Category Archives: snowdrops

Snowdrops in the green

Most bulbs are best moved around and transplanted after they’ve yellowed and died back.  The bulbs are dug, dried and stored for a couple of weeks and then replanted again when the proper planting time rolls around.  It’s a convenient way to handle them and most bulbous plants are designed to handle months of dry, hot, dormancy.  Snowdrops are not.  Most snowdrops don’t appreciate drying out, and to get around this quirk the practice of sending snowdrops “in the green” started.  It’s a genteel way of saying you dug them up while growing and transplanted them that way.

My “in the green” snowdrops from The Temple Nursery arrived about a week and a half ago.snowdrops in the green

Snowdrops in the green are dug and sent shortly after bloom or even while still blooming.  I planted them (almost) as soon as I got them and I can’t wait to see them grow and thrive in my garden.  The bulbs look great and are carefully packed in damp sphagnum moss, wrapped in paper towels, hand labeled, bagged in plastic, and shipped priority mail.  Everything about my order said that care was taken and attention was paid to all the details.  Mr Hitch Lyman is the proprietor of The Temple Nursery and is well known for this old-school attention to details.  The catalog is a carefully prepared list out of his own garden, and the list changes from year to year depending on what’s ready for dividing.  There’s no internet presence, and correspondence is hand written.  Based on how fresh my bulbs were I feel his “dug to order” description was entirely accurate.

I didn’t mean for this post to be a gushing waterfall of praise, but I guess I’m excited about my plants.  There are a couple other sources for snowdrops, Brent and Becky sells them dry and is a good source, the three other “in the green” sources I’ve heard about are:  Carolyn’s Shade Garden, Linden Hill Nursery, and Black Hog Farms (couldn’t find a web link… they might only do garden shows etc.).  I also got a batch of dry bulbs from Van Engelen, and they were excellent.

If you want to give the Temple Nursery a try, send a catalog request to: The Temple Nursery, (Mr. Hitch Lyman), Box 591, Trumansburg, NY 14886.  I’ve never heard anything official on this but I sent $4 with the request.  Send it early.  Not only do the snowdrops sell out fast but the catalogs are also limited, so send it out soon!

 

More snowdrops from the Temple Nursery

Here’s the second installment of photos from our visit to Hitch Lyman’s garden.  These pictures are all taken on the bank of earth that lined the one side of the driveway leading up to the house.  The drops (and a few other things such as cyclamen coum) seemed happy on the slope, even though there didn’t seem to be much in the way of soil improvement or mulching or any other tinkering with the planting area.  But I don’t know that for sure, all I know is there were plenty of nice looking galanthus and even in the cold weather they were a hopeful sign of spring.

galanthus sickle

Cyclamen coum and Galanthus ‘Sickle’ looking somewhat chilly

galanthus Warham

Galanthus ‘Warham’

I’ve always been a big fan of snowdrops.  When the first warm days of spring rolled around I’d always make a point of swinging by the yards and parks where I knew there were a couple growing.  Although they were one of my favorite flowers, when I tried growing them in my parent’s garden they  never really settled in.  They just hung on.

The ones at the Temple Nursery seem to be doing much better.  If you’re curious as to snowdrop names, a mouse hovering over the photo will hopefully show their identity.  In this photo, the one on the right is galanthus “Sophie North” and it was one of my favorites.  The blooms were big and fat and at this point when they’re still tucked in by the foliage I think they’re perfect.

galanthus sophie north and sentinel

Galanthus ‘Sophie North’ on the right and ‘Sentinel’ to the left

This was my first opportunity to see a lot of named snowdrops in the flesh, and it may have made a snowdrop snob out of me.  I’m beginning to pick up on  the variations and differences.  Here’s “Spindlestone Surprise” which even an amateur like me can pick out as being different from the usual green-whiteness.

galanthus spindlestone surprise

Galanthus ‘Spindlestone Surprise’

yellow snowdrop

Yellow snowdrop

But I still can’t tell too many of them apart (and never with any certainty unless there’s a label stuck right next to it).  Here’s another yellow, and although there was a “Wendy’s Gold” label nearby, I don’t see much of a difference between this and the other yellow.

I may be drifting into snowdrop-snobbery but I still think I’ll be fine with just a couple.  Fyi they’re on order for shipment this spring.

Here are the last few pictures.   “Lodestar” shows a little green even when closed, and the blooms splay out a bit instead of having the round drop shape.

galanthus lodestar

Galanthus ‘Lodestar’

Wasp has a longer narrow bloom, looking a little sad in the cold.

galanthus wasp

The long wing-like petals of Galanthus ‘Wasp’

galanthus naughton

Galanthus ‘Naughton’

I think this is Naughton. I really like the fat blooms, no green showing, and the curled Pedicle (or at least I think that’s what you call the green thing over the bloom.

 

 

 

 

Not to leave things on a down note, but some snowdrops looked like they took a hit from the cold.  Here’s “Lord Monosticus”, and it appears the blooms got more than their fair share of winter cold.  I’ve had this happen in my garden with some of the earliest ones, and they recover fine for next season, but it’s sad to see.  This one was actually on my short list for ordering.  I’d like a real early one, but maybe it’s not worth the stress.

galanthus lord monostictus

Galanthus ‘Lord Monostictus’ after a rough spring

So that’s it for the snowdrops, I guess they’re not everyone’s “thing” but I kinda like them.  Also there’s not much else going on here as another 4 inches of snow comes down……

Snowdrops and snow

First days of spring come and go but for me a major turning point is the first garden tour.  Saturday was the day, and a friend and I headed up to Trumansburg NY to visit Hitch Lyman’s garden and his collection of snowdrops and other early bloomers.  I won’t bore you with the details of the “should be a 2hr drive” but the clock put it at closer to 4 hours and I’m sure that was due in a large part to not having a map, not really paying attention to directions, and having a co-pilot with a lot of new stories to share.  So we got there a bit later than planned, got to see a little more of the country side, and got to see a few more cities than we should have.  At least we didn’t end up in Canada is all I’ll add.

A snowdrop visit to upstate New York in below freezing weather and amidst snow qualls isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time.  Most of the garden is still asleep and when you pull up it’s more the house you notice, and less so the gardens.

The house at Temple gardens

The house at Temple Gardens

This open day was organized by the Garden Conservancy and according to their description the 1848 farmhouse was moved to the site in 1990.  What a job that must have been, and I’m going to guess it needed a bit of restoration when it got here.  On our side trip to reach Trumansburg, we came down rte 414 from Geneva Falls and experienced first-hand some other “in need of renovating” historical houses.  Some fascinating buildings, almost kind of ghost-towny in spots, and I’m going to make another guess that the local economy can’t support the upkeep on these grand old houses.  So they sit and slowly decay.

Back to the garden.  As you can see from the house photo most of the front acreage is naturalized fields with a few specimen plantings here and there.  The drive up to the house is also a mix of naturalized shrubs and trees, but along both sides are banks of earth spotted with all kinds of treasures.

hardy cyclamen and snowdrops

A sloped bank of hardy cyclamen and various snowdrops

The snow and cold had many of them lying down but there was still plenty to see.  We checked in for our visit and headed around the house.  Plantings close to the building were pretty subdued and actually the direct opposite of what most gardeners do.  I put all the little stuff right up around the house, but here the only plantings were a raised terrace with a planted fieldstone sitting area.

winter aconite terrace

The terrace out back

I’ve seen springtime pictures from this vantage point, and the white wisteria and crabapples make for a much more lush view than the current frozen winter aconite among the paving.

temple gardens

Around back is the namesake temple for Mr. Lyman’s Temple Nursery…. snowdrops are the specialty in case you missed that.

Behind the temple you can make out the dark green of the yew and boxwood that surround the formal garden.  I didn’t get any pictures inside the garden, but it’s a formal layout of geometric planting beds filled with lilac, peonies, colchicums, hellebores, and of course snowdrops and other spring bulbs.

yew formal garden

The formal garden entrance

Deer seemed to be a problem outside the hedge and protective fence, with plenty of nibbled and buck rubbed shrubs, but once inside there were many signs of spring… in spite of my freezing fingers and cold toes.

helleborus niger

Some early Lenten roses (Helleborus niger) in the formal garden beds

galanthus jade

Galanthus ‘Jade’

Of course there were snowdrops(here’s “Jade”), but the bulk of the snowdrops were in the next (and last) section of the garden.  The woodland garden was furthest from the house and consisted of a narrow path that wound its way through the secondary growth of trees and shrubs that lined the back field.

Here’s how the path looked.

woodland path

The carefully marked woodland path, lined with snowdrops.

There were small clumps of drops everywhere and I was nervous to even use the outer edges of the trail since many clumps edged up to the path.  For a snowdrop fan there was interest galore…. for a non-snowdrop person I suspect they would want someone to widen the path, throw down some mulch, and pick up a few of the fallen twigs.

snowdrop woodland

An authentic snowdrop woodland peppered with clumps of named snowdrop varieties

Here are a few clump closeups from the woodland area.

galanthus nivalis sandersii

Galanthus nivalis sandersii

galanthus diggory

Galanthus ‘Diggory’

galanthus lapwing

Galanthus ‘Lapwing’

galanthus R D Nutt

Galanthus ‘R D Nutt’

 

double snowdrop

Unlabeled double snowdrop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve got a few more pictures taken of the bank along the driveway but I think I’ll save them for another post.  For now I’ll leave you with some interior shots of the temple (it’s not just for show!).  After losing all sensation in my fingertips, we allowed ourselves a break inside by the temple fire.

Hitch Lyman garden

Warming up in front of the fireplace at the Lyman garden.

I hope we weren’t crossing any poor-garden-conduct boundaries by going inside, but the door was slightly ajar and the fire was so inviting.  Plus by then we were freezing, and a passing snow squall wasn’t helping matters much.  As we were looking around and considering building our own garden temples, I saw this above the door and had the feeling we were just as welcome here as we had been in the rest of the garden.

lyman temple garden

Inside details of the temple

Thanks for having us Mr. Lyman.

First day of spring?

The sun was out and temperatures crept up to the fifty plus range, so I did what every self respecting suburban boy does when the bad weather breaks. I washed the cars. Donna was pleased, clean cars and an industrious husband are far more respectable than a spouse who shuffles around the yard looking for crocus sprouts, but I couldn’t avoid poking around in the crusty flower beds. Here’s the one right next to the front walk.

spring garden cleanup

The ugly reality

It was time for the trash and dead banana plant carcass to disappear so that there will be room for spring sprouts.  Sure it’s early, but I think everything there will be fine even with a couple more freezes.  I feel much better now.

spring garden cleanup

A fresh new look

Sorry, but I can’t help putting in one more winter aconite and snowdrop photo.  Sure it’s the same two inch plant from an earlier post, but in case you didn’t notice, the subtitle for this blog is “more than you ever wanted to know about my garden”, so to keep it honest I go for the overkill.

snowdrops and winter aconite

Shoots and flowers coming up to make spring a thing

A low of 20F is forecast for later in the week and winter hasn’t been completely crushed,  but I’m going to call this past weekend spring (even if it’s just really really early spring).

Next I should consider cleaning the hellebore bed, it could use some attention too.

spring garden cleanup

More of the ugly reality

The pussywillow at the end isn’t waiting so I better get on it, but at least for now the winter grime is off the cars and a couple plants have some breathing room.

spring pussy willow

Hope for spring