Best snowdrop planting combinations
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Wednesday, 8 January 2020 at 9:02 am
Check out some of the best ways to combine snowdrops with other plants.
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Snowdrops are often the first plants to break ground in the new year, braving the cold and frost.
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As they emerge, other plants gradually show their faces, too, along with evergreens that remain year-round. It's these plants you can grow alongside snowdrops to make beautiful planting combinations for winter colour.
To get a carpet of snowdrops, you can of course plant lots of bulbs, but you can save money by dividing existing clumps in spring, just after they've finished flowering in spring. Watch Monty show you how to divide snowdrops.
Related content:
- Three tips for growing snowdrops
- Planting snowdrops 'in the green'
- How to establish snowdrops
Check out some of our favourite snowdrop planting combinations, below.
Snowdrops and aconites
Like snowdrops, winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) are one of the first plants to emerge in the new year. They provide fantastic ground cover and are a valuable source of pollen and nectar for hibernating pollinators that briefly emerge on sunny winter days.
Snowdrops amongst yellow aconite flowers
Ophiopogon and snowdrops
Ophiopogon planiscapus, or black mondo, is a beautiful evergreen perennial with a grass-like appearance, though it's not a grass. The black foliage is the perfect foil for white snowdrop blooms.
Black mondo foliage contrasting with white snowdrops
Primroses, snowdrops and cyclamen
This combination of Primula vulgaris, snowdrops and Cyclamen coum subsp. coum f. pallidum 'Album' emulates a woodland floor to enchanting effect.
Primroses, cyclamen and snowdrops planted together amongst moss
Snowdrops and hellebores
This partnering of honey-scented Galanthus 'S. Arnott' and lime-green Helleborus argutifolius is bursting with the freshness of spring. Perfect for a shady border near the house.
Green hellebores and snowdrops
Cornus and snowdrops
Cornus are renowned for their colourful winter stems, but they'll stand out all the more if underplanted with a carpet of snowdrops, as opposed to brown earth. Find out how to prune dogwoods for colourful winter stems.
Snowdrops highlighting red dogwood stems
Snowdrops with other snowdrops
There are many lovely snowdrops to grow – just ask a galanthophile. Galanthus 'Primrose Warburg' has yellow markings on the flowers, unusual for a snowdrop – while Galanthus woronowii has broad, strap-like foliage and nodding flowers.
Giant snowdrop variety
Snowdrops, dryopteris and ivy
If you want snowdrops to be the stars, look no further than evergreens like ivy and the buckler fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), which will provide a verdant backdrop for the flowers.
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Snowdrops with ivy and buckler fern
Cyclamen and snowdrops
Planted en masse, snowdrops combined with the fuchsia blooms of Cyclamen coum creates a mesmerising sea of colour. As the flowers burst into bloom, you'll have lots to cut, bring inside and display in small jars.
Swathes of snowdrops and pink cyclamen
Planting snowdrops 'in the green'
Snowdrops can be planted as bulbs, but you're more likely to have success if you plant them 'in the green', which is when they've just flowered and still have intact foliage. You can buy snowdrops 'in the green' in spring from garden centres and nurseries, or see if your friends and neighbours have any to spare.
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