From our point of view, as a dormant snowdrop (*Galanthus*) seed, the idea of being started indoors by a human is a curious one. Our natural life cycle is one of immense patience. We fall from our mother plant in late spring, equipped with a tiny nutrient packet called an elaiosome. This attracts ants, who carry us to their nests, eat the elaiosome, and discard us—a process called myrmecochory that naturally sows us in a new location. We then require a long period of cold and wet to break our dormancy, a process called cold stratification, mimicking a full winter underground. Only after this chilling period will we even consider germinating, and even then, it is a slow process. An indoor environment is a complete departure from this ancient, reliable rhythm.
Your warm, stable home is the opposite of what we need to thrive. The primary obstacle is replicating our necessary winter cycle. Simply planting us in a pot of soil on a windowsill will not work; we will remain dormant, and eventually, our vitality will fade. Furthermore, we possess a morphophysiological dormancy. This means our tiny embryo inside the seed coat is not fully developed and requires a specific sequence of temperature changes to mature and then break dormancy. Without the correct, extended cold period, our internal biological clock will not start. Even if you succeed, our first few years of life are dedicated solely to building our bulb strength underground; we will not flower, focusing all our energy on survival and growth.
If you are determined to attempt this journey with us, you must become a master of mimicking nature. First, you must acquire fresh seeds. Our seeds are recalcitrant, meaning we lose viability quickly if we dry out. Sow us immediately in late spring or early summer in pots filled with a moist, well-draining potting mix. Bury us about 2 cm deep. Now, the most critical step: cold stratification. You must place our entire pot inside a plastic bag and put us in your refrigerator (not the freezer!) for a minimum of 12 weeks. This simulates the cold, moist winter we desperately need. Check periodically to ensure the medium remains moist but not waterlogged.
After the cold period, move our pot to a cool, shaded location outdoors or in an unheated garage. A slightly warmed windowsill can be too extreme a change. Germination is slow and erratic; some of us may sprout in early spring, while others may take much longer. Our first leaves will be a single, slender grass-like blade. This is not a flower, and you must not be disappointed. For the next two to three years, you must keep us in our pots, allowing the foliage to die back naturally each year after which the pot can be moved to a sheltered spot. We are building our bulb, our life force, beneath the soil. Repot us annually into slightly larger containers with fresh soil. Only when our bulbs have reached sufficient size will we reward your immense patience with our first delicate, nodding white flower.
