To transplant snowdrops to other parts of your garden, lift plants that are 'in the green' after flowering, when the soil is moist. This would be in spring time; very early, say March or so. Carefully tease the clumps of bulbs apart by hand, trying to avoid damage to the roots.

It's best to replant the bulbs singly, spacing each one at least two bulb widths apart. However, where large clumps include small seedlings, replant the bulbs in small clusters, spreading the roots out well, and water in.

If growing snowdrops in containers, re-pot in July or August when the plants are dormant, using fresh compost.

Don't use strong fertilisers or manure-based compost; leaf-mould is preferable and more similar to their natural, woodland environment.

hopflower, you are a wealth of information! I am very glad to know not to use manure with snowdrops. It's my standard soil amendment for almost everything, and I would have ruined my new bulbs for sure. They have done very well in pots all winter, and I will be moving them into permanent quarters soon. Any thoughts on how much sun they will take? I have a place under a shade structure that has climbing roses on it, excellent soil, moist conditions, good drainage, and I have another place where I would use them as underplantings for hydrangeas where they would get perhaps 2 to 3 hours of sun during the summer (but shade under the hydrangeas). This spot stays moist too. What do you think? I would really like them to get happy and naturalize. I love them!

McClure and Zimmerman sells snowdrops. Also Old House Gardens, and DutchGardens.

Other vendors: John Scheepers, American Meadows, DutchBulbs, BloomingBulb, Brecks

A large patch of Snowdrops is next to my compost pile and during the summer when I am using the compost I inadvertently get a few bulbs with the compost. Now in several places in my garden I am surprised with snowdrops this time of year when they are most appreciated. Al

I've planted snowdrops both "in the green" (spring) and as bulbs (early fall). Both strategies work for me in my climate, but that means that one or both won't work for anyone else on this planet...(Murphy's Law of Northwest Nevada High Desert Gardening). Do I have a clue which strategy is best? No.

Have any supplier's bulbs proven to be any more reliable? Also no. Freebies from Breck's have done just as well as top-quality bulbs from Van Engelen/John Scheepers, Brent and Becky's, Odyssey Bulbs, Jane McGary, McClure and Zimmerman and Old House Gardens (that hasn't been true of other things from Breck's--maybe I just got lucky).

I've even got several species poked all over the garden: Galanthus plicatus, G. elwesii, G. nivalis and G. ikariae. Can I tell which are which? Not really. I know I have all of those because I have the packing slips from the past several years and because I know I planted everything I received.

I can't make many generalization on soil, either. I'm so lackadaisical about fertilizing that I can tell you low-to-no fertilizer works fine. I don't use manure, composted or otherwise (too much trouble to haul through the garage even if I have it delivered). I do use leaf litter (too lazy to rake the flower/bulb beds in fall) and compost (lawn rakings and kitchen scraps, mostly) when I have it. The soil where all the snowdrops are planted is heavy clay.

They do get regular watering from some time in spring until about Thanksgiving--but only as much as all the other plants in the beds (Hostas, Hellebores, Daffodils, shrubs, assorted other perennials), and we seldom get rain from May to September. Most are in dappled to full shade, but the sun here is so scorching and bright because of the altitude that lots of plants considered sun-lovers elsewhere on the planet thrive in shade here.

I guess my suggestion would be to just take the plunge, hedge your bets by planting some plants or bulbs in different parts of your garden with different conditions and see what happens.

Terrific information! You are raising my hopes, because most of your garden conditions sound very similar to mine. I may well do exactly what you say: put some in one place and others in the other and see what happens. Thanks, ljr!

Probably snowdrops are not that fond of consistently moist ground -- most of those bulbs are native to places like the mountains of Turkey & Iran etc. Think about how much rain those places get!

I would think about maybe trying a spot under a tree -- I would not put them in that moist spot shaded by the hydrangea. But the spot under the rose might work out beautifully.

Have you got places near the doors to your house? They would be most welcome there, the first flowers of spring! Or where you can look out a window at a clump of them? Try looking out your windows & seeing if you can find any spots you'd like to see some snowdrops!

Oh..How I wish I had some snowdrops this year..lol I used to have an large wooded property where I grew up. I used to pick them for my mother when I was little. Snow drops grew wild all over, when we sold the house, (I was 16) The new people who bought it, paved it over for a basket ball court, and the remaining 3 lots were used to build new houses..Boy was I crushed! Now I am looking for snowdrops so my daughter can pick some for me in the spring. She does a good job on my crocus's..lol Thanks for everyone responding on this thread, I have found some great resources..Thanks a million everyone!