Early spring flower envy? Get these bulbs in the fall
I have been seeing a couple different small flowering plants recently and would like to know where I can buy them, as the early season color is great. One has yellow flowers and one has white flowers.
— Alvaro Hernandez, Highwood
You are seeing two different types of spring-flowering bulbs around the Chicago region. The yellow flowers are winter aconite (Eranthus hyemalis) and the white flowers are snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis or Galanthus elwesii).
These plants are not available at garden centers now, as they are sold as bulbs in the fall and planted at that time. I start planting spring-flowering bulbs after there has been a hard frost in fall, which generally is in late October.
Come fall, these can be ordered by mail if your local garden center isn’t selling them. When ordering by mail, it’s a good idea to order early in August or sooner for delivery in October to ensure availability. Because of COVID19, bulb sales were stronger than normal, as with other plants last year, and some supply chains were negatively impacted. Some bulbs were selling out earlier than normal.
Both of these flowering bulbs are small, so you will want to purchase a large enough quantity to make a decent show in your garden. The final number you decide on will depend on the size of the area you are planting, but normally the smallest number of these bulbs I would consider would be 100. This would provide one small drift of either snowdrops
or winter aconite.
Both of these bulbs are small and very easy to plant, so do not let planting a few hundred of them intimidate you. If these bulbs like their growing conditions in your garden, you can expect the populations to increase over time.
Winter aconite, which reach 3 to 4 inches in height, is easy to grow and will prosper in full sun or dappled shade and will form large colonies, spreading by seed. It performs well under deciduous trees and shrubs in a naturalized setting, with the foliage going dormant and disappearing later in spring. The foliage follows the flowers. Deer have not browsed the colonies I have growing in my Highland Park garden.
Winter aconite will perform best if the soil moisture is more consistent year-round, versus dry during the dormant season, as many other spring-flowering bulbs
prefer. For the best planting result, soak the bulbs overnight or for a few hours before planting them 2 to 3 inches deep.
Snowdrops typically grow 3 to 8 inches in height, and are also easy to grow and will perform well in the same settings as winter aconite. They are one of the first bulbs to bloom, and in mild winters, snowdrops can flower as early as late January, but February and March are more typical.
If the snowdrops are left undisturbed, they will multiply over time. Deer have not browsed the snowdrop colonies in my garden, while devastating tulips.