Crocus March - 2019

[pehe]

Janis, thank you for showing all these magnificent Crocus!
In Denmark we have had some warm and sunny days some weeks ago, where my Crocus opened, but now it is rainy with strong wind, and most Crocus flowers in the open garden look awful.

Poul

[Tony Willis]

Crocus x gotoburgensis

[Pauli]

Magnificent! 

[Yann]

yes definitely the best colored crocus.

[Janis Ruksans]

I can't withstand temptation to show crocus named after me. Crocus ruksansii for the first time blooms so abundantly in my collection. I four times climbed up to top of mountains on Karpathos Island searching for this crocus and always returned with empty hands. Now my heart and leg conditions seem not more allows to make fifth attempt to see it blooming in wild. It was described by my Ukrainian friend Dima Zubov. It is something similar to C. nubigena, but well separable by several important features and flowers are the smallest between all former "nubigenas". Anther colour vary - mostly are with black, but sometimes are plain yellow, that individual with yellow backside of flower segments has yellow anthers, too. All flowers were pollinated and I hope for good seed crop.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Definitely a beauty Janis ! 

[Janis Ruksans]

Again some free morning to continue work with pictures. Crocus season passed culmination and now  mostly comes up and start blooming European species, but still many pictures from last week are not shown.
Crocus mysius collected on Edremit-Balikesir road by Norman Stevens
Two forms of Crocus abantensis  the first striped selection 'Azcaban's Escapee' and then deep purple.
Pure white selection from Crocus adamii alba
Crocus alexandri x chrysanthus wild hybrid from Falakro - clone

[Janis Ruksans]

Now 3 cultivars, all hybrids from so named Dutch "Crocus chrysanthus cultivars". The first, very beautiful 'Bronze Age'I got only last autumn, alas it turned virus infected, what you can see on flowers and was destroyed.
Next is mine 'Snow Crystall' - the best white ever seen by me
Then from Augis Dambrauskas 'Lemon Wine'- very nice
Cream coloured selection from Crocus gembosii
and unidentified species from Crocus biflorus gr. collected N of Golbasi, Tuirkey

[Janis Ruksans]

Now 2 forms of Crocus concinnus - the first is mine selection, the next done by my Chech friend Vaclav Jošt
Then Crocus crewei
Light form of Crocus cyprius
And as last the single population of Crocus danfordiae where I observed together all 3 colours, although I'm still in some doubt, isn't there some unintentional mix made by mice in bulb shed. This spring I with great surprise found between mine, supposedly (and many years before being such) very clean stock of Bowles' White, few plants with blue flowers - typical wild Cretan: boxes with both were side by side in bulb shed.

[Janis Ruksans]

Now 5 different locations from where C. danfordiae was collected. See captions below pictures.

[Janis Ruksans]

And last for this morning - 5 selections from Gembos Yaila - not far from Akseki, Turkey

[Janis Ruksans]

Turned that another 5 pictures are resized, so few more
At first Crocus harveyi from Ikaria Island
Then 2 selections of Crocus gembosii made by my Czech friend Vaclav Jošt
An the last pair is Crocus ionopharynx HKEP-0304.

[Janis Ruksans]

Using morning hours when outside still is dark and cool, I again prepared pictures, to show some plants from my collection. My apologies, if some will occasionally were sent already before, I try delete posted pictures, but some can escape...
The first 2 pictures of unidentified (most likely C. iranicus) Iranian crocus, followed by quite similar by flower Crocus iranicus.
The true Crocus isauricus (sensu HKEP) from Sertavul Mnt. pass, Turkey
And last is Crocus kartaldagensis from, as you can suppose, Kartal Dag in Turkey.

[Janis Ruksans]

Now two entries with 9 pictures together of various selections of Crocus korolkowii. In first entry my own selections.

[Janis Ruksans]

The last Crocus korolkowii - the first is mine, following 3 from other growers/breeders/travellers.