Crocus September 2018

[Steve Garvie]

Many thanks Gordon and Poul.

I still struggle with these crocus -particularly scharojanii. It may perhaps have been a result of the warm, dry summer but one scharojanii corm flowered at the end of July, another in August and then the one above in early September. I would prefer to have them flower en-masse and then get some seed set.

[pehe]

To be able to cross pollinate within species and make hybrids I have frozen pollens of scharojanii.
I cut of the anthers, put them in a small glassine envelope and put this in a empty Jam glass with silica gel to dry them (at room temperature). Next day I put the envelope in a zip lock plastic bag with some silica gel and put them in the freezer at -18C.
Two months later, I successfully pollinated Crocus vallicola to get the hybrid scharojanii flavus. That was 3 years ago, and the corms are now 6-10 mm as shown here: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=16551.0
I have read somewhere that Crocus pollen are viable for several years if kept dryed and frozen at low temperatures. I will try to find the link to that article.

Poul

[Steve Garvie]

Many thanks for this information Poul.
I will certainly try it in future.

[Janis Ruksans]

To be able to cross pollinate within species and make hybrids I have frozen pollens of scharojanii.
I cut of the anthers, put them in a small glassine envelope and put this in a empty Jam glass with silica gel to dry them (at room temperature). Next day I put the envelope in a zip lock plastic bag with some silica gel and put them in the freezer at -18C.
Two months later, I successfully pollinated Crocus vallicola to get the hybrid scharojanii flavus. That was 3 years ago, and the corms are now 6-10 mm as shown here: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=16551.0
I have read somewhere that Crocus pollen are viable for several years if kept dryed and frozen at low temperatures. I will try to find the link to that article.

Poul

Very interesting. I didn't know this.
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

The first cold day this autumn - we had here only + 12 C and further days are promised cooler - so I hope that more advanced blooming will start, but yesterday's hot killed almost all flowers and there was nothing to picture today. I'm still repotting. Now left only Tulipa and Ornithogalum. Today potted Iranian tulips, there are some very interesting. Really tired although potted only 130 pots (yesterday regardless of hot even 200). In evening started to work with spring pictures and was stopped by marvellous hybrid of Crocus ancyrensis raised in Lithuania by Eugenius Dambrauskas. He just named it 'Eldorado'. It is abundant bloomer, excellent increaser by splitting and prefer growing in garden, not so well in pots. It is sterile, confirming hybrid origin.

[pehe]

To be able to cross pollinate within species and make hybrids I have frozen pollens of scharojanii.
I cut of the anthers, put them in a small glassine envelope and put this in a empty Jam glass with silica gel to dry them (at room temperature). Next day I put the envelope in a zip lock plastic bag with some silica gel and put them in the freezer at -18C.
Two months later, I successfully pollinated Crocus vallicola to get the hybrid scharojanii flavus. That was 3 years ago, and the corms are now 6-10 mm as shown here: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=16551.0
I have read somewhere that Crocus pollen are viable for several years if kept dryed and frozen at low temperatures. I will try to find the link to that article.

Poul

Jamie Vande has experience with storing Crocus pollen: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=2726.15 reply 15
And here an article about Rhododendron pollen: https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v30n1/v30n1-mayer.htm
Another about fruit tree pollen: https://www.jircas.go.jp/ja/file/7570/download?token=oSpS9RoH
General articles about pollen storage: https://cropgenebank.sgrp.cgiar.org/index.php/178-procedures/collecting/654-chapter-25-collecting-pollen-for-genetic-resources-conservation
I could not find more specific information regarding Crocus pollen storage, so if someone has experience regarding this, please share.

Poul

[pehe]

Searching for articles about storage of Crocus pollen, I found this interesting paper about life cycle of Crocus:https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/STAPFIA_0103_0027-0065.pdf

Poul

[tonyg]

First flower of the season here.  Crocus serotinus salzmannii = Crocus salzmannii.

Cooler weather, cold nights, recent rain.  Lots of new growth in the crocus frame 

[annew]

The crocuses outside are ahead of my potted ones, which have to wait until after the daffs are done (thank you Eric Rainford for helping) but they are flowering very well this year.  The Crocus hadriaticus are loving it on my raised bulb bed, HS2 (it is top dressed with railway ballast to deter cats). A few corms of Crocus pulchellus have increased to a lovely drift which the bees and hoverflies were enjoying in the sun yesterday. The C. banaticus are seeding around gently under Betula jacquemontii.

[Maggi Young]

The railway ballast top-dressing may also deter mice, Anne  - no bad thing!

[annew]

Maybe if I manage to deter the cats enough, I'll have a problem with mice? I need an owl. 

[Janis Ruksans]

YESTERDAY I FINISHED REPOTTING! So left only to plant mine own tulip cultivars which hadn't place in my large greenhouse and will be planted in the ground. I will start this on Monday when I will have helper to dig rows and to fix in soil wooden sticks separating stocks. Soil is hard and heavy hammer is needed to do this but I have some irritation in my right hands elbow and I can't do this by myself. During last 4 months more than 9000 pots were taken out of beds, taken off bulbs, corms etc and then again filled with substrate and placed on my rised beds - each pot 2-3+ kg in weight. Still left place for 15 pots as some corms/bulbs still didn't come from abroad, but I hope to get them next week. But yesterday it was possible to use second half of day with sun for pictures and here the first of them (some really were fantastic and surprised even myself).

The first is Crocus gilanicus from Iran. In several places it is growing together with some of Crocus speciosus group as you can see on 2nd picture where at planting was not noted difference in corms - both are collected in same place at altitude 2073 m. I still didn't compare this "speciosus" with other Iranian's so can't judge about its status.

Beautifully blooms Crocus ilgazensis - this is really true species just from Ilgaz-dag and it always is carefully hand-pollinated as otherwise ilgazensis can hybridize with pulchellus and several commercial stocks represent such hybrids which by the way are fertile in most cases.

One of the best "speciosus" of course is Crocus ibrahimi from Turkey in Europe. I really can't understand how former botanists overlooked this one regarding it mostly as pulchellus, sometimes as speciosus or as hybrid between both. The last certainly is not truth as no one pulchellus or speciosus were seen in proximity. The last pulchellus in dirrection to West in Turkey I saw only near Istambul.

Crocus puringii from Ai-Petri Yaila Crimea, Ukraine (at this moment occupied by Russia) is another one which surprises me for overlooking in earlier years. It was well known since 1983 that it has completely different chromosome number and their morphology what means that it can't be identified with type C. speciosus, although looks very similar to it by flower (as all speciosus group species - there still are many unidentified and unnamed both in Turkey and Iran, may be even in Greece).

[Janis Ruksans]

Another colour form of Crocus gilanicus from the same locality in Iran.
Then huge flowers of Crocus "mazziaricus" from NE Greece - the largest in this group.
Today one species were striped out my collection list - turned that my stock of Crocus sativus is virus infected and all 4 pots were deleted, all had very good roots even through bottom holes of my 20 cm deep pots.
And two pictures made by my wife - on first I'm working on crocuses in my hot day dressing, another during sunny but cold day.

[Yann]

Janis that's really an impressive collection, so much raw material carried for great results 

Here the first Crocus appears in the garden. I planted irises without reminding there was a bulbs carpet under the soil...

Crocus kotschyanus subsp kotschyanus are now hidden among rhizoms.

[Janis Ruksans]

It is last day of September. More and more crocuses are blooming now in greenhouse and some planted in garden between perennials show coloured buds and few speciosus (without labels) I found already almost finished in the garden. Now will be 3 entries each dedicated to some hybrids (unintentional and so in general undesired) between species - all made by bees.
In this entry most unpleasant - it is hybrid between Crocus autranii from W end of Caucasus and Crocus gilanicus from East where Caucasus mountains ends - from Iran. The hybrid was got as seeds of C. autranii from Gothenburg and seedlings (first picture) were all identical as it usually happens in F-1 generation hybrids between clean species - practically inseparable from autranii. Only growing both side by side you will note that hybrids are a little bit smaller and a shade lighter that clean autranii, but alone identification is practically impossible. This hybrid is fertile and pollinated one with another are forming F-2 generation seedlings where splitting starts. The some small part of spectrum you can see on the second picture. Today blooms pure gilanicus from Iran (bluish form) and some hybrids which from side look is absolutely identical with pure gilanicus, but when flowers open, you can see the difference - in the hybrid appeared yellow basal blotches so common in C. kotschyanus group. The last picture shows another one pure white F-2 seedling which already finished blooming.