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Snowdrops
February Plant of the Month 2022

"The Harbinger of Spring"

snowdrops,Galanthus nivalis,early spring flowering bulb,February flowers
Plant one snowdrop and a colony will soon form.
snowdrops,Galanthus nivalis,early spring flowering bulb,February flowers
The green V is a distinctive marking denoting snowdrops.
early flowers for early pollinators
Snowdrops provide early seasonal pollinators with pollen.
Picture
Flowers are like 'drops of snow'.
Picture
Flowers nod to protect them from rain and other inclement weather.
Picture
A snowdrop flower bud.
Picture
Snowdrops fill a planter.
​Common Name:  snowdrop
Botanical Name:  Galanthus nivalis
Form:    upright arching
Family:  Amaryllidaceae
Genus:  Galanthus (milk+flower)
Species:  nivalis (of the snow)
Plant Type: spring flowering perennial bulb
Mature Size:  up to 12 inches
Growth: fast
Origin:  Europe, Southwest Asia
Hardiness Zone: 3 to 7
Foliage:  strap-like, glossy, deep green, emerge from the bulb with no stems
Flowers: blossoms Feb/March, white nodding, three outer tepals (petals joined together) in a whorl surrounding 3 inner tepals. The inner tepals bear a green V shaped marking.
Fruit: green pods that age to yellow with many tiny seeds
Exposure:  sun to part shade
Soil:  prefers moist, humusy well-drained
Uses:  mass in edges of woodlands, mixed borders, along paths, rockeries, hedgerows, under deciduous trees, planters
Propagation:   seeds and bulblets
Pruning:  allow leaves to yellow, don’t cut them off when green
​Problems:  no diseases or insects, wear gloves when planting bulbs as they sometimes cause skin irritation, all parts are poisonous if ingested

Comments
: 
This pretty and modest bulb is often touted as a harbinger to spring, and rightly so, as it is one of the earliest to flower. Their narrow, green, strap-like leaves emerge out of the ground as early as January in temperate locations, and by February they are in full flower often extending into March.
 
Like drops of snow, their pristine white flowers nod to protect their seemingly delicate blossoms. Flowers are comprised of three outer petals that are fused together and form a whorl surrounding the shorter inner tepal. The inner tepal bears a distinctive green V marking.
 
Galanthus nivalis is a versatile plant and it is suitable to plant under deciduous trees.  In the early spring it enjoys the full sun under a leafless canopy. Then as the trees leaf out, they benefit from the partial shade. By summer, the leaves have yellowed and disappeared as the bulb goes into dormancy. It’s important not to remove their green leaves as they provide food for next year’s flowers.
 
Snowdrops procreate readily. They produce seeds and the bulbs produce offsets, called bulblets. They are not considered to be invasive despite their reproduction capabilities, however, they form large colonies and are perfect for naturalizing in woodlands, meadows and other non-formal plantings.
 
Galanthus nivalis are obviously cold hardy, however, when grown in ASDA growing zones higher than 7, it is short lived and does not naturalize.
 
For a pleasing display plant bulbs together in groups of 25. Space them 2 to 3 inches apart and 2 to 3 inches deep in autumn. Bulbs are sold in packages anywhere spring flowering bulbs are sold. Allow leaves to yellow naturally; do not remove them as it deprives them of food, which diminishes their health.  

Picture
Foliage appears in late winter and is undaunted by snow.
Picture
A naturalized planting on the edge of a forest.

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?