Snowdrops and Bluebells

When would you usually plant snowdrops and bluebells and when do they tend to flower?

Are there any rules surrounding them? Do they only like certain soil types? Do they need any certain food etc?

 

Hi Lollyb,

snowdrops are best planted in the green, April time, plant about 6cm deep.
bluebells: again plant in the green if you can get them, plant May/June in humus rich
soil. water moderatly after planting. Good Luck!!

Pete :gnthb:

 

I plant my snowdrops and bluebells in October/November. I plant them in the lawn area, or irregular circles as they are natural spreaders. They come up around March/April for me. And then in a month or so when its time to cut the grass you just cut the grass and move on.

 

Lolly, please use the English Bluebell ( scilla non-scripta ) rather than the Spanish Bluebell ( scilla hispanicus ). The reason being, the Spanish variety is doing to the English variety what the grey squirrel did to the red squirrel, i.e, wiping them out.:flag::gnthb:

 

Thank you! I certainly will, I am so excited I have always loved bluebells

Thank you again for your help.:yho:

 

I too plant my spring bulbs in Oct and this year want to buy more spring bulbs and pot up containers and add more to my raised bed.

 

I stand Corrected:dh:

Pete

 

If you go into a woodland where bluebells grow you'll notice leaves from last year carpeting the ground. underneath that you'll find brown compost which is the previous years leaves, below that the soil will black. That is the soil you need to grow bluebells in. Bluebells tend to be better in woodland that has ferns which grow after the bluebells flower.

 

Both do better when grown 'in the green' but will grow from the dried up looking specimens sold as bulbs shortly in garden centres (and in Sainsbury's as I found out yesterday...).

According to a town council gardener who I heard giving a talk earlier this year, it's not that bluebells love shade, more that they have the chance to flourish in shade because most other plants don't do flourish in shade. This seems to be true, at least in my parent-in-laws garden. Full sun, brilliant soil, well drained...and a veritable carpet of bluebells every Spring.

 

I have begun to plant some of my bulbs already, will be leaving the snowdrops and bluebells until the beginning of next month. When i told my mum I was going to plant snowdrops she wished me luck. I have dry bulbs from the garden centre. She informed me that snowdrops should be planted whilst they still have their previous leaves on. Is there any truth in this?

 

Hi Lollyb.
In my experience the little dried snowdrop bulbs which are bought in packets don't do well. Plant them and wait - nothing !
But plant yours, they may come fine.
If that fails you, wait until next spring and buy some snowdrops "in the green" - still with their leaves on as they are dying down. You'll find them advertised in gardening magazines if your local nursery doesn't have them. Snowdrops come in many varieties and you'll get a great choice.
They can flower as early as Jan, Feb, March - depending on variety.
As for Bluebells - I agree with Daitheplant. Spanish squill are weeds. In my experience they will grow anywhere, and everywhere you never wanted them.
They spread themselves all over the place and you can't get them out. The bulbs seem to go down all the way to Australia.
If you want Bluebells, spend a little extra and get a native variety. It will be a better return for your money.
Hope your Snowdrops and Bluebells turn out great.