When do snowdrops bloom? Information about the flowering period

With the flowering time of the snowdrops, early spring begins every year. While other early bloomers are still far from actually blooming, many a snowdrop bloom is already piercing the snow cover that is still lying on the ground. It is therefore clear: you are announcing the end of winter and getting in the mood for warmer days. That too may 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, candlestick bells or even March bells. The names March violets and Marienkerzen as well as snow piercers and snow tulips are also relatively widespread. However, this always refers to the genus Galanthus, so the snowdrop. 20 species of these amaryllis 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 - namely, they belong mostly to the

Early blooming.

Heyday

There is no fixed flowering time that would apply to every species of galanthus. In general, it can be said that 17 of the total of 20 species begin to develop their flowers at the beginning of a new year - often in January and February. It doesn't matter whether there is snow or not. The name comes from the fact that the flowers are able to pierce a blanket of snow 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 postponed by about a month.

Autumn bloomers and late bloomers

Of course, the following also applies to the snowdrops: No rule without exception. With Galanthus reginae olgae, G. peshmenii and G. cilicicus three species that begin to bloom as early as autumn of the previous year. This could possibly be the case as early as October. Their flowering times are usually over in November or December. Finally, there are also the late risers among the galanthus species such as G. platyphyllus. They do not really wake up until April, so they do not develop their flowers until relatively late.

Flowering time

In addition to the question of when these plants develop flowers, the question naturally also arises of 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. The autumn bloomers usually stop blooming at the beginning of January. Then the long wait for the next blooming season begins in the coming year. By the way: If you still want to enjoy the small flowers, you should definitely not mow them during the blooming phase.