Moving Snowdrops

Early April provides us with our first flowers.  Yellow Aconites are backed by Snowdrops in our oval shade garden near the house and under the locust tree.  This day was cold as is shown by the tightly closed buds.  Reproduction is the natural purpose of all flowers and these will not waste their pollen by opening on a day too cold for active pollinators to be out and about.  Perhaps the air warmed later in the day teasing these buds to open.

The long curved brown stems are what remains of the structure that supported the Locust leaves.  At first they were seen as an ugly intrusion but now they are treasured.  This garden is exposed to strong winds that would otherwise blow away all of the fallen leaves.  Natural woodland soil results from leaves rotting where they fell so we need these leaves to stay in place.  The messy brown stems hold the leaves and both will soon disappear under new green plant growth.  These early Spring bulbs had no trouble pushing their flowers and leaves above the litter.  The remains of Cardinal Flower seed pods fill the left foreground.

It is perhaps a little late to be planting bulbs but this day featured only a light but persistent drizzle so outside work was at least possible.  A sizable patch of snowdrops hold their own next to the memorial bench overlooking a favorite fishing spot in the Unadilla River.  Bulbs dug yesterday will not be missed when those left behind  flower.  Some open ground will likely be appreciated by the crowd that remains.

Indentations between the stones that mark the edge of the path seemed like a perfect place for snowdrops.  We try to plant native plants here but who could deny European beauties this perfect place to grow?  The small mower recently chopped a fair sized pile of newly fallen imported leaves as the gas was run out of the machine to prepare it for winter storage.  These were spread to cover the bare ground after the bulbs were planted.  Natural mulch will both build proper soil here and discourage the growth of nasty weeds.

A close look at the picture will reveal the tools frequently used for this type of work here.  Age makes it necessary to gently support weak knees on a thick forgiving foam pad.  The old dishpan held the freshly dug bulbs and will soon be filled with chopped leaves.  It also moved a bit of man made woodland soil from its nearby pile.  Also a three tined hand spade is visible between the right knee and elbow.

Despite the lateness of the move, we expect to see several clusters of bright green leaves and pure white flowers soon after spring snow melt.