Home » Plants & Animals » Gardening Techniques » Snowdrops: The Harbingers of Spring

Snowdrops: The Harbingers of Spring

© Diana Pederson

Snowdrops are one of those early spring flowers that gives the avid gardener hope that spring is finally on its way. I love their delicate flowers and look forward to their blooming each year. It's one of my favorite plants. Therefore, I found Timber Press's book , The Genus Galanthus by Aaron P. Davis fascinating reading. It was published in 1999. Let's take a look at its contents.

Davis's writing style is easily understandable even by amateur gardeners even though the manuscript was actually a thesis for the Ph.D. I always enjoy books that can satisfy a diversity of readers. If you are totally unfamiliar with a scientific term, chances are excellent that this word was included in the glossary.

This book is not divided into chapters, making it a bit difficult to refer a reader to a specific subject. Approximately one-third of the book covers topics such as taxonomy of the genus, a complete description of the plants (called morphology), plant anatomy and chromosome numbers, pollinators, and the life cycle of the plant. This portion continues with a discussion of conservation issues, how to grow these plants successfully, and pests or diseases that may affect the plant. These are important topics for either the home gardener or the botanist.

As a gardener of nearly 15 years, I find myself getting more interested in collecting all the species within various plant genera. Since the Galanthus has only 18 species, this is a strong possibility! The final two-thirds of the book discusses each of the species individually, along with inter-species hybrids and cultivars. The accompanying pictures may help you determine which of the species you already have present in your garden. Some of the named cultivars are now turning up in garden centers at chain stores, making the list and description of the cultivars valuable for every gardener.

Although I've studied plants for years, I learned some very important information about purchasing Galanthus bulbs. Galanthus bulbs should be purchased "in the green" which means they are already in leaf. If these bulbs are purchased in their dry state (dormant), they are unlikely to produce quality plants the next year. If every gardener knew this, far less money would be wasted on plants that may not succeed! Learning this about Galanthus makes me wonder how many other bulbs should be purchased in the green rather than as dormant tubers. It is certainly something worthy of more research.

Galanthus book cover

The copyright of the article Snowdrops: The Harbingers of Spring in Gardening Techniques is owned by . Permission to republish Snowdrops: The Harbingers of Spring in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.