Snowdrop
To get this flower bulbs for free. Click Here Flower Bulbs

Snowdrop is a herbaceous plant belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae. It is one of the most beautiful flower in appearance to lure to eyes of the beholder. This plant is loved by almost all the people due to its beautiful clean white appearance. The plant produces some fragrance as well.The best time to grow snowdrops is in the cold winter months or during the moderate winter time. This plant thus, is the lover of cool climate rather than the warm climate. It comes in celebration of the glorious spring season forming beds of snowdrops in area where it is native. A number of snowdrops gardens are exhibited in the European countries.  It is of genus Galathus. This specie of the bulbous plant has about 20  to 75 species in number. Galanthus is a perennial specie of plant. The bulb of this plant produces few leaves in parallel venetion. The bell-shaped white flower blooms from the top of the slender stalk like stem.  common snowdrop  (Galathus nivalis),  Crimean snowdrop  (galanthus plicatus), giant snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii) etc are the common species of the snowdrop plant. Snowdrop flower is often confused with snowflakes. 

Good news about cultivating snowdrops is that it is a pest free plant. No insects, rabbit or deer try to harm this plant. This plant is left undisturbed by other living species.

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Monocots

Order: asparagales

Family:Amaryllidaceae

Sub-family: Amaryllidoideae

Tribe: Galantheae

Genus: Galanthus 

Here are some of the species of snowdrops plant:

Galanthus cilicicus, galanthus fosteri, Galanthus ikariae, Galanthus angustifolius, Galanthus graccilis, Galanthus lagodechianus, Galanthus platyphyllus, Galanthus plicatus, Galanthus nivalis etc.

Plant description: The snowdrop has its origin from the Southern Europe and the Caucasus Mountains.

It grows from a small bulb. With the end of the frozen winter days, this plant starts to appear from the soil. The appearing leaves are narrow and needle like, they also help protect the buds in the beginning of the season from the cold outside temperatures.

One of the unique nature of this plant is that the sprouts of the snowdrop emits some amount of heat that helps melt down the snow in the surrounding.

The flowers grow easily once the leaves start to show up from the bulbs. The white flowers are delicate and need to be taken care of in order to protect the three petals. The seeds ripen up once the flowers start to dry down.

Distribution and habitatThe genus Galanthus is native to many countries such as Europe, the common European countries include Norway, Great Britian, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany etc), Western countries such as United States and Canada. The genus Galanthus nivalis is very commonly found in the European countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,France, Italy, Greece, Romania, Ukriaine, Turkey and England. Most of the species of snowdrops are of Mediterranean origin and are very commonly found in Georgia, Armenia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Azerbaijan, Israel etc.

Conservation: It has been made illegal to collect the bulbs, leaves, or dead snowdrop unless the permission is granted from the CITES permission. CITES has granted permission to trade G. nivalis, G.elwesii and G.woronowii from Turkey and Georgia.

Where and when should I plant my snowdrops?

Snowdrops have early bloom. Thus, it will be good to plant this specie of plant at a location visible to the viewers. The best location could be a path. You can plant a group of them in the shady area of your garden. Also make sure you are not disturbing the dormant snowdrop bulbs during the late spring and summer months by digging the soil and planting some other plants.

It is best to plant snowdrops during the early fall.

Cultivation: The bulbs of snowdrop remain dormant during the warm summer months yet the plant enjoys a shady location. Thus, you are suggested to plant this plant in a moist, well-drained soil with enough shade for example under a tree or under the roof of your house.

Flower: As its name suggests, this plant mostly blooms in the winter months but there are few specie that bloom in the early spring or even during the late autumn. The flower consist of six tepals and no petals.

·      Add compost manure to the loosened soil and mix it well in the soil

·      Place the flat base of the bulb down towards the soil

·      Plant the bulbs 5inches deep in the soil.

Propagation: It is fairly possible to propagate the clumps of the snowdrop plant by division. One can propagate this plant through freshly ripened seed in spring.

One cannot expect snowdrops to multiply from the seeds. This plant multiplies only through the offsets attached to the mother bulbs.

It is a good idea to separate the clumps from the bulbs as soon as the flowers fade away and replant the bulbs in a new location. Provide enough water to the bulbs you are trying to grow.

Bees and ants are greatly attracted to this plant that they often help in pollinating this plant.

Uses of the snowdrop plant:

The snowdrop is a beautiful white in appearance. This flower has useful uses too in order to cure different kinds of diseases. Its uses have short historical record and have been found to be effective as well. It has unique medicinal use.

During the ancient times, the snowdrop was used in curing headaches and it acted as a painkiller. It was also used as a poison antidote.

The bulb of snowdrop helps cure Alzheimer’s disease, poliomyelitis, trigeminal neuralgia, Myasthenia, nerve pain and helps retain memory problems.

The aging people consume snowdrop bulbs in order to have good memory power and also to have a younger look. The parents give this to their children so that their children can stay rid of poliomyelitis. The snowdrop also serves as a good remedy to activate menses. It is found effective in treating the nervous diseases such as depression and insomnia. To some cases, this plant has touched in the field of cancer cure. It is also useful in treating mild dementia.

Click Here to get this flower bulbs for free.