- March mug: profile and characteristics
- Are snow cups poisonous?
- Types and varieties of March mugs
- Plant March Cups
- Care of March cups
- Wintering of Spring Snowflake
- Increase March Cups
- March jar and snowdrop: risk of confusion?
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March cups, also known as spring snowflakes, are early bloomers. Together with snowdrops and winterlings, they conjure up a touch of spring in the wintry garden. Here you can find out everything about planting and caring for the March cup.
March mugs are recognizable by their characteristic bell-shaped flowers, which hang slightly and give off a sweet scent. They are also known as March cups, spring snowflakes or large snowdrops. Sometimes the March cups can be found in native alluvial forests and mixed deciduous forests when they are in bloom. Then they form a sea of bright white blossoms.
March mug: profile and characteristics
| Family | Amaryllis |
| Distribution | Mainly southern and central Europe |
| Appearance | Foliage shiny dark green, flower hanging bell-shaped, petals with green markings, outlasting organ is a bulb (geophyte) |
| sociability | Grows in larger groups, in rare cases spread out |
| Hazard | Considered endangered and protected |
The March cup (Leucojum vernum) is a plant species within the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Their natural distribution area includes southern and central Europe. However, some related members of the genus Leucojum also occur in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, on the east coast of the USA and in Asia Minor.
The perennial, herbaceous plant forms underground bulbs as outlasting organs. The dark green, shiny leaves and flowering shoots sprout from these in spring. The March cups reach growth heights of 10 to 30 cm.
The conspicuous feature of the spring cups is the shape of their flowers: spring cups usually produce one or two overhanging, bell-shaped flowers per stalk, betweenFebruary and April appear. The individual flowers each consist of six almost equally long, white tepals. These have slightly thickened, blunt-pointed tips with a green-yellow dot pattern. The orange stamens are visible inside the calyx. Also striking is the strong ovary at the base of the petals, which is probably also the name of the spring snowflake.
Below the ground are the bulbs of the Marchen cups, which are about 2 to 4 cm thick. They serve as outlasting organs for the early bloomers. After flowering, the nutrients are drawn from the above-ground, wilting parts of the plant and stored in the bulb.
March mugs are under protection and are classified as endangered according to the Red List.
Are snow cups poisonous?
The March cup is poisonous in all parts of the plant. It contains toxic alkaloids such as lycorine and galantamine, which affect the heart (cardiac arrhythmia) and also lead to diarrhea, vomiting and convulsions in the event of poisoning.
Types and varieties of March mugs
In addition to the spring snowflake, there is one other type of snowflake: the summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum). It prefers even wetter soil than the March cup, which is more well-known in this country. In addition, it differs significantly in height from the spring snowflake: Leucojum aestivum including the inflorescence, is up to 60 cm high and flowers between April and June, i.e. later than the spring snowflake.
Plant March Cups
The soil for the spring beaker should be moist, rich in nutrients and humus and have a slightly acidic pH value. In addition, spring snowflakes prefer - depending on the species - a sunny to semi-shady location, as is often found in winter mixed deciduous forests.
Spring bulbs are commercially available, which can be planted in autumn (September to November). The planting depth should be 15 to 20 cm so that the bulbs are well protected from frost.
There should also be a distance of 10 to 20 cm between the bulbs. If you want to plant the sociable plants over a large area, you can grow up to 100 bulbs persquare meters are set. The March mug works best when used on a flat surface. Covering with mulch will keep the soil around the bulbs moist and humus rich. If your garden soil is particularly low in nutrients, you should also work in some mature compost or soil activator, such as our Plantura organic soil activator, when planting.
Planting March Mugs: Summary
- Soil: Moist, rich in nutrients and humus with a slightly acidic pH
- Location: Sunny to partially shaded
- Time: September - November
- Planting depth: 15 - 20 cm
- Planting distance: 10 - 20 cm
Care of March cups
It usually takes another one to two years after the bulbs have been planted for the spring cups to develop flowers. In winter, the spring snowflakes do not need to be fertilized or watered. When they start growing in the spring, make sure the soil is moist enough. Normally, the natural rainfall is sufficient. However, if the drought persists, the March cups are happy if they get a little extra water now and again.
Every few years, when the spring beetroot sprout, fertilizer can be applied to provide the plants with the nutrients they need again. A nutrient deficiency is often also the cause of a reduced willingness to flower and the spreading of the March cup. A complete fertilizer - such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer - is very suitable as a fertilizer. It contains all the important nutrients for the March cup in a balanced ratio. Alternatively, compost can also be used.
Wintering of Spring Snowflake
March mugs are frost hardy, perennial plants that can be overwintered outdoors without any winter protection. Soon after flowering, the leaves of the March cup turn yellow again and are dropped - the plant draws its reserves back into its storage bulbs. The spring cups will sprout again the following year.
Increase March Cups
March mugs multiply all by themselves through the formation of brood bulbs and self-sowing after flowering. Since it can take several years for sown spring beetroot to form flowers, cultivating in seed trays is usually not worthwhile. You will have more and, above all, faster success if you dig up the withered March cups in early summer. Their daughter bulbs are marked with a sharpKnife carefully cut off and then replanted in the desired location. With an adequate water supply, the young bulbs will develop into new flowering spring cups and will soon also form a small group through vegetative propagation.
March jar and snowdrop: risk of confusion?
Snowdrops (Galanthus) also bloom during the flowering period of the spring snowflakes. These also belong to the amaryllis family and are often confused with March cups, the "big snowdrops". However, if you look closely, you can see clear differences. On the one hand, March cups and snowdrops differ in the shape of their petals: Snowdrops have elongated petals, March cups have broader, rounder petals. Furthermore, while small green dots can be seen on the flowers of both early bloomers, snow cups have spots on all of their petals, while snowdrops have spots only on the inner tepals.
If you want to find out more about early bloomers, you can continue reading our special article on the most beautiful spring flowers.