Do Snowdrops Flower The First Year? If you have headed off to the garden center in Autumn to purchase and plant Snowdrops ready for them to flower in Spring you may be wondering will they produce flowers in the first year?
Snowdrops bulbs that are planted in Autumn should flower in the following Spring. However, Snowdrop bulbs have been known to be a little hit and miss and can sometimes not produce anything at all. The main reason for this is that the bulbs may have dried out too much in the garden center, which can affect flowering or even kill the bulb altogether.
To reduce the chances of this occurring it is best to try and purchase the bulb as soon as they appear in the stores as this will reduce the time between the bulbs being lifted from the ground and sold to you. Additionally, it is important to ensure that as soon as the bulbs are purchased they are planted into the ground.
When putting the bulb in the ground they should be put into the ground at a depth of 2 to 3 inches into the soil with the pointy end facing upward and the basel plate facing downward. To give the bulb the best chance of flowering it is important to plant the bulb into moist but free-draining soil and that has plenty of nutrients. The soil can be improved by adding additional compost.
It is important to select a sunny location and avoid locations that are soggy and damp. If the bulb is allowed to sit in very wet conditions for long periods of time it has the potential to rot. If you are wanting to make the planting scheme look natural the method recommended by Monty Don is to gently toss the bulbs on the ground and plant them where they land.
Once the flowers are finished blooming it is important to leave the foliage and flowers to die back naturally as this is an important part of the annual cycle. The nutrients within the leaves will return to the bulb ready for the bulb to produce flowers for the following season.
How To Make 100% Sure Snowdrops Flower
One option to make 100% sure that the snowdrops flowers is to purchase them in pots when they are already shooting, but this is a significantly more expensive way to purchase the plant. However, to reduce the cost you can keep an eye out for any remaining stock left over at the end of the season in mid-spring as that is likely to be heavily discounted.
The only downside to this is that you will have to wait until the following winter for them to flower. If you purchase the snowdrops in this way it is important to plant them immediately into the ground. Do not leave them in the pot as they have the potential to dry out.
