sourcing unusual galanthus
Jane McGary (Sat, 07 Mar 2015 09:20:56 PST)
Bob Nold in Denver (known as the "mile-high city," and not in
reference to their recent adjustments in the law) reports difficulty
establishing snowdrop bulbs shipped dormant in late summer. My
experience in the Portland, Oregon, area is quite different: I'd much
rather get them in August or September than before the leaves have
withered. Here, in a "cold Mediterranean" climate, most bulbs have
plenty of time to develop strong root growth before the ground
freezes, if it even does freeze to the depth at which they grow.
I don't know how tolerant Galanthus are of deep planting, but people
in colder areas might experiment with copiously available ones to
see. I have been able to grow Eucomis species, which flower in
summer, by planting them fairly deeply and using a lot of mulch. I
have some snowdrops that have emerged well through about 2 inches (5
cm) of organic mulch on top of their bulbs planted at the usual growing depth
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA
.At 12:46 PM 3/6/2015, you wrote:
I prefer receiving snowdrops "in the green" because the survival rate
is much better than snowdrops planted in October or November. (One
hundred percent vs. about zero percent.)
The rationale behind not sending "in the green"--that doing so
damages roots which can't be replaced--sounds dubious to me, because
if the bulbs are dug in July, they will still have roots, and the
roots will still be damaged. (The Cornovium website indicates that
bulbs are sent in July.)
Bulbs sent later in the year have no roots at all, which means, in a
climate like mine where winter can arrive with little warning, that
the bulbs may have no time to grow all the roots they will need both
for flowering and for photosynthesis (ie manufacturing the
cryoprotective sugars).
So an early-flowering snowdrop, like a form of Galanthus elwesii,
might only have a few weeks between planting time and the time it
should be in full flower; it's unlikely that it would be then
prepared for the horrors of a Denver winter.
Bob Nold
Denver, Colorado, USA