Snowdrops in the green
J.E. Shields (Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:21:52 PST)

I'm with John and Jane on this, traitorously abandoning both my fellow
Jims. And I don't even ship Galanthus.

I occasionally ship a few other bulbs, but I never see those again after I
seal the boxes. I do repot and dig, divide, and replant lots of other
bulbs. It's my observation that bulbs transplant best just before they are
ready to start growing again. That is, I repot/divide just before there
are outward signs of new root or leaf growth starting, very near the end of
dormancy. At that time, the hormonal flush that initiates new growth and
the end of dormancy is in full swing. The bulbs are primed to grow,
regardless of the disturbances they endure.

I suspect that Galanthus are for some reason particularly well suited to
withstand the stress of being bashed in the midst of their active growth
phase. Moving "in the green" would probably do irreparable harm to most
other bulbs. I think Galanthus survive this process (I almost wrote
"barbaric") because they can, not because it is the best way to handle them.

Spoken as an outsider looking in on the weird world of snowdrops.

Jim Shields
in snowy central Indiana, USA
where Galanthus are not a big thing probably because our weather is always
impossibly bad when they bloom.

At 09:08 AM 12/21/2010 -0800, you wrote:

*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344