Chionodoxa

Family Hyacinthaceae. Name: derived from the Greek words 'chion' - snow and 'doxa' - glory, pride, for its early flowering, often right from under the snow.

Description: the genus includes 6 species that grow in Asia Minor and on the island of Crete.

A graceful, low-growing bulbous plant with basal leaves that appear at the same time as the flower stems. There are usually two leaves, broad-lanceolate, channelled, dark green, 8–12 cm long. Flowers are bell-shaped, consisting of six petals, up to 4 cm in diameter, gathered in a loose racemose inflorescence, blue, deep blue, white or pink with a spreading perianth whose segments are united at the base and slightly turned back. The fruit is a fleshy capsule. Seeds are rounded, black, with a fleshy appendage. Bulbs are ovoid, 1.5–3 cm long and 1.2–1.7 cm in diameter, covered with pale scales. In spring Chionodoxa bloom among the earliest, and by midsummer, in June, they wither.

Site: winter-hardy. Chionodoxa do well in partial shade and in sunny spots. If you choose a planting site where the snow melts first, flowering will be early. In partial shade it will start a little later but will last a few days longer. It is believed that Chionodoxa cannot tolerate shady places and should not be planted under trees. However, the rare shade from deciduous trees that leaf out late will not harm Chionodoxa. Moreover, the best place for these magnificent plants is a rock garden or alpine bed, and these constructions are rarely located in shade.

Soil: they require well-drained, good, humus-rich, fertile soil.

Care: in early spring when you arrive at the plot, exercise extreme caution and, if possible, avoid areas with noticeable bulbous plants so as not to accidentally damage shoots in the soft soil. After all, like all early-flowering bulbs, Chionodoxa formed their flower shoots last year, and over autumn and winter they may have grown almost to the soil surface. Just one or two warm days are enough for the flower stems to appear above the soil. At this time the plants' need for nutrients, primarily nitrogen, sharply increases, which makes feeding necessary. Scatter fertilizer around the plants, taking care that it does not get on the leaves — this can cause burn. After applying the fertilizer, lightly cultivate the soil surface to improve water and air regimes and to speed up nutrient uptake by the root system of the plants.

Propagation: by bulblets and seeds. In a season they usually develop 2–4 bulbs, which are planted in autumn at a depth of 5–8 cm and 5 cm apart. Bulbs sometimes form so-called contractile roots that move to a depth of up to 20 cm and even sideways. This is typical of young small bulbs that have not reached the flowering stage. They have a taproot that by the end of vegetation and the dieback of the above-ground parts turns into a small, very oddly shaped translucent watery “carrot”. The root sharply increases in diameter to 10–15 mm, then quickly wrinkles and dries. A deep hole forms in the ground. The bulb has no choice but to fall into it. Thus the plants redistribute by depth and never interfere with each other. Because of this, digging up bulbs becomes a very difficult and slow job that, due to the small size of the bulbs, cannot be mechanized. Therefore, Chionodoxa are better not dug up, but divided and replanted, and this should be done during flowering. Surprisingly, they do not suffer at all from being dug up long before the end of vegetation, provided one condition is met — very thin and delicate roots must not be dried. Flowering bulbs produce several offsets each year. Over time a nest of bulbs forms. If dug up early it does not fall apart, which makes it possible to separate clumps not only in annual but also in perennial plantings. Plants can be dug in the second half of July after the foliage has yellowed and dried. Before planting, bulbs are stored in a dry, dark place at +17°C.

With sowing in the ground by seeds young plants flower in 3–4 years. Self-seeding is often observed, as a result of which the plants become naturalized. On the seeds there is a fleshy formation (саrипсиla) — a delicacy for ants, which carry the seeds far from the garden. Without transplanting, Chionodoxa can grow for a long time.