So cute! I'll have to get some of those ...

PV

The runners up: Crocus!

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hehehe...my first blooms were daffodils back in January.

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Friday I found a crocus. I didn't know what all that foliage was. I didn't plant these. They were in an area of the yard I turned into a perennial bed. There is a LOT of this foliage all through the gardens now. I guess I must have cut the grass last spring before they had a chance to bloom. In summer, there are light purple ones that bloom.

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Yeah well, I walked on the moon... :P

Hey, if you plant snowdrops you'll have blooms on New Year's probably.

My neighbor's yard already has them. He's never here. I considered accidentally digging some up. ;)

I have snowdrops this year - I actually bought the bulbs at a local nursery. Many have bllomed and I can't wait to collect seeds from them!

snowdrops seeds do not tolerate dry storage

Snowdrops are my first flowers, too. I also have a Christmas Rose (Helleborus Niger) and white forsythia which also bloom very early. There is a very early type of daffodil called "Rijnveld's Early Sensation" which blooms at about the same time as my dutch crocus. There is no such thing as too much early color after a winter like this! One of my resolutions for next year is to start some hardy pansies or violas in a pot on my windowsill so I can put them out in late march and have more color out there.

This year I planted both Galanthus elwesii (giant snowdrops) and Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno' (double snowdrops). After planting, I covered the garden with about 4 inches of pine needle mulch which is what I cover most of my garden with.

Here is my question - did I make a mistake by laying down the pine needle mulch? Does anyone know if my snowdrops will push through the pine needles?

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin,

I'm no expert, but I don't think you needed to cover the snowdrops. How are they going to come through? They need light to germinate. I'm in zone 5 and I never cover mine and they come up every year.

Bellarosa

Hi Bellarosa,

Thanks for the reply!

I only used the pine needle mulch as an ornamental mulch.

I was nervous about the thick bedding of pine needles, so I removed most of the mulch - just leaving enough pine needle mulch to make the bedding look nice.