Crocus August 2017

[fermi de Sousa]

This Crocus etruscus is available through the trade and is probably virused
cheers
fermi

[Janis Ruksans]

This Crocus etruscus is available through the trade and is probably virused
cheers
fermi

Yes, plants on picture are virus-infected.
Janis

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks for confirming the bad news, Janis
Away from those (hopefully far enough away!) we never notice the first flowers of this clump of Crocus flavus because the flowers are the same colour as the fruit of the Mexican Hawthorn which fall at this time of year!
cheers
fermi

[Yann]

nice!

[sokol]

First autumn crocus here is Crocus suworowianus.

[Otto Fauser]

 a few easy Crocus from my cold, wet and wintry Melbourne garden .

    Cr. issauricus
    Cr. rujanensis
    Cr.sublimis
    Crocus rhodensis
    Crocus sieberi

[Janis Ruksans]

Nice to see side by side autumn crocus pictures from Northern hemisphere and spring bloomers from Australia.
Very good pictures, Otto! And very good clump of C. rhodensis.
Here still no flowers and every day repotting and repotting. Still left to repott European crocuses and pallasii, cancellatus groups from Asia.
Janis

[Steve Garvie]

Crocus suworowianus

[sokol]

Next autumn Crocus flowers here, Crocus ilgazensis.

[Janis Ruksans]

I'm still repotting crocuses. Yesterday finished with last spring bloomers, now left European Autumn bloomers and crocuses from pallasii and cancellatus groups (some are already planted). Actually around half of my new greenhouse is filled with repotted pots. Today will finish harvesting of Alliums and Tulips and then back to crocuses. A little late as many started forming new shoots and it makes job more difficult. Here pictures of corms with long shoots - the first is C. suworovianus, the second some of still unnamed species from C. speciosus group from S W Turkey. They were repotted around week ago, but still no flowers appear.
On the third picture are corm tunics of two crocuses - both from region where according B. Mathew C. mazziaricus occur. Even corm tunics show that there certainly are included different species.
The last shows several layers of old tunics from wild C. pumilus from Crete.
Janis

[gilbertnavy]

Yesterday I have finished my trip to Caucasus in Russia. Here are some crocus scharojanii on the bank of a mountain river.

[sokol]

Very nice and unusual to see this yellow autumn crocus.

[Yann]

Janis it seems to be a never ending repotting session,you must carry tons of sand!
Stefan: beautiful colors, no sign of growth here
Otto: this rhodensis is glorious 

[Janis Ruksans]

Not so bad. Today will finish harvesting of Tulipa - some 70 pots left. Then will be harvested and repotted rest of autumn blooming crocuses, will follow planting of Corydalis, after that harvesting of Scilla, Muscari and Ornithogalums + few miscellaneous and then reticulata Irises. Hope to finish at end of September, may be in first half of October. Now will have 2 holidays - I'm going to Lithuania for lecture in some conference. Hope to see soon the first flowers of crocuses. At present blooms only Colchicum parnassicum and Colchicum kotschyi. But my wife's garden is full with phlox.

But my right hands elbow is quite painful now - just for endless sifting of pot-ground looking for bulbs to harvest... How many tonns - I don't know. And fingers too, from endless cleaning of old tunics. Some Alliums and tulips has quite hard tunics to be remowed.

Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

Finally mine repotting season for crocuses approximates to end. Today finished with Turkish and East crocuses from cancellatus group and still remain only pallasii group from same region. So hope to finish on Wednesday. But still a lot other plants left.
Even repotting shows interesting things. This season  was not the best. Most of species formed much smaller corms that I hoped and usually are, but some just opposite. One of mine surprises were gigantic corms of Crocus niveus. Never before had so large. It is white flowering form.
Next pair shows influence of bulb keeping temperature on development. On both pictures are the same stock of C. salzmannii (from Sierra Nevada). On the first picture corms were harvested in June and kept up today in the bulb shed. Temperature there is cooler than in greenhouse. Note the length of shoots. Half of stock was left in greenhouse and harvested only this morning, just before repotting - shoots only started emerge.
On next are corms of Crocus cancellatus s.l. (most likely typical cancellatus). They were harvested only today and all the summer passed as planted in pot inside greenhouse, but those maid long shoots making harvesting, cleaning and repotting quite difficult. All other species from this group (not mazziaricus s.l. which was repotted long ago) still were sleeping or only showed noses.
And today started blooming first autumn crocuses. Three stocks of C. suworovianus opened the first flowers. So Crocus season started with me, too.