You planted a bag of snowdrop bulbs last autumn and hardly any came up. That's very common. The bulbs are small and dry out easily, and the RHS describes dry bulbs as "very prone to drying out". The reliable way to get snowdrops going is to plant them while they're still growing, just after they flower, with their leaves up and roots attached. That's what "in the green" means.
01At a glance
- When: from just after flowering until the leaves start to yellow, roughly February to April depending on the year and where you live.
- What you're buying: growing clumps with leaves and roots, sold in bundles or pots, not dry bulbs in a bag.
- Depth: replant at the same depth they were growing. The leaves turn pale where they were below ground, so use that as your guide.
- Never dig them from the wild. In Great Britain it's illegal to uproot any wild plant without the landowner's permission.
- Dry bulbs: if they're all you can get, buy them as soon as they're in the shops and plant the same day.
02Why in leaf works better
A snowdrop bulb sitting dry in a bag is slowly losing moisture, and once it shrivels it may never recover. A clump lifted in leaf never dries out. It goes straight from one patch of soil to another with its roots still working, then dies down naturally and comes back next winter.
The RHS is more precise. It says freshly lifted bulbs do best planted as the foliage is just dying back in late spring, and that buying in the green just after flowering is the next best option. Both work because the bulbs never dry out. In practice, if you're moving or dividing your own clumps, do it while the leaves are still up; the RHS's preferred moment is as they turn yellow. If you're buying by mail order, in the green is how they arrive.
03Planting a clump in the green
- Choose the spot first. Partial shade under deciduous trees or shrubs, in soil that's moist but drains well. The RHS stresses that the soil mustn't dry out in summer. Our snowdrop profile has more on site.
- Dig in leaf mould or garden compost, especially on thin or sandy soil.
- Plant on the day they arrive. Keep the roots damp while they wait.
- Split big bundles into small groups of a few bulbs. Gently tease them apart. Don't pull.
- Set them at the same depth they grew before. The pale part at the base of the leaves shows where the soil came up to.
- Firm in gently and water, then leave the leaves alone. The RHS says to let the foliage die back naturally.
04Dividing your own clumps
Clumps that have stopped flowering well in the middle are congested. The RHS advises lifting and dividing as the foliage turns yellow, with as little disturbance as possible, and replanting at the same depth. Ease the clump up with a fork, split it into smaller groups, and replant straight away. One crowded clump can start several new patches around the garden.
05Where your snowdrops came from
Snowdrops are traded in huge numbers, and some species are covered by CITES, the international convention on trade in endangered species. A CITES Plants Committee paper records that Georgia exported up to 18 million wild-collected bulbs of one snowdrop species, Galanthus woronowii, in a single year. Since then it has been building up registered, propagated stock. Buying from a nursery that states its snowdrops are nursery-grown, or getting divisions from a friend's garden, avoids the question.
Closer to home, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland notes that under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is illegal to uproot any wild plant without permission from the landowner or occupier in England, Scotland and Wales. That includes snowdrops on verges, in churchyards and in woods. Plantlife notes they're counted as native but are fairly recent arrivals, first recorded growing wild here in 1778. They still aren't yours to dig.
06Mistakes that cost you snowdrops
- Leaving dry bulbs in the bag for weeks before planting.
- Cutting or tying the leaves after flowering. They're feeding next year's bulb.
- Planting in a hot, dry, sunny bed. The RHS stresses the soil mustn't dry out in summer.
- Digging blind in summer and slicing through dormant clumps. Mark where they are in spring.
- Planting dry bulbs where squirrels can dig them up, which the RHS warns about.
Before planting where children or pets dig, check the safety flags on our snowdrop profile.
How we checked this
Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.
Sources: RHS — How to grow snowdrops · BSBI — Code of Conduct for picking, collecting, photographing and enjoying wild plants · legislation.gov.uk — Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 13 · CITES Plants Committee — Galanthus woronowii in trade from the wild and the development of artificial propagation in Georgia (PC21 Doc. 17) · Plantlife — Snowdrop
Checked 8 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.