While walking the other day, I saw a grouping of snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis, that lit up the landscape on a blustery, bleak winter’s day.
Snowdrops bloom incredibly early, before daffodils. This picture was taken in mid-March in USDA Hardiness Zone 6.
The grouping is on the edge of a New England Forest in humusy soil. Partial shade and organic soil are their preferred location.
Snowdrops grow about six inches tall in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 7. They bloom early in the season, long before daffodils and forsythia bloom.
I wonder how they would look as an underplanting for daffodils There might be a slight overlap in flowering times.
If you will plant snowdrops, purchase and plant many bulbs in groupings. They will not look natural if you stagger bulbs around the landscape.
You can’t mistake snowdrop flowers once you know them!
Comments
3 responses to “Snowdrops | Early Bloom”
It is so fun to see these Spring surprises, thanks for giving me another glimpse of hope. Every bulb ever plant here is still lingering under mountains of snow. Did somebody plant these bulbs? As I write this it is sunny and 0 degrees.
I need your advice on pruning an old overgrown Dwarf Korean Lilac on a standard. It has been sheered and pruned every year, but in that process only so much can be removed. It now needs to be smaller and get some inner growth. Hard to find guidance on this lilac on a standard. Thanks for any help you can give me.
We’re up to 58 f today, though it was only up to the low 40’s yesterday.
Dwarf Korean Lilacs can take a lot of abuse. No matter what you do the shrub will be ok.
First, make sure there aren’t a ton of broken branches in the standard and that it has the branching pattern to be saved.
Start cleaning the main stem to the height you want the shrub to be. Remove any suckers if there are any.
Finally, start opening up the ball up top. First, prune any crossing or rubbing branches. Second, prune any branches that grow through the shrub. Finally, prune the center to distribute the branches evenly.
Once all of that is done decide what diameter you want the ball to be and cut it back to that point. Try to cut at the union of two branches, not tipping a branch. It will look a lot more natural.
The shrub isn’t going to bloom much if at all, this year if you prune before flowering. The best time to do this work is immediately after bloom.
If I were doing the work I would be combining all three steps at once but don’t be afraid to take it one step at a time and then watch the shrub to see how it responds after pruning. You’ll learn more from watching the shrub than you will from what I wrote.
You got this Kay!
Thank you, John, for your valued thoughts on this. It sure has cleared up a lot in my mind. All your points were running through my mind but you gave me the order in how I should tackle it. I have warned my client that it had to be done and it probably wouldn’t bloom this summer, but feel it should be done before leafing out so when it does leaf out they sprout on the branches that remain on the tree so at least it will have foliage this summer and give them some hope. I so appreciate your impute on this. I could not find any info anywhere on pruning a Dwarf Korean Lilac on a standard. No problem when they are just a bush.