Thank you, commentor JeffG166:
2.3.2024
I haven’t seen these for years. I thought they died out. Found them as I was cleaning up the garden. They were here when I moved in 26 years ago.
Per Wikipedia:
… Snowdrops are hardy herbaceous plants that perennate by underground bulbs. They are among the earliest spring bulbs to bloom, although a few forms of G. nivalis are autumn flowering. In colder climates, they will emerge through snow. They naturalise relatively easily forming large drifts. These are often sterile, found near human habitation, and also former monastic sites. The leaves die back a few weeks after the flowers have faded. Galanthus plants are relatively vigorous and may spread rapidly by forming bulb offsets. They also spread by dispersal of seed, animals disturbing bulbs, and water if disturbed by floods…
In 1983, Andreas Plaitakis and Roger Duvoisin suggested that the mysterious magical herb, moly, that appears in Homer’s Odyssey is the snowdrop. One of the active principles present in the snowdrop is the alkaloid galantamine, which, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, could have acted as an antidote to Circe’s poisons. Further supporting this notion are notes made during the fourth century BC by the Greek scholar Theophrastus who wrote in Historia plantarum that moly was “used as an antidote against poisons” although which specific poisons it was effective against remains unclear. Galantamine (or galanthamine) may be helpful in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, although it is not a cure; the substance also occurs naturally in daffodils and other narcissi…
Early names refer to the association with the religious feast of Candlemas (February 2) – the optimum flowering time of the plant – at which young women, robed in white, would walk in solemn procession in commemoration of the Purification of the Virgin, an alternative name for the feast day. The French name of violette de la chandaleur refers to Candlemas, while an Italian name, fiore della purificazione, refers to purification. The German name of Schneeglöckchen (little snow bells) invokes the symbol of bells.
In the language of flowers, the snowdrop is synonymous with ‘hope’ (and the goddess Persephone’s/Proserpina’s return from Hades), as it blooms in early springtime, just before the vernal equinox, and so, is seen as ‘heralding’ the new spring and new year….
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In case y’all missed my previous hints — Yes, I need more photos!
That being said:
What’s going on in your gardens (hoping / planning / memories / indoor), this week?
raven
Both of us a having physical problems so this year is going to be a real challenge for gardening. Garden girl has tried hiring various people to help out but none of them have worked out.
Jeffg166
@raven: It’s getting very hard to do what has to be done. Now I feel under the gun with spring on the way. There’s a lot of clean up to be done and not a lot of energy to do it.
raven
@Jeffg166: I feel ya.
satby
I love snowdrops! Had them in Chicago but not since, and they were such a treat to see pop up as the very first harbinger of spring.
I had put cardboard down on my back beds but not mulched it yet last fall. But the last few months I started to regret the bulbs and daylillies I was abandoning, even though the weeds had choked them down. So Friday was in the 40s and sunny and I peeled the wet cardboard off. This week is predicted to be warmer, so I’ll lift the clumps of bulbs and daylillies that are already peeking out and move them somewhere else, and recover the beds with more cardboard and then the mulch. By the time my new roses are delivered it should be ok for them to go in that bed.
satby
The days here have gained
closeover(!) an hour since the winter solstice. It’s dorky, but I like to check on how quickly the days are changing at this site; probably because I have more time now to drive during daylight. Change the city to see your times.rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
NotMax
Brrr. Weather managed to finally inch up to 61 by mid-afternoon Saturday, moderate winds and widely spaced sprinkles. Currently hovering (1 a.m.) at about 55 degrees, and dropping — might dip as low as 49 before dawn.
Combination of cool and damp playing hob with the joints.
satby
@NotMax: Hope the bad weather passes soon. We call that a nice spring around here, but in the tropics that’s got to be tough.
NotMax
@satby
In my 40 years here February has nearly always been the cruelest month. With increased elderosity I feel it more and more.
CarolM
What lovely snowdrops, thank you for the picture! Up here in Maine, I’ve been trying to replace my lawn with native wildflower gardens. I finally have all my native wildflower seeds planted and set outside (that is, those seeds that need a cold period to germinate). Next is to decide what vegetables will go in my raised beds. This time of year is dangerous for me; I tend to get really ambitious and start too many projects that I won’t have the time to finish when the weather warms up.
OzarkHillbilly
We had one day above 60 last week, 50s the rest of the week (dropping below freezing on only one night) This week 50s with low to mid 60s Weds thru Sat. While a cold spell is possible, I fear winter is done. Even as hard as the cold is on me now, I miss real winters.
Climate change has really fucked the jet stream.
Anyway, I got the last of my bulbs in the ground this week. The rest of the week was spent cutting downed limbs and the top of the one big oak that came down in the storms last summer. I’ve got a long ways to go before that chore is finished. Then comes the garden clean up I didn’t get to last Nov/Dec.
My eldest granddaughter is competing today with her new horse Goliath. Yeah, that name is not ironic. Looking forward to seeing how she does because last week she was nominated to be first alternate on some national* team. She’s been working really hard at it for quite a few years and getting this… Accolade? might give her the boost of confidence that allows her to rise up another level or 2.
Last year she was on the football team, and then the girl’s wrestling team, and planned to compete on the waterpolo team. Then she changed her mind and decided to just focus on her horseback riding. Really happy to see it pay off so quickly for her.
*I don’t recall the particulars but I’m pretty sure it’s a local team that competes nationally
Geminid
Ah, the scent of Spring! I stepped out on my porch this morning and I could tell the skunks were out and about last night.
OzarkHillbilly
Doesn’t every gardener suffer that curse?
Gvg
Supposed to rain today so I will clean and look at seed catalogs. Roses are the best they have been in years which is odd because I didn’t do anything special. I have been planning for years to get my garden to be almost all flowering shrubs and perennials because I feel age creeping up on me. I live alone, and for my independence I need to plan of having already done most of the work before I get old. Finding garden help that knows a weed from a rare plant is always unlikely not to mention expensive, so I just never planned on that. I had the example of my grandmother who was in a wheelchair for years and her garden declined to weeds. Now my mother has to use a walker and has been slow to accept this.The last couple of months she finally and suddenly came round on the need to limit her beds, simplify, edit and mulch.
I am 60 and knew I couldn’t keep up 2 gardens for years ahead, so this gives me hope. I understand garden elitism and know she would hate a boring low maintenance garden, but I can think of lots of ways to have a wonderful garden without so much work. She is finally listening to some of my ideas. Now I have to show her. Which has meant working at her place not mine the last few weeks, but it is looking great. It’s nice that mine has behaved while I couldn’t hover over it.
I am trying to not by annual seed, more perennials and some shrubs.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: That is so exciting!
Trivia Man
Any good resources for starting seeds indoors? im going to try for the first time. Sunflowers, peppers, maybe a few more. Intending to use egg cartons and the furnace room – is additional heat required?
Southern Wisconsin, sources vary but im targeting april 15 as Last Frost. Bonus: my cat may be interested in “helping” so i may have limits on indoor locations .
Jeffg166
@CarolM: I discovered clarkia last year. A native wildflower to the Pacific Northwest. Tried planting it in the fall. It germinated but didn’t make it through the winter in Philadelphia. Replanted the seeds left directly into a pot and the ground March 1st and it bloomed beginning of June. It’s also called farewell to spring. My plants went to seed by July and was gone by August. I saved seeds from the plants and will put them into a big pot March 1st this year to see what they do.
satby
As do we all my friend 😱
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: @CarolM: totally me IRL. Which is why I’ll be digging up bulbs in February I didn’t get to in November. And putting down new cardboard and the mulch I was going to finish back then. We’re having freezes overnight and the weeks following the nice weather this week, so it should still have time to work its weed smothering magic before true spring hits.
satby
@Trivia Man: I have fantastic success with these Biodomes from Park seed. Almost 100% germination with a heat mat and grow lights. They have several sizes, and after the first year I bought a couple of the bigger ones, so I could start bigger seeds or things that germinate more slowly. Only advice is to watch carefully because once you have (real) leaves that dome has to come off, even if not everything has sprouted yet, because it gets too humid. Unsprouted stuff usually catches up. try to plant seed that germinate at similar rates.
Trivia Man
@satby: that looks intriguing. It seems tge heat mat and grow lights are separate from the unit?
Do you have a suggestion for a description of the basics? When they need light, how much, how much light is enough/ too much? I know nothing about germination indoors and the sites i found were confusing to me. They assumed too much prior knowledge
satby
@Trivia Man: Heat mat is essential for me because I keep my house at no more than 65° in the winter. Most seeds need to be in warmer soil, at least 70-72°. Grow lights help a lot, but if you have a gooseneck lamp you can put a grow light bulb in it and face it down towards your seed tray. Both are available on Amazon at prices normally better than the garden online sources. For example, I got these grow lights and this heat mat.
Edit: and the Park seeds website has very good instructions for seed starting.
Eunicecycle
@satby: I do that too! Check the sunrise /sunset times I mean. I love to see the days getting longer. Not so much the other way. Cool website, thanks!
JAM
The temperature here has mostly settled into 50s and 60s in the daytime and 30s and 40s at night, though we’ve hit the 70s at least once already. (Near Tulsa.)
I have a bunch of winter-sown native seeds that I’m trying to get started on my back porch. My hope is to gradually convert my borders to native perennials that are densely planted enough to keep down weeds. I’m also starting a new bed this spring and have been slowly digging up the bermudagrass to prepare it. So basically, giving myself a lot of extra work to do in the hope to make things easier someday in the future.
Miss Bianca
Meanwhile, here at the Mountain Hacienda, I and the dogs are up to our respective asses in snow. I guess you could say it was spring snow, since it’s exceptionally heavy and wet, but that would be the only sign of imminent spring on my particular horizon.
Spring. Bah. Humbug, I say. Humbug!