Galanthus April 2024

[Leena]

Last week-end weather was warm and snow melted fast (not all but about half of it). Snowdrops and first crocuses came up. Then April 2-3 winds turned to north again, and weather got colder. There was about 10cm new snow, which was probably good to protect flowering plants and Helleborus buds, as it was -10 last night. Today it was 0C, but sunny and snow started to melt again, but it is still below freezing for couple of days.
These pictures were taken before this new cold snap.
'Bill Bishop'


'Lord Lieutenant'


'Green of Hearts'. This and 'Lord Lieutenant' are good in a way that they increase. The clumps don't get overcrowded but new bulbs grow farther from the mother bulb. I have never divided these and they are well positioned. For instance 'Bill Bishop' needs dividing because the clump will be too tight.


'Hugh Mackenzie' has been quite slow to increase here, or at least in this spot.

[Leena]

I took a 4 minute video today in sunny weather. This is just snowdrops in the snow in my earliest bed. I wrote the subtitles in English.

[Alan_b]

Lovely to see.  But strange how snowdrops (and other plants) that would be weeks apart coming into flower here all arrive together.  Galanthus 'Greenish', for example, is reliably late here and will only start flowering when the majority of other snowdrops are finishing.

[Herman Mylemans]

I took a 4 minute video today in sunny weather. This is just snowdrops in the snow in my earliest bed. I wrote the subtitles in English.

Great video Leena, thank you! Today it was 24°C!

[Leena]

But strange how snowdrops (and other plants) that would be weeks apart coming into flower here all arrive together.  Galanthus 'Greenish', for example, is reliably late here and will only start flowering when the majority of other snowdrops are finishing.

It is very interesting how adaptable snowdrops are. Most have adapted itself to our winters and springs, and all flower about the same time, but there are some which don't do well. For instance 'Godfrey Owen' isn't doing good. I have tried it twice and both plants slowly (or actually quite fast) decline. Both are still alive, but not flowering and I think it is a too early one to grow here.
When I started buying snowdrops I concentrated on late flowering ones, because I thought only they could be grown here, but I was wrong, and many early flowering cultivars do well and just flower later. Like 'Mrs Macnamara' which I have been able to increase to several different spots and it does well in all. Of G.plicatus cultivars 'Diggory' is a good doer here, but 'Gerard Parker struggles. It is good to try also earlier ones, in case winter is short and so then there would be also early snowdrops in flower.

Great video Leena, thank you! Today it was 24°C!

Thank you for watching, Herman. It is warm over there! Here it is now +5C, and last Friday (video was from Thursday) we got even more snow, but next week snow will start to melt. Most of my snowdrops are in my woodland beds (still covered by snow), the one in the video was my earliest bed with only some snowdrops and sun always melts the snow there first.

[Leena]

Snow is now gone and snowdrops continue to flower. Many are at their best now, but there are still some to come up.

'Trumps'



'Little Magnet'



'Sibbertoft Magnet'



'More the Merrier'

[Maggi Young]

Snow is now gone and snowdrops continue to flower. Many are at their best now, but there are still some to come up.

  Thanks for sharing all your great plants, Leena.

[Leena]

My best older G.woronowii



These are G.woronowii planted last summer, all came up well and all have a bit different markings





I planted one bulb of 'Ballerina' in summer of 2017. It has increased very well and I divided it to three different spots two years ago.
In this spot there is one bulb which came up earlier than others and the flower if bigger than others. It behaved the same way also last year.
It is the big one in the middle. I had no other snowdrops close to 'Ballerina' clump, and don't know what to think of this. Could it be just a very big bulb..



Here is another picture, the rest look like 'Ballerina', don't they?

[ashley]

Thanks for sharing all your great plants, Leena.

Yes, and beautifully photographed too.
You have a great collection Leena.

[Leena]

Thank you Ashley.
I really think I have enough snowdrops now  , and should concentrate trying to get them to grow well (I always say that, but now after brexit it is easier to act like it). Most grow well, but there are several which I struggle with. There is nothing better to seeing plants increase and grow well.

[Herman Mylemans]

Leena, great snowdrops. Here the season is over, so it is nice to see some more.

[Villu]

Wonderful pictures and video, Leena! Snowdrops and other early blooms look really attractive in snow. We had snow on the same day but as the snowdrops in our garden were more advanced by that time, they were flattened on the ground, and many got dirty. Not long after, the heat from Sahara hit. Not an easy season.

Some 300 km south from Finland, my garden is definitely earlier than Leena's. Nevertheless, we experience quite the same conditions regards the seasons. It was very cold winter and usually cold winters result in yellowish markings on blooms and yellow blotches on leaves. I can see the yellow hue on 'Trumps' in both gardens this spring.
But there might be differences too. Back in 2014 I bought a single bulb of 'Godfrey Owen' from Avon Bulbs and it have thrived ever since. And I can't tell that it is very early in my garden. Definitely later than 'Mrs MacNamara' or 'Reverend Hailstone' which seem to be earliest in my collection. 

Ten years old 'Godfrey Owen':


'Godfrey Owen'


'Godfrey Owen', along with 'Sentinel' (left) and 'Pat Mason'


Snowdrop Bed

[Maggi Young]

More great pictures, Villu!  It is such a pleasure to enjoy the snowdrops coming later in the gardens of yourself and Leena. A pleasant extension to the season for so many of us!

[Leena]

Some 300 km south from Finland, my garden is definitely earlier than Leena's. Nevertheless, we experience quite the same conditions regards the seasons. It was very cold winter and usually cold winters result in yellowish markings on blooms and yellow blotches on leaves. I can see the yellow hue on 'Trumps' in both gardens this spring.
But there might be differences too. Back in 2014 I bought a single bulb of 'Godfrey Owen' from Avon Bulbs and it have thrived ever since. And I can't tell that it is very early in my garden. Definitely later than 'Mrs MacNamara' or 'Reverend Hailstone' which seem to be earliest in my collection. 

Thank you Villu, it is good to compare the conditions, and your garden is earlier. It is interesting how also you see yellow hue in 'Trumps' after a cold winter, the same as here. I've been told that I don't have the real cultivars if they are yellowish, but I know I have gotten them from a very reliable sources, and it is the conditions here which result in yellowish colour in some years.
Your 'Godfrey Owen' is magnificent! I planted another try of it to more moist bed (the first one was in dryish bed) and it has produced more leaves now though not flowering. Hopefully I find a spot where it will grow well (right now it occured to me one more spot to try - I will move the diminished bulb from dry bed).
'Mrs M' is always very reliable snowdrops here even though it is early.

[Leena]

I made a 27 min video of about 50 snowdrop cultivars I grow (many common or older cultivars), and made subtitles in English. There are still some snowdrops coming up or in the beginning of flowering, so maybe I will make another shorter video later.