GROWING SNOWDROPS

• Available in single or double flowers, every one of 1,500+ named cultivars has distinctive markings in green or yellow on the inner or outer petals. • Try Galanthus G. ‘S. Arnott’ which has a great scent, multiplies quickly and is relatively disease resistant; or Galanthus ‘Straffan’ that bears two flowers per bulb. • Buy them in the green – they establish better, and tend not to be scrubbed up by squirrels. • Leaving the bulbs until the foliage has completely died down allows them to absorb nutrients and replenish for the next year. • To avoid the risk of virus infection, only buy or swap bulbs from trusted sources.

• Plant twice as deep as the bulb is long, and 5cm apart in well-drained soil with added grit and organic matter such as rotted leaf mould. • Snowdrops won’t thrive beneath evergreens, so plant in light, sheltered positions with deciduous plants. • Good planting companions include winter aconites, Crocus sieberi, Cyclamen coum, species reticulata irises.

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