[Aunt Sally]

:shock: They look rather like the spanish variety to me Rose  :!:

[Selkie]

They are Auntie, they're just the ordinary ones you get in gardens, not wild ones; I wouldn't have chosen to plant them, but they came with the house :roll:

[slowef]

Yes snowdrops take a long time to establish at all when planted as bulbs they are always better planted in the green.  My grandad was a great gardener and he always said so

[londongardener]

These are my bluebells LondonGardener, sorry I just took the photo now (in the rain and dusk ) so it isn't the best -- they grow all over the place, through the grass too.

(that's one of our dog's bones in the middle, I don't know what it's doing there :roll: )

Thanks for that.
I was thinking off growing them in part of the lawn.  If they spread too much friends  can have free bluebell bulbs in the green !!

[Selkie]

I'd say they would be fine in the lawn (going by our experience of them at least) - we cut them down when we mow the grass. The leaves go horrid and slimy :x

[Aunt Sally]

There are problems with the Spanish variety cross pollinating with the native one and gradually forcing them out.  I'll see if I can find a reference.

[Selkie]

The native ones are protected plants though aren't they? - so you can't just go and dig them up from the wild.

I'm sure I've heard about the bully Spanish ones, luckily (or not) we don't have any woodlands too near here at least.

[Aunt Sally]

Here a bit, do have a look at the link too:

The native bluebell’s Spanish relative is more vigourous than our native species and
can readily cross-breed with it to create a fertile hybrid Hyacinthoides hispanica x
non-scripta. Plantlife International is concerned that this cross-breeding between the
three different species could have dramatic consequences for the genetic integrity
of our native bluebell.

http://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/assets/saving-species/saving-species-publications/Blubells-for-Britain-report.pdf

[Selkie]

Well done Auntie, the photos actually made me home sick for England :shock: (and I'm Irish through and through)

[Aunt Sally]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Publications/pubs/garden1003/newsgeneral.htm

We have the most wonderful bluebell woods imaginable in Kent Rose.  It's one of my greatest pleasures in May each year.

[Selkie]

I really miss bluebell woods

[Aunt Sally]

This is one of  my favourite gardens in Kent Rose.  It's beautiful

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-scotneycastlegarden/w-scotneycastlegarden-photo_gallery.htm

[Selkie]

It looks lovely Auntie, I liked the photo of the steps

We used go to the botanical gardens in Birmingham quite a bit, there ARE things I miss about living in the UK

[Lynne]

The native ones are protected plants though aren't they? - so you can't just go and dig them up from the wild.

I'm sure I've heard about the bully Spanish ones, luckily (or not) we don't have any woodlands too near here at least.

You can buy the proper bluebells, but it's not allowed to pick them growing in the wild. The spanish one's are really taking over, and some areas are now pulling them up and replacing them with native one's to stop them being overtaken.

On the question about snowdrops, the bulbs should be 'fresh' if you want them to come back.

[Cynara]

Yes snowdrops take a long time to establish at all when planted as bulbs they are always better planted in the green.  My grandad was a great gardener and he always said so

...and separating all the little bulbs is far too fiddly.
Once they have finished flowering it is much easier to chop up clumps like these and replant.
Do it quickly and they don't even notice they've been moved.