This Blog Has Gone Dormant

Hi folks!

I've gone full time into freelance writing, speaking, and teaching about horticulture, bugs, and plants. Find my new online home here:

www.fearlessgardening.net

 

Stubborn Snowdrops

See those tiny green tips poking out of the leaf litter and frost? Yes, those stubborn little buggers. My snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) were up in December this year. We had a stretch of mid to upper 40s and a couple of days flirting with 50 and zoop! 

I am a passionate snowdrop lover. I've planted them all over the yard, but they, in their infinite plant wisdom, have reseeded to the above patch and a couple of others. It seems a bit of extra moisture is their happy place, so why my most robust group is under the katsura, is a mystery. 

They will hang out and be fine through the temperature fluctuations of late winter and will bloom once the soil warms a bit more. Snowdrops are the first things to grow in my garden and can be an early nectar source for any bee foolhardy enough to stumble out on a fine March day. 

Snowdrops are native to Europe and were introduced to Great Britain by the Romans. We have a long love affair with this tenacious, yet delicate flower. You'll find it lauded in art and poetry down through the centuries. One new use science has found for snowdrops is as a memory improvement supplement for Alzheimer's. The alkaloid galantamine found in snowdrops turns out has human benefits.

Plant them in autumn and make sure to check on the spot if temperatures rise above freezing. Let them go to seed and see what happens. Snowdrops are not bothered by bunnies or other rodents. I seek them out to sooth my soul when winter seems to never end. Their tough beauty always brightens my day.