Galanthus March 2023

[Leena]

That heart is beautiful. Not very common I think.

I don't have he opportunity to purchase cultivars in Canada, only what is offered for sale from Dutch growers, mainly nivalis, elwesii and woronowii, plus few seeds offered by friends. There is such a large variability even among the purchased bulbs, it is very interesting to observe them.

I totally agree, and especially with elwesii there is so much variation in garden center bulbs. That is what got me interested in snowdrops in the first place about 15 years ago.
And now growing from seed, and also seeing self sown seedlings flower, that is the best. Between these two phases there was a collecting phase, but that was good because now I have learned  more about snowdrops and also now I have different ones to have seeds from.

This small snowdrop grew in the side of the path, it was self sown, and flowered for the first time this year in March (right now it is still under the snow that came a week ago). We'll see if it grows bigger  in the future.

[Gabriela]

Thank you Gail and Leena, you can tell I don't have many other flowers to look at right now 

I grew up thinking about snowdrops as very common spring garden flowers Leena. My grandma had large patches showing up every spring along the fence (probably nivalis). Once in a while we would also find them in the woods and meadows.
Here in Canada I was surprised to see that they are not common spring flowers, although people plant Crocuses, daffodils and so on. True that they are not offered as much in garden centers and they are a bit more expensive.

They are the best spring flowers to have even in a cold climate like ours Nothing else flowers so early, reliable and being rabbit proof on top of all!

[Leena]

Here in Canada I was surprised to see that they are not common spring flowers, although people plant Crocuses, daffodils and so on. True that they are not offered as much in garden centers and they are a bit more expensive.

They are the best spring flowers to have even in a cold climate like ours Nothing else flowers so early, reliable and being rabbit proof on top of all!

I so agree.
Also here snowdrops are not common, and most people consider spring flowers to be scillas and narcissus and tulips which flower in May.