My main snowdrop “patch” exactly a year ago. They are not so far along this year. Click the photo for a close-up
With all my blathering on about snowdrops, I almost forgot to mention...
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on Mar 27, 2008, 1:40AM
Many people who commented on the Katinka Matson post encouraged me to try the technique of obtaining images of flowers by scanning them with a flatbed scanner myself. So I did.
Even though it remains...
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on Apr 12, 2007, 2:05AM
Posted by Kathy Purdy Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-04-12, 10:45:43
The "Mystery Plant" that we all agreed was some sort of lily has instead turned out to be:
A snowdrop! This bed is probably the ONLY place in my yard that I have never planted snowdrops. Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to tell me something. Maybe I have finally found the place where snowdrops like to grow in my yard.
Or the squirrels have their larder here.
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Posted by OldRoses Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-31, 16:35:14
The Snowdrops have had little closed blossoms for a couple of weeks now, but today they're open! We have bright sunshine and 55ºF ( 12ºC), but a bitingly cold wind has kept it from being pleasant outside, unfortunately. I walked down to the river this morning, trying to get a glimpse of the geese that were honking and calling to each other. I found them sitting on a strip of land surrounded by water, but they were quite a distance away so I wasn't able to get a good photo. . . .
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Posted by Kerri Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-29, 16:47:36
Good things come to those who wait. At least ten years ago, I planted the first of these snowdrops lining the path to the Secret Garden. You will have to click on the photo to enlarge it in order to...
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on Mar 27, 2007, 10:17PM
Posted by Kathy Purdy Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-28, 16:47:04
Our snowdrops and hellebores made a liar out of me. I was bemoaning the fact that the snowdrops we planted two springs ago did not bloom and that this year looked to be a bust too. But 4 plants managed to survive and up poked their dainty flowers to quake in the breeze.
I also thought the hellebore flowers were all killed by the 2 week cold spell we had about a month ago. The flower buds were appearing but seem to all die and the leaves turned brown and flopped to the ground. . . .
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Posted by Ki Reblogged by Old Roses to hellebores, snowdrops on 2007-03-26, 23:30:14
The fourth species of Galanthus we grow in our garden is woronowii, the Caucasian snowdrop, from the Transcaucasus down into Turkey. It is distinct in its bright green foliage, and tolerates drier conditions than nivalis, the common snowdrop. It also spreads rapidly; from a few bulbs two years ago I now have quite a good sized patch... it is said that it needs to be divided every three years to maximize flowering, as it rapidly becomes congested. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-26, 18:43:25
The third species of snowdrop that we grow in our garden is Galanthus plicatus; to plicate is to fold, referring to the leaves of this species,that are rolled or folded inwards... especially noticeable when the leaves first emerge. This is a large snowdrop, reaching up to a foot tall, and there are two recognized subspecies: ssp. byzantinus from Turkey, has two green markings on the inner petals, and the second subspecies is Galanthus plicatus ssp. plicatus, which has one green mark and is endemic to northern Turkey and the Crimea (our plant is the latter). We started with a single bulb, and already have a small patch of this vigorous snowdrop, so it will be a keeper.
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-25, 22:43:30
I love snowdrops. They are very dainty and appear to be delicate. They are much tougher than they look, however. They grow and bloom in the coldest and snowiest of weather. They give me hope that my long wait is nearly over. It won't be long before I am released from my imprisonment indoors and can once more spend hours playing in my gardens. . . .
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Posted by OldRoses Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-23, 16:47:55
The second species of galanthus that we grow is Galanthus nivalis... often called the lesser snowdrop (as opposed to elwesii being the greater, or giant snowdrop); it is perhaps half as large as elwesii. It is also sometimes called the European snowdrop, from its natural range. Nivalis usually has a single heart-shaped green blotch on each of its three inner petals, as opposed to two blotches on elwesii, and it blooms later. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-22, 23:34:36
There must be some sound in the garden (perhaps Galomph !), that occurs when everything blooms at once. Every spring here in our Iowa garden is different; this year we had a mild January, so all the early snowdrops started blooming, only to be buried under a foot of snow and assailed by a record-breaking cold February. Now in March, the snow finally melted, and almost all of the snowdrops are in bloom at once... earlies, lates, doubles... they're all blooming. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-22, 17:25:12
Speaking of plants that I have a mixed opinion about, include this little bulb; Galanthus flore pleno, the common double snowdrop. It doesn't have the grace of the single form of Galanthus nivalis, and when seen from above, especially when the flower is partly closed by the cold. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-03-17, 22:08:20
I heard the sound as soon as I let myself in through the garden gate this morning; a rising and lowering hum... the sound of hundreds of bees, busily grazing the large patches of snowdrops that have opened their sweetly perfumed bells in the warm March sunshine. The earth is still frozen solid except for a slippery skin of mud, so how these busy little buzzers get out of their burrows, and how they find my snowdrops, is a nice little mystery to ponder. . . .
Ah my garden friends, let's pay tribute to the bravest of all flowers, the modest snowdrop.
The snowdrop is one of the first to arrive each year in our gardens and to gladden our hearts with their perfect bells with pretty green markings. And they are such brave souls as they stand firm in frost and wind and snow and rain until the others come to join them. . .
Our man in Budapest, journalist Gabor Miklosi, took a break from political muckraking this week to hunt for hovirag. Also known as snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis are the earliest blooming flowers in all of Hungary. Usually in February, they begin to appear on the streets of Budapest, sold by street vendors as tender harbingers of spring.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you are still ensconced in the "dead of winter" and may not wish to hear a single sentence containing the word, "snow" --...
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on Feb 10, 2007, 3:55AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-02-10, 22:45:15
Snowdrops, perhaps the most modest of early spring flowers, are a focus of infatuation that is inexplicable on the surface of it; they are small, basically white flowers, with all of the species looking far more alike than just about any other genus you could think of. Specimens with a small variation in the little green blotches on the inner petals can (and do) sell for over a hundred dollars each... if you can find them to buy. . . .
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on Jan 21, 2007, 1:08PM
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-01-21, 22:45:05
In the fall of 2005, I obtained a handful of bulbs of a species of snowdrop new to our garden; Galanthus ikariae. It was new to the garden, but not new to me, as I had read about it in Dicky Graff's classic book Flowers in the Winter Garden. In her garden it "made one gallant attempt to show what it could do in a congenial climate...neither flowers nor foliage proved tough enough to stand a succession of hard freezes. . . .
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on Jan 18, 2007, 12:32PM
Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2007-01-18, 23:25:15
Do you remember the specialist snowdrop catalog I mentioned way back in January? If you happen to be near Trumansburg, NY, this Saturday, you can visit his garden (and three others) thanks to the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program. I wish I were touring all four gardens, but I’ve got way too much gardening to [...]
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Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2006-06-07, 11:23:28
Photo credit: Jessamyn Roll There is a time when nature seems to makeA stern determination not to wake;When the snows melt, and swollen streams run deep,And plashy pools the sere brown herbage steep;When first the snowdrop dares the storm...
This time of the year, it’s amazing what a difference a day can make. Thursday, snow on the ground. I couldn’t have taken these photos on Thursday because these plants were still buried under snow. Friday, snow had melted, but nothing had bloomed. Yesterday (Saturday) the sun was shining and I had snowdrops blooming in [...]
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops, spring on 2006-03-12, 17:30:26
A new bulb to the garden, is Galanthus ikariae, a snowdrop native to northern Iran, and southern Russia. It is a beautiful little thing, with flower markings like the common, or lesser snowdrop, G. nivalis (a single, small green mark on each inner petal), and very distinctive leaves, which are very wide for a snowdrop, and of a striking, deep, waxy green, distinct for example, from the cool, grey
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2006-03-11, 17:07:59
Today is that day in early spring where there is a sea change in the weather; where the persistent winter weather pattern over the whole mid-continent, turns over to a spring pattern, promising a rainy, warmer week ahead. The garden is still frozen in time and ice, with patches of snow in the shady nooks, but it was a day to see if any of the early bulbs had heard the cheery weather forecast. P.J. the cat went touring with me this morning, heading off like a shot every few moments, chasing down clumps of dried, brown leaves that were clattering down the paths, pushed by a stiff wind from the south; a wind still cold from blowing over hundreds of miles of unthawed prairie, but a wind which promises a more temperate future. The snowdrops have been in bloom since January, their ghostly bells hanging unopened in the sharp wind, bowed but not bent, also awaiting the returning sun, so they can reopen their blooms to the bees, who are snoozing in their burrows, dreaming bee dreams of fields of flowers and long, languid summer days.
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2006-03-07, 16:50:40
Thought I'd toss out a pretty picture before getting to the main topic. There were several plants in bloom (or close) on Friday before the fresh shipment of Arctic Air. I haven't been out to look closely at them since then, but there were: crocus (2 kinds), winter aconite, violets, snowdrops (no picture - photographer error), and this was just getting started. I could have uncovered it so you
Underneath a leaden, early February sky, Snowdrops hold their pale lanterns high. Though halfling plants, they stand proud, Blooming far ahead of spring's gay crowd. ____________________________(db)
Polar air has returned to the upper Midwest; riding a pressure gradient south through Alberta, it comes straight down from just east of the Brooks Range, blowing and then blowing some more, making me sneeze from the dryness of the air, and making the cats curl up in a pile in front of the fireplace. Yet, with no snow cover, the now frozen soil melts slightly in the sun during the day, and freezes up at night, much like the higher elevations of the mountains, so the snowdrops, while not ecstatic about the change in weather, are enduring.
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to snowdrops on 2006-02-08, 10:17:37
