a nearby clump are starting to open. These are Galanthus 'Flore pleno' or double snowdrop which is why they look so plump.
Thanks for the info regarding where to get some snowdrops. Yours look beautiful all clumped up together. I want more too.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Monday, February 20, 2012 at 12:20 PM
Stunning. A hope for spring!
Posted by: Susann Ely | Monday, February 20, 2012 at 03:57 PM
I was very surprised to see the snowdrops up, here in northern Vermont; not showing much white yet, mostly green. There's no snow cover now, so if we don't get any snow in the next few days, we might have the earliest bloom ever.
Posted by: Altoon | Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:14 PM
Hooray for the first blooms of spring!
Posted by: Scott Weber | Monday, February 20, 2012 at 06:07 PM