Spring in Southern Hemisphere... with crocus! (July- September)

[Lesley Cox]

Colder today than yesterday (when it was still winter but the days are lengthening a little and many of the quintessential spring flowers are showing now.  Here are a few to start the new season.

The first Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin.'


Some crocuses. Their colours are washed out because the sun was at a bad angle.
Crocus baytopiorum


Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelsten'


and again


Crocus biflorus ssp alexandri. It is bluer than this


Crocus biflorus ssp. melantherus


and again

[Lesley Cox]

Crocus abantensis


This one with better colour is from last year.


Crocus alatavicus from yesterday and from 2005. The two pictures say it all really. I have up to about 8 corms but I rarely get more than a single decent bloom in any year. Most just don't open at all and quite a lot seem to fail to emerge from poor and deformed or stunted foliage, often yellowish. Maybe a virus or some kind or a fungus? They've been in a pot then in a trough and now in a raised bed, but no change of position has so far helped. It's probably not warm enough for them in the open either.




A crocus seedling. This monster (6cms across) is a seedling from C. sieberi ssp sublimis f. tricolor.



Galanthus elwesii 'Hughes' Emerald.' These pictures don't do it justice either for size or for pristine whiteness and strength of green.




And Galanthus 'Dionysus,' a fine double. The single bulb I bought back in the autumn has turned out to be a clump, with 3 flowering stems and 4 young attachments. Very good value (Hokonui Alpines).

[Maggi Young]

Note to New Readers :  left click on the photos to enlarge them, Folks!

Good to find you out with your camera again, Lesley..... and finding some sunshine and spring flowers to capture.

[johnw]

Lesley  - That Hubert Edelsten is fantastic!

johnw

[Armin]

Pretty crocus images from you, Lesley
Like your C. chrysanthus ssp. alexandri in particular.

[Paddy Tobin]

Good on you Lesley,

Good to have you out and about again, camera in hand and typing fingers in good condition etc.

Iris 'Katharine Hodgkins' is one of my special favourites in spring and it seems so out of season to see it here on the forum - despite the regularity with which we view flowers posted here out of season occasionally one flicks a switch in the brain and turns on my amazement.  This was one such moment.

Delighted to see G. 'Hughes Emerald', a lovely snowdrop indeed. Also. G. 'Dionysius' and I note a little green marking on the tips of the outer petals, something which attracted some comment when I posted photographs of the same last spring. It's a good grower, bulks up well and makes a good clump quite quickly. big bulbs.

As for the crocus - ah, sure, they're OK but not much in comparison with the snowdrops.
Paddy

[johnw]

'Katharine Hodgkins' is one of my special favourites in spring and it seems so out of season to see it here on the forum - despite the regularity with which we view flowers posted here out of season occasionally one flicks a switch in the brain and turns on my amazement.  This was one such moment.

And what company she keeps - Soldanella and Rhododendron forrestii!

Pipe down on the Crocus Mr Tobin, you'll come round.   

johnw

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Great pics.  Wonderful to see the Hubert Edelsten.... lost mine over summer I was mortified to fine.  Glorious markings on it, aren't they!! 

Out of interest, do you have Galanthus 'Ophelia' as well?  If so, what is the difference to your Dionysus?

[Hristo]

Hi Lesley,
Yous Crocus biflorus ssp. melantherus is little gem, great to see crocus again!

[Paul T]

Lesley,

I meant to ask.... does your ssp melantherus always flower this late?  Mine is much more of an autumn flowerer, than late winter.  Flowered weeks ago here.

[Otto Fauser]

Lesley , beautyful , quality photos of your Crocus and snowdrops - did you upgrade your
 camera ? I find Cr. alatavicus a difficult species to grow -usually loose it after a few seasons.
 
   Paul , for me Cr. biflorus ssp. melantherus also flowers in autumn and Gal. 'Ophelia' as I
grow it here has green tips to the outer 3 petals , a vigouros cultivar .

[David Nicholson]

Lovely pics Lesley. They really made me look forward to our spring, anything to get rid of this lousy summer (again!) we experiencing in the UK

[Paul T]

Otto,

Nice to know I'm not imagining the autumn flowering of that ssp crocus.  Lesley's pics had me wondering.  if you look closely I think Lesley's has the green striping on the ends of the main petals too, but it bleaches out in the outer pic.  You can see the stripings on the petals in the lower pic looking inside.  My 'Ophelia' usually has those green markings on the tips too.  Those green markings, along with the strong green outer mark on the inner petals are why I was wondering what the difference to 'Ophelia' Lesley's one was.  If I saw that one in my garden I would have thought it was 'Ophelia', which is why I asked.

[cohan]

Colder today than yesterday (when it was still winter but the days are lengthening a little and many of the quintessential spring flowers are showing now.  Here are a few to start the new season.

what a nice short winter you have!! great to see these flowers at any time, some really nice crocuses in particular!

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you everyone for kindly comments. Paul - C. b. melantherus has been flowering since April. Every couple of weeks it puts up a new batch. The corms seem very prolific.  

'Hubert Edelsten' has always done well for me. I think these are the original corms - I mean I've never had to replace them - that I've had since the 70s.

Yes, 'Katharine' does keep good company, but the company won't behave itself and really acts more nowadays as a cool mulch for the irises. There are some winogradowii there too and 'Sheila Ann Germaney' as well. Rh. forrestii repens usually flowers quite well in the autumn then has nothing in the spring while Soldanella pindicola hasn't produced a flower in 5 years even though the mat is 60cms across now. I keep meaning to dig most up and give it a good fright.

Apparently Galanthus 'Hughes' Emerald' is similar (according to Dave T) to 'Selbourne Green Tips.' I don't know that one and haven't met it ever, especially in NZ. I'm planning to go with my current name as the bulbs did come from the Hughes family's Blue Mountain Nursery, an hour or so south of my home. I believe (from discussion a year ago), that the same bulb may be in the UK as 'Emerald Hughes.' Then apparently there is also one called, simply, 'Emerald.' I don't intend to get mixed up in all this, valuing my sanity too highly.

I once had 'Ophelia' briefly, bought from a well-known local gardener, and in the event, already containing a well developed narcissus fly grub, so I can't compare it with 'Dionysus,' sorry. Whatever we have in NZ tends to be mixed up. We have 'Jacquenetta' which most still determinedly label as 'Hill Poe.'

Otto, I have the same camera, the only difference with it that it is now somewhat chewed by a certain small dog.