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Winter Aconite

Peanuts3Peanuts3 Posts: 759
in Plants

I'm sure I've read in an article that aconite's prefer chalky alkaline soil, yet on the RHS website it says it grows on any soil and on any ph?

I haven't seen any aconite anywhere round here, but love the combination of snowdrops and aconite.

Has anyone on here managed to grow them in sandy soil.  My original pH test said neutral, but we have Rhodo's, camelia's in the garden so I think slightly acidic too.

What do you think ? Any advice ?

Thank you.

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391

    What will kill them is being baked in dry soil in summer.  They are woodland plants so need shade in summer and soil which doesn't dry out.  If you can provide that, I think it trumps pH by a large factor.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 50,366

    I'd agree with Bob re the moisture.That's the important factor - certainly for snowdrops, which hate dry soil. These little winter flowering bulbs need moisture to thrive.

    It's also misleading re rhodies etc that they need acid soil. They don't. One of those oft quoted myths. They just don't like alkaline soil. Perfectly at home in neutral  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Peanuts3Peanuts3 Posts: 759

    okay, useful info thank you very much.

    The snowdrops are on the edge of pine trees, so will see how the extra 100 get on that I planted last year and go from there. 

    I didn't know that about snowdrops having moisture, so will be interesting to see where those snowdrops do pop up.

    thank you for your help. x

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