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Early spring begins every year with the flowering of the snowdrops. While other early bloomers are still a long way from actually blooming, some snowdrop flowers are already breaking through the remaining snow cover. This makes it clear: they announce the end of winter and get in the mood for warmer days. This may also be a reason why these plants are so popular with us. However, one question remains: When exactly do snowdrops bloom?
genus
Hardly any other plant genus has as many German names as this one. There is talk of Spring Bells, Pretty February Girl, Candlemas Bells or March Bells. The names March violets and Marian candles as well as snow piercers and snow tulips are also relatively widespread. However, this always means the genus Galanthus, i.e. the snowdrop. 20 species of these amaryllises exist worldwide. The many German names not only indicate how popular the small flowers are in this country, but also draw attention to a special feature - they are mostly among the early bloomers.
Snowdrop, Galanthus
heydays
There is no fixed flowering time that would apply to every species of Galanthus. In general, it can be said that 17 of the 20 species start developing their flowers right at the beginning of a new year - often as early as January and February. It doesn't matter if there is snow or not. The name comes from the fact that the flowers are able to pierce through a snow cover with their flower heads. However, they are dependent on the weather. In particularly cool locations or in extremely icy conditions, the beginning of the flowering phase is delayed by about a month.
Autumn bloomers and late bloomers
Of course, the same applies to snowdrops: there are no rules without exceptions. With Galanthus reginae olgae, G. peshmenii and G. cilicicus, there are three species that begin to flower in the autumn of the previous year. Under certain circumstances, this can already be the case in October. Their heydays are usually over by November or December. Finally, there are also the late risers among the Galanthus species, such as G. platyphyllus. They don't really come into their own until April, so their flowers don't unfold until relatively late.
flowering period
In addition to the question of when these plants develop flowers, the question naturally arises as to how long the flowers actually last. It is also difficult to make a general statement about this. In general, it can only be said that everything will be over by May at the latest. In the case of autumn bloomers, flowering usually ends at the beginning of January. Then the long wait for the next flowering period in the coming year begins. By the way: If you still want to be able to enjoy the small flowers, you should definitely not mow them down during the blooming phase.