Snowdrop: How to Recognise the Real One, Why Not to Pick It and How to Grow It

The snowdrop is one of the first flowers of the year: its white nodding buds appear in late February and March, sometimes pushing straight through melting snow. Yet in everyday Ukrainian and Russian speech the word for "snowdrop" is used for almost any early flower — blue squills, violet pasque flowers, white wood anemones. Here is which flower is the real snowdrop, how to tell it from other spring flowers, why picking and selling it is banned in Ukraine, which legends surround it and how to grow snowdrops legally in your own garden.

What is a snowdrop

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The true snowdrop is Galanthus, a small bulbous plant in the amaryllis family. The genus name combines the Greek words gala, "milk", and anthos, "flower" — a "milk flower". About twenty Galanthus species are known; in the wild they grow from Western Europe to the Caucasus, Turkey and Iran.

The best-known species is the common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). It has two narrow grey-green leaves and one nodding flower on a stem 10–20 cm tall. The flower is easy to recognise: three long white outer petals (strictly speaking, tepals) and three short inner ones with a green horseshoe- or heart-shaped mark.

Snowdrops flower early to make use of the short window when a deciduous wood still has plenty of light and moisture. By early summer their leaves die back, and the bulb "sleeps" underground until the next spring.

How to tell a snowdrop from other spring flowers

• Snowdrop (Galanthus) — a single white nodding flower with three long and three short petals, the short ones marked green.
• Snowflake (Leucojum) — similar, but all six petals are equal, with green dots on the tips. The flowers are larger, and there may be several per stem.
• Squill (Scilla) — blue star-shaped flowers, several on one stem. Many people call it a "snowdrop" too.
• Pasque flower (Pulsatilla) — violet hairy bells growing in steppe and pine woods. Most pasque flower species are also protected in Ukraine.
• Wood anemone — white or yellow daisy-like flowers with a yellow centre in deciduous woods.

Many of these early flowers, like the snowdrop itself, are rare plants. Read more about spring flowers in the garden.

Snowdrops in Ukraine and the Red Data Book

All wild snowdrop species found in Ukraine are listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Populations have shrunk mainly because of mass picking for bouquets and digging up bulbs for sale, as well as logging and construction.

Picking, digging up, buying and selling wild snowdrops is prohibited and subject to administrative penalties. In addition, all Galanthus species are listed in CITES Appendix II, so international trade in bulbs is allowed only with documents proving cultivated origin. Learn more about rare plants in our article on the Red Data Book of Ukraine.

If you see snowdrops sold in an underpass or at a street market in spring, they are almost certainly illegally collected. The best way to enjoy them is a walk in a forest, park or botanical garden.

Legends and traditions

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One of the best-known legends involves Adam and Eve. When they were expelled from Paradise, snow was falling and Eve wept from cold and despair. An angel caught a few snowflakes, breathed on them, and they turned into snowdrops — a sign that spring always follows winter.

In England snowdrops are called Candlemas bells: they often open around 2 February, and the flowers used to be brought to churches for the feast. Many people also know the fairy tale "The Twelve Months", in which a stepdaughter is sent into the winter forest to find snowdrops and the twelve month-brothers help her.

In Ukrainian folk tradition the first spring flowers were linked with the awakening of nature. There was a custom of rejoicing at the first flower you saw and leaving it unpicked — a careful attitude that matches today's conservation rules.

Interesting facts

• Galanthophiles. Britain has a whole community of snowdrop collectors. Hundreds of garden varieties are known, differing in petal shape and markings, and bulbs of rare varieties sell at auction for very high prices.
• Galantamine. The alkaloid galantamine, now used in medicine, was isolated from snowdrops and related plants. The drug is produced industrially, while the plant itself is poisonous — it must not be eaten or brewed.
• A living thermometer. On a warm sunny day the outer petals lift and open the flower; in the cold they close again to protect the pollen.
• Early food for bees. Snowdrops provide nectar and pollen for bees that fly out on the first warm days.

How to grow snowdrops in the garden

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You can — and should — grow snowdrops in your garden, but only from bulbs bought at a garden centre or nursery where they are propagated in cultivation.

• When to plant. Dry bulbs in September–October. Buy them as early as possible, as snowdrop bulbs dry out quickly. Plants "in the green" — with leaves, moved right after flowering — establish even better.
• Position. Partial shade under deciduous trees and shrubs: plenty of sun in spring, shade and coolness in summer.
• Planting. 5–8 cm deep and 5–10 cm apart. Plant in groups for the best effect.
• Care. Almost none. Do not cut the leaves after flowering until they yellow on their own — that is when the bulb stores energy for next year.
• Propagation. In 3–5 years a clump will spread. Divide it after flowering and replant.

Snowdrops go well with crocuses, squills and hellebores. Once they finish, perennials and summer flowers take their place.

Snowdrops as a gift

A bouquet of wild snowdrops is a poor gift: picking them is banned, and they wilt quickly in a vase. A good alternative is a pot of nursery-grown snowdrops that can later be planted in the garden, or a spring bouquet of tulips, hyacinths and grape hyacinths. You can also make snowdrops yourself — see our tutorial on a paper snowdrop bouquet.

Frequently asked questions

When do snowdrops bloom?

Depending on the weather, from late February to early April. In mild winters in the south the first flowers appear as early as January.

Can I pick snowdrops?

Not wild ones: in Ukraine they are listed in the Red Data Book. You may cut garden snowdrops from your own plot, but they do not last long in a vase.

Are snowdrops poisonous?

Yes, all parts of the plant, especially the bulbs, contain alkaloids. Keep bulbs away from children and pets.

What is the difference between a snowdrop and a snowflake?

A snowdrop has three long and three short petals; a snowflake has six equal petals with green dots on the tips.

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Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.