This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

[SHADEGARDENS] Early Spring Bulbs

Hi gang,

My winter aconites and snowdrops are blooming now and what a treat it is
to look out and admire them! This message is for anybody who would like to
establish colonies of these little darlings. I have mine planted under a
dogwood tree in a bed with hostas and ferns. They multiply VERY SLOWLY and
in order to have any hope at all of seeing them make a show before you
die, you need to dig up shovelsful from a friend's yard while still "in
the green," as the English gardeners say. In other words, don't buy bulbs
and plant them in the fall and expect any kind of result. Most are too
dried out to survive despite what the bulb companies would have you
believe.

Now is the time to scout out locations in your area where snowdrops and
winter aconites are blooming. I would wait until after they are finished
blooming, then (always asking permission first) dig up a clump including
bulbs and the green tops. In the case of snowdrops, the bulbs will pull
themselves very deeply into the soil, regardless of how deep they were
planted; assume they are a foot underground and dig accordingly.

Their growth habits are interesting. The snowdrops grow very tightly
clustered together, whereas the aconites grow in looser colonies. I have a
few single winter aconite plants that are six feet away from the main
patch. I assume that they are fairly energetic about seeding themselves.
Snowdrops, on the other hand, seem to stay where they were originally
planted, with the clump getting thicker and larger over the years. I used
to look at one of these clumps and think, "That's overcrowded; they need
to be divided"--but the snowdrops evidently don't mind. Some of my
snowdrops grow in an area where I don't want snowdrops. Several times over
the years I have attempted to get them all up, but every spring some still
make an appearance in the original location.

After bloom, let the foliage grow for a month or so and then you can just
hoe it into the soil. That will provide sufficient nourishment for the
bulbs next spring.

Incidentally, no varmints of any kind care to eat either of these bulbs,
so once they are established they will just keep getting better year by
year. And one last thought; aconite have no stem to speak of so they don't
make a good cut flower, but snowdrops can be cut and placed in a small
vase in the house. They give off a delicious fragrance that very few
people seem to be aware of.

Bobbi Diehl
Bloomington, IN
zone 5/6
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index