Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Crocus => Topic started by: WimB on March 02, 2010, 09:23:00 AM
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I'll start of this topic with some Crocusses that are flowering here today:
Crocus abantensis (2 x)
Crocus dalmaticus 'Petrovac'
Crocus flavus ssp. flavus
Crocus vernus ssp. heuffelianus 'Carpathian Wonder'
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and some more:
Crocus antalyensis 'Sky Blue'
Crocus chrysanthus 'Uschak Orange'
Crocus fleischeri (from Gülek pass)
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Nice stuff, Wim. The C. antalyensis has a nice clear colour.
Here is a seedling of C. tommasinianus that I am calling forma violacea, although I have no idea if this has been described, but I've heard of 'rosea'. It's more for my own reference. The colour is a lovely violet-pink. For colour comparison, in the background of one of the fotos is a clump of Whitwell Purple or Ruby Giant, but I can never tell them apart.
Plus a shot of my lawn, which just gets better every year. None of the Dutch 'vernus hybrids' seems to increase well for me, but I do seem to get a good lot of seedlings popping up.
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I really love that 'Carpathian Wonder.' I'll have to beg from my Australian friends. :D
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No idea of type,but certainly brightens up the garden.
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The sun has finally shone, the crocus like it so much more than the dark, wet days.
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Wim,
you have a nice crocus collection! You grow them all in a greenhouse?
Jamie,
nice to see your crocus lawn! 8)
Your C. vernus dutch hybrids are ahead. Mine poking just through the ground. Hope for sunshine to take pictures.
Chas,
your pictured crocus resembles cultivar C. chrysanthus "Saturnus". Do you have a picture from the side to see the feathered stripes?
Mike,
nice clumps of C. tommasinianus. An easy growing and quickly increasing species.
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Armin,will try and get another shot tomorrow,thanks for the input
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Wim,
you have a nice crocus collection! You grow them all in a greenhouse?
Thanks Armin.
All crocus in these pictures are grown outdoors.
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We discussed hybrids, earlier on in the season, here's some work from the bees in the garden... ;D
1) is a group of mixed Crocus from a Garden center, that I've been growing in the same spot, on a raised bed, for over 10 years - they don't seem to increase, but carry on as they are - maybe the experts can confirm they are biflorus or chrysanthus type ?? :-\
Anyway, last year, I spotted some seedlings growing at the bottom of the raised bed, I dug them up and planted them at a more suitable spot.
2-3-4 and 5 are the results. I'm quite happy with them :D :D ;)
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What colour would you say the dark ones are
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Funnily enough, in this weeks' Bulb Log, just loaded this afternoon,Ian shows a similar crocus seedling to Luc's above .... he has described it as "puce", which I believe to refer to a sort of pinky/brownish shade..... it doesn't "sound" a nice name, but I believe it's fairly accurate in this case ! :D (I think it's from the french, to do with blood and fleas.....thus pinky/brown.... ??? )
I do think these hybrids are rather sweet.
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We discussed hybrids, earlier on in the season, here's some work from the bees in the garden... ;D
1) is a group of mixed Crocus from a Garden center, that I've been growing in the same spot, on a raised bed, for over 10 years - they don't seem to increase, but carry on as they are - maybe the experts can confirm they are biflorus or chrysanthus type ?? :-\
Anyway, last year, I spotted some seedlings growing at the bottom of the raised bed, I dug them up and planted them at a more suitable spot.
2-3-4 and 5 are the results. I'm quite happy with them :D :D ;)
Luc
I could almost be back at Ulu Dag. The hybrid colours are really excellent.
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God bless those bees, Luc- those are some very unusual shades you have there!
Flowering here now is Crocus x leonidii 'Little Amber'
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Much as I adore Crocus, Simon, I'm finding myself sidetracked by the warmth of the sun in your photos.....the pictures just ooze good light! Fab!!
That great ,clear yellow of 'Little Amber' does help the sunny theme ,though, doesn't it?
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Luc
I could almost be back at Ulu Dag. The hybrid colours are really excellent.
I'm afraid this is "Harelbeke Dag" Art...in non Mediterranean Belgium ;D sorry to have to disappoint you... ;D
I agree Simon, the bees did an excellent job, I can take no credit for this !! ;)
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No idea of type,but certainly brightens up the garden.
Maybe C. chrysanthus 'Fusco-tinctus?' Have a look at Thomas's wonderful reference of a week ago.
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No idea of type,but certainly brightens up the garden.
Maybe C. chrysanthus 'Fusco-tinctus?' Have a look at Thomas's wonderful reference of a week ago.
and side shots as well here in this week's Bulb Log : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Mar031267635738BULB_LOG__0910.pdf
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Much as I adore Crocus, Simon, I'm finding myself sidetracked by the warmth of the sun in your photos.....the pictures just ooze good light! Fab!!
That great ,clear yellow of 'Little Amber' does help the sunny theme ,though, doesn't it?
We are making the most of it as we have a week of snow and sleet on the way- maybe that means you'll have the sun!
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We've had a couple of sunny days, Simon, if rather chilly, when lots of folk still have the snow.... "they" ( weather forecasters) are threatening the UK with more snow and frost this weekend though ??? ::) Yuck!
Even though some crocus were able to enjoy the sun here... the light level is different and so is the quality :P
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We discussed hybrids, earlier on in the season, here's some work from the bees in the garden... ;D
1) is a group of mixed Crocus from a Garden center, that I've been growing in the same spot, on a raised bed, for over 10 years - they don't seem to increase, but carry on as they are - maybe the experts can confirm they are biflorus or chrysanthus type ?? :-\
Anyway, last year, I spotted some seedlings growing at the bottom of the raised bed, I dug them up and planted them at a more suitable spot.
2-3-4 and 5 are the results. I'm quite happy with them :D :D ;)
Luc,
to me your cvs. look like C. chrysanthus "Blue Pearl" and the yellow ones could be E.P. Bowles, Canary Bird or Goldilocks. Do you have a picture from the side to see the outer markings? Or take a look to Thomas cultivar treat.
The seedlings are exquisite. 8)
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Luc, I agree with Armin. The blue one could be 'Blue Pearl'
The yellow probably EP Bowles - suggested by the two stripes extending to the apex.
Great seedlings - I also found some in my lawn yesterday,
will try to prepare the photos for showing here.
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Thanks for the ID on my mixed Crocus Armin and Thomas !
I hope the seedlings increase well ! ;)
Looking forward to your pix Thomas - I want to see the work of the german bees ! ;D ;D
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Last week there was no sign of Crocus - wonderful what a couple of days of sun will do. :)
First 2 photos are general view in my 'scree'.
Photo 3 is Crocus sieberi tricolor
Photo 4 is Crocus sieberi 'Firefly' I think this is one of the very best garden Crocus. It can bloom in January, it increases well. and it seems to move round the garden without assistance to all the right places.
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First 2 photos are general view in my 'scree'.
Makes a difference to a Crocus meadow Art ! ;D ;) - but just as colourful ! 8)
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Great sights Arthur!!
Here the promised work of the German bees, some hybrids from my lawn:
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In my lawn the very early cultivars are completely out (Firefly, Snowbunting, Zwanenburg Bronce and the tommies)
while the late ones are still waiting until the forecasted coldperiod is over. In the rockgarden the same situation.
Here some overview photos:
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And finally some good plants:
- Crocus antalyensis, increasing very well here.
- Crocus biflorus HKEP0126, from the Kerndorff collection, still without a name, but probably a new ssp.
- my favourite yellow chrysanthus cultivar 'Goldene Sonne', the brightest yellow of all cultivars I know!!
- Crocus chrysanthus with black anthers.
- a good dark form of Crocus sieberi ssp sieberi
- another white and green flower ;D
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Thomas, how wonderful to see the first photos of your crocus lawn and rockery this year - the German bees have certainly done a good job :D
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Good show Thomas !!
Very interesting to see the different shades in the hybrids !!
The rock garden and the lawn live up to their reputation !! :D :D
The sieberi ssp sieberi clump looks great ! (as do antaliensis... and the others... ;)
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Thomas it's great to see the crocus in your garden.
It looks like you focussed on the leaves of Galanthus koenenianus to show the pattern, not the flower, good photo.
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Thomas it's great to see the crocus in your garden.
It looks like you focussed on the leaves of Galanthus koenenianus to show the pattern, not the flower, good photo.
Yes, Rob, the leaves are indeed different, while the flowers are just white and green ;)
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Crocus korolkovii grows in bulb bed.
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Thomas beautiful pictures,I just wish I could grow mine outside they look so natural
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I love C. korolkowii, with its lovely dark throats.
Why can't you grow crocuses outside Tony? Is your climate so much worse than in Germany? ???
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Finally managed to capture them while they were open and couldn't resist posting more than I should.
Crocus tomasinianus,snowdrops and aconites
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OH! My Word! How beautiful!
Don't the snowdrops look huge beside the crocus and eranthis?
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wow I love that sight/site. Do you ever see colour breaks in the tommies?
Colesbourne Crocus sieberi
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sfvS6qSSxkA/S4v3bFlJ8lI/AAAAAAAAAOs/j6bd06qtE50/s1600-h/sieberis.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sfvS6qSSxkA/S4v3bFlJ8lI/AAAAAAAAAOs/j6bd06qtE50/s1600-h/sieberis.jpg)
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No Mark,but I must admit that I do not look very hard as I am delighted with the overall effect
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Staggeringly beautiful John, thanks for posting - it is something for us to aspire to!
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John what a amazing sight thanks for sharing this with us.
Angie :)
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I was hoping to see some new pictures of your bulb meadow, john - it is absolutely stunning.
My attempt is tiny by comparison.
I planted several packets of garden centre crocus about 7 years ago and have never liked them as they always just keeled over straight away or were eaten.
This year they are looking good, perhaps because of the cold weather. It has never been above about 5 degC all year, even in the sunshine.
I would like to know whether I should divide up the fat clumps to spread around (like I would with snowdrops) or just leave them alone.
I found a few seeds last year to sow in a pot and will look for some more this year. I might try putting some snowdrops in, but have never managed to establish eranthis anywhere in my garden.
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Great to see the lovely garden pictures and crocus flowers :D
Yesterday and today were sunny. This is how my crocus meadow looks at the moment.
All early cultivars are out C. sieberi ssp. atticus Firefly, ssp. sublimis Tricolor, C. ancyrensis Golden Bunch, C. chrysanthus Mt. Milea, Ard Schenk, Snow Bunting, Miss Vain, Prince Claus, Eye-catcher, Fuscotinctus, Dorothy, Gipsy Girl, Goldilocks, Canary Bird, Elegance, Zwanenburg Bronze, Spring Pearl, Blue Pearl, C. korolkowii, C. tommasinianus (wild form), Roseus, C. etruscus Zwanenburg.
All others still hold back their flowers...
I'm a bit worried about C. imperati De Jager. Single first shots were visible already in mid of January but then got snow covered and shots are wilted. But no new shots emerge :-\
The sunshine is warming out hearts after the long frost period but it is a pity the weather is still too cold for pollinators. -4°C during night and just +7°C max. a day. No signs of activity in the bee hotel yet.
But today I got surprised by an Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) taking a sunbath around noontime. :)
Canary Bird: resembles E.P. Bowles and Goldilocks, first time for me to flower
Elegance: resembles Harald but has more rounded pedals, name is program, very elegant
Gipsy Girl: large flowers with red style, nicely striped outside, suffers on strong winds, tendency to flop over (after last weekends storm)
Spring Pearl: unusual color combination, lovely, second time it flowers for me.
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Fine plants & excellent photographs Armin 8)
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Armin
'Spring Pearl' is something special.
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Maybe I should put grass in my raised beds :o
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Thanks Arthur and Ashley.
"Spring Pearl" is a "Pearl" in my collection :D A pity it is not grown in high volumes.
Mark, why not? ;D ;D ;D
A few more pictures:
Fuscotinctus: was initial a very week grower in my meadow (and were in many Gipsy Girl packets >:() - now one of the croci I like due its contrasted appearance much better then Dorothy
Snow Bunting: one of the most vigorous - early and rich flowering
Firefly: hardy, reliable and early flowering
Roseus: very vigorous and unusual color, many seed - a pink beauty
Romance: a lighter yellow with white margins - very lovely, reliable, rich flowering
Goldilocks: improved E.P. Bowles, high contrast, rich flowering
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I think it's bulb meadow season... 8)
couldn't resist posting more than I should.
Crocus tomasinianus,snowdrops and aconites
You couldn't ever post too many of these pictures !!
Simply amazing !
Great looking lawns Vivien and Armin !!
Armin, Spring pearl has some resemblence with my earlier posted hybrids.. 8)
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Breathtakingly beautiful crocus from everyone!
John, your crocus meadow is a work of art with the colours flowing and complementing each other in light and dark shades. the eranthis skirts the trees like a pool of gold, I have never seen a planting look so glorious.
Vivien, I'm way behind you so will watch your progress in trying to establish a crocus meadow with interest. Hey, from small beginnings.......
Armin, thanks for posting such clear photos of your crocus showing how lovely each one is in shape and colour. So many are appealing in your list and detail of attributes but Spring Pearl really is the star of the show :)
Please keep posting these rays of sunshine 8)
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Some lovely clumps of Crocus you have there Armin. How long did they need to start bulking up like that? We are only in our second year of using the meadow here for planting bulbs, but we hope one day soon they will look as happy as yours!
At the moment you can't go anywhere, where there aren't still late snow patches, and not see Crocus flavus in flower. I did bring C.flavus here with me as C.olivieri form several different sources- but this pic is of the real deal- our local plant slowly bulking up in the woodland garden.
This Crocus sieberi I had as vernus is also buling up well- next autumn more of it will go into wilder parts of the garden.
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Luc,
you are right there are resemblances between "Spring Pearl" and your hybrids. Maybe you found the parents of "Spring Pearl"? ;) :D
Robin,
thanks for your comments. I would be pleased to have convinced more forumists for bulb meadows. Good luck for your own! ;)
Simon,
this is the 5th spring flowering season. In autuum 2005 I began to plant my first crocus corms in the lawn.
My rough estimate is I've planted ~1800-2000 corms ytd ??? (spring & autuum species & cultivars) in the meadow and the surrounding raised beds. And I still have so many on my wish list... :P ::)
As many hybrids produce no or only view seed corms it will take several years to clump up. Therefore I was quite happy with last years good number of seed vessels, thanks to my hotel for solitary bees, warm weather and their pollination work.
Currently I estimate less then half of all crocus are out. But the cold temperatures cause quick withering, many flop over, :( ground is frozen and an unconvienient wind chill perceived me when I took pictures.:o
Our weather forecast says 10cm of new snow overnight >:(. I don't know if I should think it is good or bad. Personal I have had enough of snow this winter.
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The weather forecast was almost right! ~8cm of new wet heavy snow this morning.
My crocus are forced to make a break...
But day temperatures raised to +3°C, snow melts...
My bird feeder station was very luring this morning. I counted ~50 birds at the same time, record sofar :o ;D
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The same kind of view as ours, Armin. We have wet snow forecast until Thursday :(
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I got these corms as tiny things from a plant stall last year. I'm hoping they are what it said on the label: Crocus pestalozzae caeruleus and if so, will they be ok in the garden if I plant them out? I have them in a pot right now.
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I got these corms as tiny things from a plant stall last year. I'm hoping they are what it said on the label: Crocus pestalozzae caeruleus and if so, will they be ok in the garden if I plant them out? I have them in a pot right now.
Yes, pestalozzae caeruleus - the little black spots at the bases of the anthers are the thing to look for in confirming an ID of pestalozzae. The blue form is quite strong growing, but I lost mine in the open garden, so maybe someone else could advise on pot v. garden.
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My C.pestalozzae careuleus have been fine in the rock garden for the last 2 years and are bulking up well. They are flowering just now through the inch of snow we had last night. They are in an area which is dry in summer when they are grown over by a Penstemon palmeri plant.
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Thanks Martin & Simon. I have very sandy, free draining soil, maybe I'll put half the pot out as an experiment next year.
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I am sure they will be okay Chris. Ours were at -10C this morning as the snow melted around them, although it was sunny the air temperature was never high enough to open them for a picture. A cola bottle cloche persuaded this one to open though- Crocus vitellinus 'White' :)
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Ok Simon, I'm going to risk it. Too many pots.....
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Flowering here yesterday in a brief melt between snowfall- Crocus x leonidii 'Ego'
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Wonderful picture Simon !!!
Great contrast ! 8)
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Thanks, Luc- less contrast today as they are all under 10cm of fresh snow ::)
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Love your crocus photo Simon - great perspective....sorry it's once again covered in snow :o
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Thanks, Luc- less contrast today as they are all under 10cm of fresh snow ::)
;D ;D
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Normally C. vitellinus is the first crocus to bloom here, maybe it would have been first if the initial few buds weren't nipped off by a squirrel >:(
But I was completely taken by surprise yesterday, with the ground still mostly frozen, the first flowers of C. biflorus ssp. isauricus popped open, a full two weeks earlier than they have ever flowered. Over the weekend we had unusually warm and sunny days, no doubt what induced the early bloom. Today, while still sunny, there's a stiff cold wind and they are struggling to open again.
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Mark
The Crocus biflorus are an excellent colour and look to be very healthy. Can you recall the source?
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MarkMc,
a wonderful display! I concur Arthur they look strong and healthy.
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Mark
The Crocus biflorus are an excellent colour and look to be very healthy. Can you recall the source?
My bulbs came from Jane McGary, but I do not know their provenance. Since C. vitellinus is the only other crocus in bloom now, I dabbled some vitellinus on my biflorus :)
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Thanks Mark
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Not sure if this thread is where I should ask the following question, but with so many Crocus experts... here goes.
I get prolific seed production on many spring flowering Crocus, but can't say I've ever found seed on any of the fall blooming species. Just poking around the foliage on C. sativus, asumaniae, pallasii, I don't see any sign of seed capsules. On C. asuminiae, I see the membranous sheaths of the spent flowers, but no swelling below to indicate seed. When is seed ripe on fall blooming crocus? Maybe I don't have the right pollinators, or our winters too hard to allow autumn species to set seed?
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The seed on both autumn and spring flowering species ripens about the same time which with me is usually April.
The autumn ones set seed and the capsule tends to sit below the surface until about now when they start to elongate and are clearly visible.
I always help out with a paintbrush if I want seed and do not rely on insects.
It does not help if when they are flowering if a warm day is followed by a cold night either in spring or autumn. It would appear a few consecutive warm days and nights helps the pollen grow down the tube and sets the seed.
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Crocus in a raised bed
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The bees do all of our work for us in autmn and the C.cancellatus have had evident pods on them since before Christmas. The C.pallasii pods are still underground- I had a poke around a few days ago so I know they are the way up. Do you notice any seedlings around your autumn species Mark?
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Do you notice any seedlings around your autumn species Mark?
Only once! My C. niveus died out a few years ago, but this past autumn I found a single seedling in bloom, a couple feet away from where niveus was.
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;) So the chances are that the bees have been at them then. We have quite a few very noticeable 2 year old self sown seedlings in the garden this year. As I am not the world's tidiest gardener I often forget to look for seed when it is ripe- and by the time it is the Crocus are all overgrown with their companion plantings- so the ants and whateve else do the sowing for me.
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Today in flower :
Crocus kosaninii =Crocus tommasinianus
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So early with you, Kris! Ours was just a nose, barely above soil level, before the snow arrived!
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The roadside crocus plantings in Norwich are approaching peak flowering. Cold dull days don't make for great photographs but in brief sunshine last week I captured these images of spontaneous hybrids. The original planting is a mix of common hybrids.
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So early with you, Kris! Ours was just a nose, barely above soil level, before the snow arrived!
This year they are rather late Simon !They are slow growing in our rockgarden.
It is stil a small group .
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Earlham Rd hybrids 05.jpg can I order 15 please
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Tony,
every year Earlham Road is a source of surprises.
Lovely hybrids there. :)
Kris,
do you have also striped forms of C. kosaninii?
The one you showed us resembles strongly a tommie. Not easy to distinguish as both species are close related.
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Kris,
do you have also striped forms of C. kosaninii?
The one you showed us resembles strongly a tommie. Not easy to distinguish as both species are close related.
This is the only form I grow Armin .Sorry no stripes...
So further investigation must be done I suppose .
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I do love those hybrids with the pastel-coloured outer petals.
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I am thrilled anything is blooming in the garden. About 2 ft from these lovelies is the remainder of the snowpack. I believe they are plain old species type crocus tommasinianus. They came with the property so I am not sure.
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Welcome Tedd,
yes, nice crocus tommasinianus!
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This is the only form I grow Armin .Sorry no stripes...
So further investigation must be done I suppose .
Kris,
I have the uniform colored ones as you have and a striped form, but all without a yellow center/base. Sofar growth results were not so encouraging. Large corms split off in many small ones. Maybe a sign that they require a deeper planting? Must wait for this season.
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Welcome to the Forum Tedd. We're all a bit crazy here, well, some of us more than others, but a nice kind of crazy I think. :D
Mark I really like your C. biflorus isauricus. It looks so sturdy and strong.
I get seed on CC. caspius, niveus, vallicola and nudiflorus, maybe a couple of other autumn flowering species. I only bother to pollinate vallicola as I have just a very few. The others do it by themselves. It helps to have more than a couple of clones though.
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The roadside crocus plantings in Norwich are approaching peak flowering. Cold dull days don't make for great photographs but in brief sunshine last week I captured these images of spontaneous hybrids. The original planting is a mix of common hybrids.
Tony your roadside must look wonderful - lovely looking hybrids and I like the peachy coloured ones as well :)
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Welcome to this great forum Tedd, I think you will enjoy it and find lots of interesting information and wonderful plants grown from seed.
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I have the uniform colored ones as you have and a striped form, but all without a yellow center/base.....
Armin and Kris, Crocus kosaninii has to have a yellow throat, see my photos.
Kris' plant looks like a tommie to me, also suggested by the white tube.
McMark: My autumn crocus do have a good seed set in my garden, except the very late ones like laevigatus.
Seems like the coldness prevents them from setting seed here. By the way: Great patch of isauricus!!!!
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Thomas,
thank you for a picture. Off course I know your C. kosaninii :D They are lovely.
What are mine? (sorry for the poor quality, pictures from 2009)
Pic.1: striped version with light yellow center ->this should be kosaninii, matching the discription from P.C Nijssen 2008 cat..
Pic.2: uniform blue version - it resembles an ordinary tommie on the picture, I agree, but in reality it was much smaller in growth & flower (but same size as striped version) and different to any of the tommies I have. So I believe(d) it is still a kosaninii (or perhaps a hybrid?).
Pic.3: C. kosaninii from Chris and/or Simon. No yellow center, too. (nobody raised questions when it was posted)
After all, I'm not sure if the yellow center is always a characteristic feature of C. kosaninii. :-\
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Sorry Armin, I should have gone back in and relabelled that Crocus at the time. It was a Crocus I had as kosaninii but it turned out it was incorrect. It is now labelled as a tommie- but the fact that your picture 2 shows the same/ similar plant means I wasn't the only one who 'was fooled'.
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O.k. Simon,
to make it short - I will call mine a tommie too. :(
Another case of "Impurity", hhm...
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If it's any consolation, Armin this tommie has always been dwarfer than my others- so maybe it is not just a 'run of the mill' tommie!
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Armin and Kris, Crocus kosaninii has to have a yellow throat, see my photos.
Kris' plant looks like a tommie to me, also suggested by the white tube.
Thanks Thomas .Put a new label in.
I have just one remark , this "tommie" grows very slow .Much slower than oher "tommies" .
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More flowers on C. biflorus ssp. isauricus today, but one is different, it has 10 petals! How unusual is it to get such anomalous flowers? Do you think that characteristic will hold steady in following years. Here are two photos of my decempetalous form (in the lower right in each photo).
Sun is bright today that my first batch of photos were completely overexposed, so used a sun baffle to snap these two photos. You might notice one flower only has 5 petals... I accidentally broke a petal off while clumsily dusting with pollen :D
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We have the occasional crocus that will throw a flower with these extra petals most years .... though having said that, next year none will! One or two have proved quite constant over some years, though I cannot for the life of me think of any names right now!
I can't get over how dry your soil surface looks, McMark, when you had snow cover so recently. How cheerful the crocus flowers are.... who could resist them?
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We have the occasional crocus that will throw a flower with these extra petals most years .... though having said that, next year none will! One or two have proved quite constant over some years, though I cannot for the life of me think of any names right now!
I can't get over how dry your soil surface looks, McMark, when you hasd snow cover so recently. How cheerful the crocus flowers are.... who could resist them?
Thanks Maggi. So far as "soil surface", what you're seeing is the dried, sun-bleached decomposed pine-bark mulch layer. The soil beneath is fairly moist. But besides any ground moisture from snow melting over the last two weeks, we haven't had rain... just a string of sunny days, tho I'm not complaining.
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The one in the lower picture almost looks "hose-in-hose" doesn't it?
From previous postings in previous years, I recall a number of species and vars throwing double flowers but most have been reported as reverting to type the following year. I think Thomas posted a yellow which he says is constant. Could have been flavus maybe, or a chrysanthus form.
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That 10 petalled Crocus is very desirable
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A few crocuses flowering in the garden.
1 Miss Vain
2 tommasianus 'Claret'
3 tommasianus 'Claret'
4 Tricolor
5 Zwanenburg Bronze
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Thanks Thomas .Put a new label in.
I have just one remark , this "tommie" grows very slow .Much slower than oher "tommies" .
Quite possible, Kris. In each species some plants grow better, others never increase vegetatively.
Armin, do you have a corm photo of your striped kosaninii?
PDJ, the true 'Miss Vain' doesn't have a yellow throat like your plant!
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Thomas,
sorry, no picture of the corm. I lifted the basket last July. Unfortunately the corms split off in many tiny ones.
I cleaned the corms and laid them deeper. Have to wait until (if) they flower to clean the stock from the dwarfer tommies.
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Your were right, Tonyg, up it popped when I wasn't looking - the first Crocus Vernus (Balkans, dark tip petals) in my Alpine 'Meadow' I'm absolutely thrilled, thanks so much ;D
More showing so I hope to have a patch soon :D
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It looks glad to be 'home' Robin.
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Thanks Simon, you always say generous things - it is thrilling but nerve wracking when a kind Forumist entrusts a plant to grow under your auspices and you wait and wait for the sign of survival :D - more to come!
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You also will have the joy of the same species, in its alpine form, in the alpine meadows post snow melt!
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By the late afternoon our last patches of snow in the rock garden had melted to release these two from their icy tombs. The petals are still a little crumpled from the weight of the snow.
Crocus vernus
Crocus dalmaticus Crocus malyi (thanks Dirk)
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Simon,
i think, your Crocus dalmaticus is a Cr.malyi.
Here is Crocus dalmaticus from Petrovac in Montenegro.
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You also will have the joy of the same species, in its alpine form, in the alpine meadows post snow melt!
Worth waiting for Simon, it's a cool time for crocus 8) ;D
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Your were right, Tonyg, up it popped when I wasn't looking - the first Crocus Vernus (Balkans, dark tip petals) in my Alpine 'Meadow' I'm absolutely thrilled, thanks so much ;D
More showing so I hope to have a patch soon :D
It looks good but lonely ... I'm hoping to bring it some friends when we come over ;)
Here the days are getting a little warmer with a consequent increase in flowers in the garden. Below is a pic of what was a stray Crocus vernus a few years ago. It's a stray clump today! Also a couple of other shots of crocus in the garden. The first is of plants that have been outside for a decade or more, note the squinny little striped one (has been discussed elsewhere :D). The second is a new planting, not quite sure about the slate but it has been good weed control elsewhere in the garden ... and I'm growing better at weeds than crocuses :P. Finally a shot of the big clump of Cyclamen coum which as you may have noticed has seeded around elsewhere :)
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Enchanting pictures Tony - I like the slate with the crocus and scilla, and as for that cyclamen...... :)
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So good to see photos of Crocus vernus in your garden - lovely shots and I agree with Gail the groups are enchanting combinations of bulbs. I do like slate and outcrops occur naturally here and then of course the old slate roofs are wonderful :D Looking forward to your visit (and your friends ;D)
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We have a sunny day here, though with a bitterly cold northerly wind. These 2 Crocus popped up from nowhere, like the shopkeeper from Mr Ben.
I have one labelled as Crocus kosaninii and the other as C.kosaninii 'April View'.
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here are a few Dutch hybrids seedlings that have shown up in the lawn over the years. Most a re clearly derived from 'Pickwick'. The first I rather like, as the flower is a delicate violet, rather than purple. The second I think is a cross with C. tommasinianus, as it is considerably smaller than the others, resembles the tommies, but blooms later than the tommies. Any opinions.
last, but not least, what I grow as 'Ruby Giant. You will note the dark tube and, in this foto at least, there is a bit of ruby glow. I, also, grow 'Whitewell Purple', which blooms at least 2 weeks earlier and lacks the dark tube. Both plants were obtained from a source in England some 10 years ago.
jamie
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Jamie,
nice vernus hybrids. Possibly the one in question is a hybrid with a tommie. Color resembles a bit of cv. "Vangard" which is larger then a tommie.
In my garden not so much news, last snow cover and recent bare frost have damaged many flowers of the early cvs. :(
But I hope for thursday with forecasted 18°C and some sunshine. :)
One of my favourites. First shots of C. chrysanthus "Blue Bird", nicely contrasted.
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Also blooming today- another recovery Crocus.
Crocus malyi Sveti Roc
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Simon,
nice C. malyi and C. kosaninii.
What make you sure last one is cv. "April View"?
I learned recently from Wim "April View" was named due good growth and late flowering (April!)
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Also blooming today- another recovery Crocus.
Crocus malyi Svet Roc
Simon, should it be 'Sveti Roc'? From googling the cultivar name, I am assuming this is a Bulgarian form, can anyone explain what 'Sveti Roc' means or commemorates? I found this on one web site "The Bulgarian prefix svet- may be from the Slavic word cvet meaning flower"
http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/view_product.php?pid=1514
Crocus malyi 'Sveti Roc' AH.8651
I grow both 'Sveti Roc' & 'Ballerina', both are great garden plants, producing abundant seed. I expect to see them in a few days time. Finally after three days of near gale force winds and 10" (25 cm) of rain, it is warm and sunny here again, and the croci are ready to pop.
Armin, 'Blue Bird' buds are awesome.
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Sorry it should be Sveti Roc- thanks Mark. I believe it is named after the place it was collected near in Croatia. In Bulgarian 'Sveti' or Свети would mean 'Saint', the word for flower in Bulgarian Цвете would transliterate as 'Tsvete'. I don't know what they would be in Croatian, but it would be normal here to have a place named after a saint, or saints, such as Sveti Vlas, so Roc may be a Croatian saint.
I found a Catholic Saint Roch- so maybe this is it. The 'c' in Croatian alphabert could be for a 'ts', 'ch' or 'tch' sound depending on the notation above the letter 'c' the Roman alphabet never really transliterates well from from other alphabets.
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We have a sunny day here, though with a bitterly cold northerly wind
Cold and sunny here too but in the sun these first Tommasinianus Roseus popped up and opened for a few hours much to my delight and the bees who found them straight away - gorgeous colour :D
Maybe with the help of the bees they will spread ::)
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One of my favourites. First shots of C. chrysanthus "Blue Bird", nicely contrasted
Really striking Armin, a lovely crocus 8)
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Today 2 "tommies" in flower: first 'Barr's Purple' and second 'Ruby Giant'
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Nice RR, great to see them up through the grass, I am guessing you don't have too big a vole population! ;)
'Barr's Purple', always quality Kris!!
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Thanks Hristo, even though I only have a few they really stand out in the dry meadow grass and I love watching them open and close as they day progresses - the best news is that every bulb seems to have survived and no sign of a vole only a hole ;D
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One of my favourites. First shots of C. chrysanthus "Blue Bird", nicely contrasted
Armin, 'Blue Bird' buds are awesome.
Really striking Armin, a lovely crocus 8)
Many thanks Mark Mc and Robin, 'Blue Bird' is a thankfully cultivar. :)
Robin,
'Roseus' is vertile and setting lots of seed. Good chances for a tommie meadow / pink carpet ;D
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Today 2 "tommies" in flower: first 'Barr's Purple' and second 'Ruby Giant'
Good shots Kris, I will be coming back to those photos in a couple days when my 'Barr's Purple' is out, and my previously posted mystery crocus (came as minimus) which looks like Ruby Giant or Whitehall Purple, so that I can compare.
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Four years ago I started scratching in seed (in situ) produced on various named C. chrysanthus hybrids (I also dabbed pollen). Last year I saw a few precocious hybrids bloom, this year many more are blooming. The Croci in this particular circular bed (a "shrub ring") include C. chrysanthus 'Goldilocks', 'Advance', 'Blue Pearl', 'Prins Claus', and species fleischeri and etruscus 'Rosalind'. Not far away (3 meters) is another "tree ring" with 8-9 more crocus varieties, the bees can get around. The seedlings all vary, sometimes in subtle ways, but I love em all :D The ones that show obvious influence from Advance have that unique pale coppery color. Looking at my photo library documenting the past 10 years, my C. chysanthus types are blooming 2 weeks earlier than ever before, although the bees were already out and about.
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And a few more C. chrysanthus seedling hybrids:
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I know this is not the most exciting species but I discovered these two clumps on the side of the house were I didn't think there were any crocus growing go figure. ::) c. tommasinianus
The first is pale and in a true color on my monitor but there is a bluish tinge to the naked eye that caught my fancy.
The second I will call the mega-clump for obvious reasons. I counted at least 70+ flowers in another picture I took and the blossoms are layered so I am guessing 100?
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Sorry it should be Sveti Roc- thanks Mark. I believe it is named after the place it was collected near in Croatia. In Bulgarian 'Sveti' or Свети would mean 'Saint', the word for flower in Bulgarian Цвете would transliterate as 'Tsvete'. I don't know what they would be in Croatian, but it would be normal here to have a place named after a saint, or saints, such as Sveti Vlas, so Roc may be a Croatian saint.
I found a Catholic Saint Roch- so maybe this is it. The 'c' in Croatian alphabert could be for a 'ts', 'ch' or 'tch' sound depending on the notation above the letter 'c' the Roman alphabet never really transliterates well from from other alphabets.
Sveti Roc - I think that it mean Light Hill or Light Mount, may be Saint Hill. Sveti can be from slavic svetlij - light and from svjatoi - saint, Roc - can be fate, hill. I suppose that it was named by mountain on which it was collected, but may be I'm wrong.
Janis
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Nice 'back catalogue' of hybrids Mark! Impressive clumps hardytropicalguy.
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Sorry it should be Sveti Roc- thanks Mark. I believe it is named after the place it was collected near in Croatia. In Bulgarian 'Sveti' or Свети would mean 'Saint', the word for flower in Bulgarian Цвете would transliterate as 'Tsvete'. I don't know what they would be in Croatian, but it would be normal here to have a place named after a saint, or saints, such as Sveti Vlas, so Roc may be a Croatian saint.
I found a Catholic Saint Roch- so maybe this is it. The 'c' in Croatian alphabert could be for a 'ts', 'ch' or 'tch' sound depending on the notation above the letter 'c' the Roman alphabet never really transliterates well from from other alphabets.
Sveti Roc - I think that it mean Light Hill or Light Mount, may be Saint Hill. Sveti can be from slavic svetlij - light and from svjatoi - saint, Roc - can be fate, hill. I suppose that it was named by mountain on which it was collected, but may be I'm wrong.
Janis
The information I have is that C.malyi 'Sveti Roc' (or 'Sveti Rok') was collected by Antoine Hoog (AH 8651) in Croatia "on the road from Obrovac to Sveti Rok". You can find the road on Google maps.
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Lovely hybrids Mc Mark !! Some lovely shades there !
Nr 1 strongly resembles one of mine that I showed a couple of weeks ago !
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here are some self sown C.vernus hybrids these came from a garden that had crocus in it for at least 30 years,the owner game me a trowl and told me to help myself these are just a tiny few.
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They're all good, aren't they? :)
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Tedd - I love it when crocus can bunch up like that; very showy!
Davey - All those vernus are attractive (note to myself: plant some vernus)
I like the white one with light purple veins best.
You know, we spend so much time trying to identify or track down various crocus cultivars, seems that one could easily over time, develop one's own cultivar lines.
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Davey, nice to have those vernus hybrids in the garden.
Today we had a bit sunshine around noontime and temperatures raised to 14°C. Enough to force crocus flowers to open and first bees were sighted. :D
Pictures from today:
Gartenansicht - garden panorama view, I played a bit with my camera SW. Still many noses in the gras. Early chrysanthus cultivars suffered from snow cover but more flower buds visible.
C. biflorus ssp. biflorus - likely cv. Parkinsonii (dutch selection) - astonishingly I have posted this one the 1st. time in spring 2007. No flowers in 2008 and 2009 and I tought I had lost it. Now it is a real surprise to see it flowering.
C. (gargaricus ssp.) herbertii - thanks to Dirk. 1st. time for me in flower. Sofar only one is showing up. I'm not sure other corms survived the strong frost after I lost the first lot already in winter 2008/9.
C. angustifolios Minor. Wee flowers on short stems - smaller then last year. Likely related to strong winter.
C. dalmaticus Petrovac - thought I had lost it in the meadow too but coming back :D
C. fleischeri - tiny flowers this year too. But more vigorous then I thought. Seed germinated in another pot. :)
C. reticulatus ssp. reticulatus - thanks to Dirk. 1st. time for me to flower. Pedals suffered from snow.
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continued...
C. reticulatus top view
C. sieberi ssp. sublimis Tricolor - reliable but flowers smaller compared to last season.
Some more chysanthus hybrids:
Spring Pearl - now fully open. A delight. :D
Blue Bird - open now.
Ard Schenk - reliable, frost resistant. Flowers of early Snowbunting suffered from snow covewr and all are withered. No signs of additional flowers.
Canary Bird - lovely.
Elegance - elegant ;D
Brassband - unusual color. 1st. time for me.
Ladykiller - later in flower but reliable.
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STUNNING ARMIN i can't wait for my collection to be like that.
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continued... More chrysanthus hybrids:
Blue Pearl - suffered from frost. Tiny and only view flowers this year.
Dorothy - reliable flowers.
Fuscotinctus - ditto.
Goldilocks - ditto, always rich blossom.
Miss Vain - possible bilforus ssp. weldenii hybrid. Late flowering, reliable, did not suffer from bad weather.
Zenith - late flowering - very lovely blue tones and yellowish center. 1st. time for me to flower.
Advance - late flowering - this one seems to be a seedling. Not so happy in my clay soil, weak flowerer.
Davey, once infected by the crocus fever it is hard to get rid off it! ;D
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Absolutely beautiful Armin, your garden must look a real treat now.
Lovely selections Dave-the free ones are always the best ;D
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David, for you and all others... :D
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Forgot Eyecatcher -superb cv. ;D
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I really do like 'Spring Pearl.' like a sort of advance on.....'Advance.' :D The 'Eyecatcher' is excellent too, even better when the outside can be seen, so .....eye catching. ;D I find it is not very vigorous with me. Nothing like your excellent clump Armin.
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Lovely to see them out in the open garden, Armin. Hopefully we will have your sunshine and temperatures here tomorrow ;)
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Crocus biflorus tauri
Arnold
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continued... More chrysanthus hybrids:
Blue Pearl - suffered from frost. Tiny and only view flowers this year.
Dorothy - reliable flowers.
Fuscotinctus - ditto.
Goldilocks - ditto, always rich blossom.
Miss Vain - possible bilforus ssp. weldenii hybrid. Late flowering, reliable, did not suffer from bad weather.
Zenith - late flowering - very lovely blue tones and yellowish center. 1st. time for me to flower.
Advance - late flowering - this one seems to be a seedling. Not so happy in my clay soil, weak flowerer.
Davey, once infected by the crocus fever it is hard to get rid off it! ;D
It seems that you have same problem as I - crocuses suffered from very long and hard frost this winter because my flowers are very small (in general - with few exceptions - smaller than usually), too. They comes up irregularly, but at least at present I hardly hope they will alive. May be some will be lost but looks that slow spring helps recovering.
Janis
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Lovely to see them out in the open garden, Armin. Hopefully we will have your sunshine and temperatures here tomorrow ;)
Armin, great show - especially I admire your Crocus fleischeri!
We have your sunshine and temps today - unfortunately not your amount of crocus.
Gerd
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Lovely to see them out in the open garden, Armin. Hopefully we will have your sunshine and temperatures here tomorrow ;)
Armin, great show - especially I admire your Crocus fleischeri!
We have your sunshine and temps today - unfortunately not your amount of crocus.
Gerd
Gerd has put it so well :) Really love your collection Armin...your garden looks so Spring-like and the crocuses in the bulb bed are soaking up the sun 8)
I thought it was just me in the Alps that had small crocus - my Blue Pearl is tiny but they have all at least come up :) Do you feed or use bone meal after flowering Armin?
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I thought it was just me in the Alps that had small crocus - my Blue Pearl is tiny but they have all at least come up :)
Hey RR,
Please keep in mind: Small is beautiful !
Gerd
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Spring has come to Germany - great collection, Armin.
But I don't think your biflorus is the cultivar 'Parkinsonii'
I'm missing the yellow hint on the petals.
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It seems that you have same problem as I - crocuses suffered from very long and hard frost this winter because my flowers are very small (in general - with few exceptions - smaller than usually), too. They comes up irregularly, but at least at present I hardly hope they will alive. May be some will be lost but looks that slow spring helps recovering.
Janis
Janis,
this year this was an unusual hard winter. All my croci are grown outside. Many cultivars and specis flowers suffered from hard frost and the flowers are smaller and they appear irregularly, especial those who grow still in shadow.
C. imperati is one which had flower buds in January but all withered under long snow cover, similar with C.ancyrensis and C. korolkowii.
But luckily some croci recover and as it warms up they do show new flower buds.
Crocus seem to be temperature and light controlled. Maybe unregular appearing is a kind of safety function to guarantee the survival of the specis? It makes sense for me.
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Spring has come to Germany - great collection, Armin.
But I don't think your biflorus is the cultivar 'Parkinsonii'
I'm missing the yellow hint on the petals.
Thomas,
anthers and pollen is whitish, probably sterile and there is a soft yellowish hint on the 3 outer stiped pedals.
Therefore I assumed it is 'Parkinsonii' (and not 'Argenteus' or 'Scotch').
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It seems that you have same problem as I - crocuses suffered from very long and hard frost this winter because my flowers are very small (in general - with few exceptions - smaller than usually), too. They comes up irregularly, but at least at present I hardly hope they will alive. May be some will be lost but looks that slow spring helps recovering.
Janis
Janis,
this year this was an unusual hard winter. All my croci are grown outside. Many cultivars and specis flowers suffered from hard frost and the flowers are smaller and they appear irregularly, especial those who grow still in shadow.
C. imperati is one which had flower buds in January but all withered under long snow cover, similar with C.ancyrensis and C. korolkowii.
But luckily some croci recover and as it warms up they do show new flower buds.
Crocus seem to be temperature and light controlled. Maybe unregular appearing is a kind of safety function to guarantee the survival of the specis? It makes sense for me.
Some crocuses looks very well, but many stay at level of ground. Last spring I wanted to relabel some danfordiae - so large flowers they had. This spring flowers in several stocks are only 1 cm long. Something too small even for danfordiae. But all pots which I checked had shoots out of soil below stone-chips, so I hope... Outside still half-meter of snow.
Janis
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Armin, the yellow isn't visible in your photo, but if it is there, it's probably 'Parkinsonii'.
Spring also arrived in my garden :D :D :D
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Inspiring as always Hubi :) :)
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What a wonderful show Thomas, so exhuberant :D
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Some new hybrids appeared in my lawn.
- The first one (10+73)was yellow and blue when I dug it up and replanted it.
When I made the photo two days later, the yellow faded to soft yellow and another day later it was white.
- These flowers came back after a break of 3 years. They don't look exactly like the true Jeannine so I guess
they are seedlings of the original plant which grew exactly where they are today.
- The best sieberi I have ever seen: 'Cretan Wonder'
- mixed hybrids
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Great display Thomas, and I really like the yellow and purplish hybrid (Crocus chryanthus hybride 2010-03-17-10.jpg).
Very warm and sunny here today, and many more crocus hybrids showing up, but then discovered that my daughter (home from college on a spring break) went into the city today (Boston) with her boyfriend and took the digital camera with her... aarrrhhhGGGGG! Now I'm going to ask one of my neighbors if they have a digital camera I can borrow for an hour or so.
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Most of my C. chrysanthus seedlings that are flowering now have regular size flowers, although there are the older corms, maybe 4 years at least. I have some that look like a first flowering, perhaps 3 years old, with smaller flowers. But some have flowers so tiny (fully formed but 12-15 mm across) that it makes me wonder; do precocious seedlings sometimes bloom when only 2 years old and thus have the most minute of flowers, or is there a chance that some might have hybridized with C. fleischeri which grows in the same bed... that species having really tiny blooms? Hopefully I will be able to borrow a camera to show some pics.
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Mark, I'm sure the chance of hybridising fleis(c!)heri and chrysanthus is nearly zero.
I also noticed that some flowers are very small if the small is very small. Might also
have to do with the long cold winter (at least here in Germany). I noticed, that many
large flowers are much smaller this year.
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Huberlative garden Thomas ;D
It is a great pleasure to see your garden. It looks you have now more cyclamen and snowdrops as crocus :o and it seems you have got multiple infections - basket case ;D ;D ;D
The sieberi 'Cretan Wonder' is a very nice one! :o And I see 'Herald' in best form.
Some of the hybrids (-50 /-03) with the blue blotches are 'nice to have', too.
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Crocus biflorus tauri
Arnold
Arnold,
it is not the 'blue clone' typically available in trade - from where did you got this beauty?
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The best sieberi I have seen
Thomas, your Crocus sieberi Creatan Wonder is fabulous (photo too) - do you have a clump of them?
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Should not Crocus sieberi Creatan Wonder be 'Cretan Wonder'?
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I thought it was just me in the Alps that had small crocus - my Blue Pearl is tiny but they have all at least come up :) Do you feed or use bone meal after flowering Armin?
Robin,
I have fed my meadow E/October with a potassium-phosphate-magnesium-calcium fertilizer. I intend to give a second quantity after crocus flower is over and just before rainfall. I do not give any nitrogen in my meadow because of the heavy loam/clay soil. Many wild flowers (primulas, marguerites and other 'good weeds') dislike nitrogen and I want to limit the gras growth because I'll not mow before E/May-M/June. Probably you have noticed the 'yellow' meadows in May where liquid manure was used and weeds like dandelion and buttercups get out of hand.
In the raised bed (light sand/grit/compost mix) I gave potassium-phosphate-magnesium-calcium plus cow manure pellets (3-5% N) by E/November (after autuum crocus flower). The positive effects of cow manure to the soil microbes fauna is undoubted and makes it fluffily.
An important side effect of the smelling cow manure pellets I recognized is that it keeps off cats for a limited time to misuse the raised beds as their toilet. I've spread cow manure pellets yesterday again as I noticed some 'misuse' again. I'll give P-P-M-C fertilizer after flower again. Sofar my fertilizer and mow treatment.
But I have not yet found the optimum. In an attempt I'll try liquid leave fertilizer in a small part of the raised beds.
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Should not Crocus sieberi Creatan Wonder be 'Cretan Wonder'?
Maggi, you are right! sorry, typo. 'Cretan Wonder'
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The meadow flowers
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Marvelous meadow as every year. :o 8)
How is your fertilizer treatment, Franz?
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Should not Crocus sieberi Creatan Wonder be 'Cretan Wonder'?
Sorry, my fault. Have corrected it in my posting.
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Well Creatan is better than Cretin!
Thomas your lawn gets better and better each year. I bet the passers by go back and forth, back and forth to enjoy it many times. :D
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Robin, unfortunately it's still the only plant of 'Cretan Wonder' I have, no clump available but I'm hoping!!!
Great sights, Franz. Good to see the 'father' of my lawn,
which has already been colourful 10 years ago, when mine was all green.
Lesley, both names don't appreciate this plant, so better 'Cretan'.
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Some more pictures taken yesterday
C. tommasinianus:
pale wild form: vigorous, spreading quickly throughout the garden
darker form: seedling, color variant
'Pictus': thank you Thomas. First time for me to flower
'Ruby Giant': infertile hybrid - larger then standard tommy.
'Whitewell Purple' (with white stem): there is second (with dark stem) form in commerce flowering later and with larger flowers. Forum crocus specialist are divided by disagreement which is the 'real cultivar'.
8 pedaled tommy: not a steady feature
C. vernus
'-gestreift-': purchased under -gestreift- (striped), resembles 'Pickwick' but is earlier and flower is not as strong goblet shaped. I'll compare later when 'Pickwick' is in flower.
'King of the striped': a seedling which strongly resembles the cv. Will compare later when 'King of the striped' is in flower. I'm not sure if it comes true from seed.
'Vanguard': unusually flower suffered of frost (or maybe I damaged the hidden flower bud by accidentally walking on it).
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a few more:
C. vernus:
'Michael's Memory Purple': heuffelianus group, increasing quickly. Thanks to Dirk.
'Yalta': vernus x tommasinianus, nice cultivar found and selected by Janis. Growing much better (larger) in my meadow compared to my raised bed. It seems to confirm that I purchased it under 'rare vernus ssp. vernus species' when it was not yet grown in high volumes and broadly available.
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The crocus meadows are looking great everyone.
Armin, Michael's Purple? I have one called that and kinda looks like yours. It has lots of vigor, I can see 6 shoots popping up from one corm that I bought in fall 08.
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Armin:
Had to do a bit of digging in the old papers and catalogs.
It was purchased from the firm of Hoog and Dix in 1999.
It is listed as collection # LP.7260.
The catalog attributes this number to Hans Leep and Erich Pasche.
Arnold
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a few more:
C. vernus:
'Michael's Memory': heuffelianus group, increasing quickly. Thanks to Dirk.
'Yalta': vernus x tommasinianus, nice cultivar found and selected by Janis. Growing much better (larger) in my meadow compared to my raised bed. It seems to confirm that I purchased it under 'rare vernus ssp. vernus species' when it was not yet grown in high volumes and broadly available.
Armin, this is Crocus vernus`Michael's Purple`.
`Michael Hoog's Memory`is a Crocus sieberi ( atticus ).
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Armin,
I never fertilize the meadow!
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two days after snowmelting,
Cr.veluchensis from Rila Mts in Bulgaria
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Great stuff everyone !
Armin, your collection seems to be growing rapidly !!
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Armin - That Yalta is amazing . :P
Eric
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Eric,
yes, 'Yalta' is very nice contrasted vernus cultivar. I like it very much and it is one of my (many) favourites :D
It is growing big, reaches almost the size of a dutch hybrid and is increasing annually.
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a few more:
C. vernus:
'Michael's Memory': heuffelianus group, increasing quickly. Thanks to Dirk.
'Yalta': vernus x tommasinianus, nice cultivar found and selected by Janis. Growing much better (larger) in my meadow compared to my raised bed. It seems to confirm that I purchased it under 'rare vernus ssp. vernus species' when it was not yet grown in high volumes and broadly available.
Armin, this is Crocus vernus`Michael's Purple`.
`Michael Hoog's Memory`is a Crocus sieberi ( atticus ).
Dirk & Guff,
your are right. Sorry I mixed up cv. names ??? - it seems it was a bit too late when I posted the pictures ;)
Michael's Purple is a nice cv. I'm happy having this one in my collection.
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Armin:
Had to do a bit of digging in the old papers and catalogs.
It was purchased from the firm of Hoog and Dix in 1999.
It is listed as collection # LP.7260.
The catalog attributes this number to Hans Leep and Erich Pasche.
Arnold
Arnold,
thank you for the details. It is a very nice croci. Does it set seed?
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Armin,
I never fertilize the meadow!
Franz,
that is a bit of surprise! It seems you have a 'maiden soil' ;D Everything is growing, just from god given! ;D ;D
Your meadow is marvelous and a shining example to all of us :D
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Great stuff everyone !
Armin, your collection seems to be growing rapidly !!
Yes, like your own ;D
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Crocus on my dog's grave 1-3
Tommy Albus, never can get a clear/focus picture of the flower 4
Clumping up fast from 2 corms in fall 08
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Guff the dogs grave(when my dog passes that is what i'm going to to brilliant idea) is fantastic lovely show and lots to come as well.
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Guff,
nice buquet of crocus flowers in memory of your lost dog.
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Dave, Armin thanks.
I think I planted 1200, this is the third spring flowering. I'm redoing the bed this summer, expanding it. I'm taking the crocus in my holding bed (5k+)and will be adding all those to the above. No flowers open yet in the holding bed(darker spot)
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It has never set seed.
Arnold
thank you for the details. It is a very nice croci. Does it set seed?
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Crocus sieberi tricolor
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"?"
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In springtime "?" nearly always = Crocus tommasinianus :)
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a Saturday with rain and sun, in flower
Crocus heuffelianus `Snow Princess`
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Superklasse - Dirk! :o :o :o
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This one in flower now was labelled sieberi 'Violet Queen'. Any thoughts?
johnw
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Very nice Dirk, I think I like the heuffelianus most of all.
Johnw looks like tommasinianus barr's purple
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Guff - It was actually purchased as sieberi Violet Queen. Here are a few shots from last year. It spreads like mad.
johnw
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The barr's purple on my dog's bed haven't taken off yet. Roseus seems to clump up the fastest for me. I don't have any Roseus on the grave but next year it will be a nice mix of tommy's.
Full shot of my dog's bed.
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Here's a close-up comparison of tommasinianus Ruby Giant #3 and the one bought as Violet Queen #4.
The "Violet Queen" bulks up at an insane rate....sorry for the blurry shots; from 12 bulbs 10 years ago. Just off to garden #2 to photograph the 'Violet Queen" clump in shot 360 & 361.
johnw
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A fine clump of tommies, John.
I agrees Guff's identification is correct. C. tommasinianus "Barrs Purple"
An impressive harvest :o 8)
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Back from garden #2 with a few shots of that same clump of what was purchased as C. sieberi Violet Queen with a decent view of stigmas and anthers.
Last shot is a of a few seedlings marching away from the clump.
johnw
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My posting #201 has gone from bad to worse.
It would seem after I checked the labels on the pots on Friday the other gardener in the house did a bench rotation on Saturday morning. What I thought was Ruby Giant was Flower Record, Violet Queen impostor was Vanguard. Of course I could have simply looked at what I was photographing ::).
So when the true tommasinianus Ruby Giant comes out I will re-shoot it and clean up the mess in 201. (posting 201 is now cleaned up)
What will I be like in ooooold age?
johnw
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Roseus
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Flowering here now in northwest Bulgaria as the snow begins to melt is Crocus tommasinianus. The plants are growing in oak scrub, or woodland, with Scilla bifolia, Cyclamen hederfolium, Helleborus odorus and Muscari. The colour range is white through to a dark lilac.
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Snow Princess is a lovely girl
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john--wow--that is bulking up! i think that's a cultivar i need...lol
chris, great to see them in the field! were any of those other plants in flower now? i'll have to dig around other threads..lol
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john--wow--that is bulking up! i think that's a cultivar i need...lol
Cohan
Send me a pm in summer.
johnw
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john--wow--that is bulking up! i think that's a cultivar i need...lol
Cohan
Send me a pm in summer.
johnw
thanks, john
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Crocus heuffelianus "Dark Eyes"
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Arnold, I see you are revealing your colours as something of a Croconut......... 8)
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Maggi:
So much to do, but so little( space) time.
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Wow John, you seem to grow a mean Crocus !! ;D ;D ;)
I love these big clumps !!
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Wow John, you seem to grow a mean Crocus !! ;D ;D ;)
I love these big clumps !!
Luc
Ken will have to take the blame for those big clumps. He uses a lot of well-rotted cow manure and ground oak leaves as a mulch.
We're happy it's a tommie! Hopefully tommasinianus Roseus will do as well.
johnw
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Crocus heuffelianus "Dark Eyes"
Arnold, they are superb :) Looking forward to seeing more of your crocuses
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I have just one flower of this one out now, in a pot on the open frame.
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A warm spell really had crocus popping, so I am uploading a series of photos. I am very pleased with my program of sowing seed in-situ" to bulk up crocus clumps, although at the same time, I am aware of the issue of growing named cultivars from seed and I'm not offering any such seed-grown plants to others under those names, these are for my enjoyment :D :D The last couple days turned cold again, but this actually gives a photo opportunity to capture the partially open floral disposition. Bees, bees everywhere!
gargaricus - with golden "lipstick" buds pushing through at soil level
gargaricus - 3 days later, many more flowers
biflorus ssp. isauricus - full flower, 10-petalled flower was nibbled
angustifolius - many seedlings, this clump is bulking up, including flowering seedlings
angustifolius form, with less brown veining than most
angustifolius form, with etruscus 'Rosalind' behind
etruscus 'Rosalind' with sieberi 'Firefly' behind
etruscus 'Rosalind' top view, with one darker seedling at top.
malyi 'Ballerina'
sieberi 'Firefly'
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Round 2
chrysanthus - open pollinated hybrid seedlings
imperati suaveolens - side view, slow growing, sets little seed, wish I could bulk it up more
imperati suaveolens - top view
angustifolius - form with little brown veining, etruscus 'Rosalind' behind
kosaninii - bee activity
kosaninii - bee activity, different angle
kosaninii - cold day, flowers not opening much
kosaninii - cold day, flowers not opening much, different angle
kosaninii - top view, clump enlarged with lots of in-situ sown seed
view of kosaninii, angustifolius, & malyi 'Ballerina'
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Mark,
excellent images and wonderful crocus clumps 8)
Like in particular your cv. Rosalind, C. imperati ssp. suavolens and C. kosaninii.
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Wonderful shots, Mark.
Do you have seeds on your kosaninii?
Mine have never set any :-[
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Impressive show McMark !! 8)
I'm sure there must be more beautiful hybrids hidden somewhere... :P
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A fantastic, explosive display McMark:
etruscus 'Rosalind' with sieberi 'Firefly' behind
shows a lovely setting by the bark of the tree trunk and the top view of the group is great in that light. :)
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My meagre group of newly planted C. blue pearl shows what they could look like in years to come. Coming a little later that the first group they seem larger and more relaxed in this setting in the morning sun 8)
(Trying to photograph light coloured crocus is a real challenge I find - any tips I wonder ::) )
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Robin,
I think you did a pretty damn good job with that foto! Blues are notoriously difficult, as are violet-pinks. I find a slightly overcast day the best for almost all fotos, or at least an umbrella.
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Thanks for your kind comment Jamie and for the tips that I'll take on board 8)
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Some amazing clumps of Crocus, Mark. How long to reach groups that size?
Robin, I think we are at the same place- weather and vole permitting we hope to have more natural looking groups fo Crocus over the next few years. I just keeping thinking that if each corm doubles then in a few years we will be there!
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My thoughts too Simon - does a watched crocus never bulk I wonder ::) ;)
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When the snow finally melts in the mountains you can give yours some time out and go and stare at the wild ones ;)
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;D ;D ;D 8)
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Wonderful shots, Mark.
Do you have seeds on your kosaninii?
Mine have never set any :-[
I have some left over seed (OK I forgot to plant the late collected stuff in the chaos of building last summer) of Crocus kosaninii from a couple of different clones. Some to spare if you are interested Hubi?
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Wonderful shots, Mark.
Do you have seeds on your kosaninii?
Mine have never set any :-[
No 2009 seed left as I religiously take the seed, which it always sets, and scratch them in around the base plant, in the bulking up process. Though, I'm happy to save some seed for you this year, if you need some in addition to TonyG's offer. Looking at the kosaninii images on this forum, thay all seem to have subtle variations, so it would be good to have several clones growing.
Some amazing clumps of Crocus, Mark. How long to reach groups that size?
Depending on variety, most started out as 3-5 corms each, planted in 2003, 2004, or 2005. Those that make lots of seed, I've been scratching in seed close to the base plant annually for the last 5 years, which is very effective for species like kosaninii, angustifolius, biflorus isauricus, malyi, etc. You can see on my C. imperati suaveolens, where I started with 3 corms, it has only increased a little bit, and makes very little seed or none some years, thus no bulking up :( Watching the bees go from flower to flower, species to species, I'm very surprised that I'm not seeing any obvious hybrids yet, besides the numerous C. chrysanthus hybrids.
(Trying to photograph light coloured crocus is a real challenge I find - any tips I wonder ::) )
I agree, particularly with lower end cameras (like the one I use). Photographing on overcast days or low light conditions helps. In post-processing digital images, I typically resize and just apply a "sharpen" filter. On light color and white flowers, where the detail washes away, you can try applying a low-grade histogram luminosity adjustment with your photo editing software, to tone down the white reflections and reveal some of the detail, then apply the sharpen filter... this can sometimes salvage an overexposed white flower.
Arnold, nice Crocus heuffelianus "Dark Eyes", I have eyes for getting that one :o
JohnW - love those bulky crocus, I see we're aiming for the same sort of effect.
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Crocuses in pots are beautiful and I guess that's where the most difficult and and least common will always stay, but aren't crocuses in the garden SOOOOO much better? I think so. It occurred to me in the Eranthis thread, that Pehe should be growing Cr. pelistericus where his E. pinnatifida was. :)
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Thanks for your offer, Tony and Mark. I would really like to get some variation in my kosaninii stock with your seeds.
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Crocuses in pots are beautiful and I guess that's where the most difficult and and least common will always stay, but aren't crocuses in the garden SOOOOO much better? I think so. It occurred to me in the Eranthis thread, that Pehe should be growing Cr. pelistericus where his E. pinnatifida was. :)
[Couldn't agree with you more Lesley.What is crocus pelistericus,do you have a picture ?/quote]
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On light color and white flowers, where the detail washes away, you can try applying a low-grade histogram luminosity adjustment with your photo editing software, to tone down the white reflections and reveal some of the detail, then apply the sharpen filter... this can sometimes salvage an overexposed white flower
Thanks for this advice McMark, I too use minimal processing with my photos and would rather take another in a different light/angle if one doesn't work out (great thing about digital is you can check them instantly) However there is sometimes a shot worth trying to salvage and so I'll give it a go 8)
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A Crocus opening up here today,
Crocus veluchensis
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Wow, simply wonderful Wim :D
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That's a cracking picture Wim, cracking little Crocus too.
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John, alas I don't have Cr. pelistericus and I suspect it would struggle if not die in my east coast of NZ climate which is overly dry in recent years. It loves water and I remember seeing a picture somewhere, maybe an AGS Bulletin with thousands, if not millions of them growing on what appeared to be a sheet of water, where snow had melted and read that it was always wet and boggy, never drying out. Better in Scotland than in Norfolk. :)
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crocus vernus ssp. vernus
crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B
crocus vernus Dutch hybrid seedlings (virus free) from Janis, very lovely
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vernus 'Queen of the Blues'
flavus 'Golden Yellow'
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The Crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B is a lovely solid flower, very nice with the dark tube.
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The Crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B is a lovely solid flower, very nice with the dark tube.
anne--have you had a trip to alberta? you look as though you are dressed for our winter ;)
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Mountains of Portugal. All will become clear in time....
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Mountains of Portugal. All will become clear in time....
sounds fun, looking forward to pics :)
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crocus vernus ssp. vernus
crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B
crocus vernus Dutch hybrid seedlings (virus free) from Janis, very lovely
Zhirair, your C. vernus ssp. vernus caught my attention (as did the beautiful 'Albiflorus' :o). I am uploading a few photos of a Crocus that I bought mislabeled as C. minimus, but that looks like your vernus ssp. vernus. Other suggestions were that it could be Whitewell Purple or Barrs Purple, although I don't think it is the latter, which is a lighter color than my plants, and 'Ruby Giant'. In the photos taken almost a week ago, I tried to take some side views to see the tubes, which are dark purple near the top, lighter at the base.
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I've already posted photos of my Crocus kosaninii clump, but it just keeps getting better, with many flowers squeezing through and pushing up between other flowers. This one has true flower power.
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Uklin Strain
Will post another picture in a few days, when more are open.
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Heuffelianus Carpathian Wonder.
Bitter cold today, maybe tomorrow it will be warm and open.
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Mine opened in today's sunshine, albeit 8oC!
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'Carpathian Wonder' is real gem! 8)
The C. chrysanthus CV blossom is almost over and the vernus hybrids dominate. However, yesterdays local thunderstorms with strong winds have flattened many crocus flowers. :'( But I like to share some highlights with you.
crocus bed: a mix of violet colors with some yellow spots
garden view: vernus hybrids and long lasting C. chrysanthus 'Miss Vain' and 'Fuscotinctus' and 'Ladykiller'. 'Ladykiller' was unexpected strong flowerer this year.
C. flavus ssp. flavus var. lutenenz: deep yellow spot in the crocus bed. Many flowers but not as large as usual. I have this ssp. flavus also in the meadow but flowers were stronger but much less compared to last season.
C. flavus ssp. dissectus graveolens*: new for me. A real bright yellow spot. Many small tiny, figrane flowers, fine specked outside. I nice species but quickly withers as soon temperatures raise and smells unpleasantly.*see next page
C. chrysanthus 'Romance': one of the best doers in the meadow - many flowers but produces only a view seed (anthers defective, needs pollen from other cv.)
C. chrysanthus 'Brassband': was in full blossom this week - a wunderful late flowerer.
C. versicolor 'Picturatus': reliable flowerer but never many! The wild form I also grow in the meadow. I did not show flowers this year - I hope it is still there ???
Note: please ignore wrong 'Pictus' in the last two pictures.
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crocus vernus ssp. vernus
crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B
crocus vernus Dutch hybrid seedlings (virus free) from Janis, very lovely
Zhirair,
nice C. vernus species and hybrid seedlings.
Does your C. vernus ssp. vernus set seed and which height does it have?
I have a tiny form (7-8cm height, bought 2007 as heuffelianus 'Uklin Strain'!) in my meadow which resemble yours.
It is a very late flowerer but never set seed. I have doubt it is true specis, maybe hybrid with tommasinianus?
What do you think?
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I've already posted photos of my Crocus kosaninii clump, but it just keeps getting better, with many flowers squeezing through and pushing up between other flowers. This one has true flower power.
Mark,
your crocus clumps are imposing. 8)
The wrongly delivered minimus could be 'Whitewell Purple' (darker stem version) just by image. Which height does it usually grow?
As mentioned many times it is almost impossible to identify cultivars just by picture (and wrong color rendering by DSC's for pictures taken in full sun light).
Especial for so many resembling vernus & tommies hybrids it is laborious. If we cannot find a solution - so just enjoy those beauties. :D
Your clump of C. kosaninii is marvelous. Mine just show leaves. >:( I was hoping to sort the suspected tommies out...
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crocus vernus ssp. vernus
crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B
crocus vernus Dutch hybrid seedlings (virus free) from Janis, very lovely
Zhirair, your C. vernus ssp. vernus caught my attention (as did the beautiful 'Albiflorus' :o). I am uploading a few photos of a Crocus that I bought mislabeled as C. minimus, but that looks like your vernus ssp. vernus. Other suggestions were that it could be Whitewell Purple or Barrs Purple, although I don't think it is the latter, which is a lighter color than my plants, and 'Ruby Giant'. In the photos taken almost a week ago, I tried to take some side views to see the tubes, which are dark purple near the top, lighter at the base.
Mark, I think your crocus is not vernus at all. In my opinion, it rather look as tommasianus cultivar.
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Armin your crocuses are very happy in your meadow.
I have just a little doubt on your C. flavus dissectus! I have not seen before any with speckled outher petals! Is it might be C. graveolens? How they scent!
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crocus vernus ssp. vernus
crocus vernus ssp. vernus Albiflorus B
crocus vernus Dutch hybrid seedlings (virus free) from Janis, very lovely
Zhirair,
nice C. vernus species and hybrid seedlings.
Does your C. vernus ssp. vernus set seed and which height does it have?
I have a tiny form (7-8cm height, bought 2007 as heuffelianus 'Uklin Strain'!) in my meadow which resemble yours.
It is a very late flowerer but never set seed. I have doubt it is true specis, maybe hybrid with tommasinianus?
What do you think?
Your crocus is quite similar to my vernus ssp. vernus in appearance. Mine are a bit earlier than large-flowering Dutch hybrids, have the same height as hybrids, but with considerably smaller flowers. I haven been growing it for over 4 years and still haven't seen them producing seeds.
Some pix to show:
crocus vernus Paulus Potter (very distinct purplish magenta colour), considerably differs from other purple-coloured vernus cultivars
crocus vernus 'Violet Vanguard' (sport from 'Vanguard', but not bi-coloured and has lilac shading in colour)
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Some pix to show:
crocus vernus Paulus Potter (very distinct purplish magenta colour), considerably differs from other purple-coloured vernus cultivars
crocus vernus 'Violet Vanguard' (sport from 'Vanguard', but not bi-coloured and has lilac shading in colour)
Zhirair, I think I must get some C. vernus, they're lovely. Paulus Potter is striking rich color, the purple color in the tubes almost all the way to the base. Do all vernus forms have the strongly white-veined leaves?
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Three forms of Crocus malyi, my last crocus hurrah!
Observing Crocus species over the years, I believe C. malyi to be one of the very best for growing outdoors, providing a bold display of pristine white blooms that are more weatherproof than many. This message compares C. malyi 'Sveti Roc', C. malyi 'Ballerina', and an unnamed form of C. malyi that I received from Jane McGary that looks more like the 'Ballerina' selection yet still differs.
Cultivar flower width tube height scent distinguishing characteristics
=====================================================================
'Sveti Roc' 5.0 cm 2-3 cm none short stature, full rounded flowers, pure white
'Ballerina' 6.5 cm 4 cm light melon scent tall stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, outer petals with fine
purple line on outer tips.
McGary form 7-8 cm 5 cm light melon scent tallest stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, no purple lines
Photos of each are uploaded. In the photo of the Jane McGary form, flowering size seedlings are present, and note one on the lower right with rounder petals, a hybrid.
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Three forms of Crocus malyi, my last crocus hurrah!
Observing Crocus species over the years, I believe C. malyi to be one of the very best for growing outdoors, providing a bold display of pristine white blooms that are more weatherproof than many. This message compares C. malyi 'Sveti Roc', C. malyi 'Ballerina', and an unnamed form of C. malyi that I received from Jane McGary that looks more like the 'Ballerina' selection yet still differs.
Cultivar flower width tube height scent distinguishing characteristics
=====================================================================
'Sveti Roc' 5.0 cm 2-3 cm none short stature, full rounded flowers, pure white
'Ballerina' 6.5 cm 4 cm light melon scent tall stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, outer petals with fine
purple line on outer tips.
McGary form 7-8 cm 5 cm light melon scent tallest stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, no purple lines
Photos of each are uploaded. In the photo of the Jane McGary form, flowering size seedlings are present, and note one on the lower right with rounder petals, a hybrid.
Many thanks for showing those features. I never noted those, only this small, almost invisible mark on some plants. I bought both cultivars, but now I'm growing seed raised stocks, and noted that differences are very small and insignificant.
Janis
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Armin your crocuses are very happy in your meadow.
I have just a little doubt on your C. flavus dissectus! I have not seen before any with speckled outher petals! Is it might be C. graveolens? How they scent!
Ibrahim,
I checked an hour ago outside and did not recognize a scent. Then I cut one flower to inspect the fine speckled pedals and brought it into the warmth.
After a while the flower smelled unpleasantly (it stinks!). Unbelieveable! :o Consequently it must be indeed a form of C. graveolens!
Thank you, eagle eye! ;D ;D ;D
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Armin your crocuses are very happy in your meadow.
I have just a little doubt on your C. flavus dissectus! I have not seen before any with speckled outher petals! Is it might be C. graveolens? How they scent!
Ibrahim,
I checked an hour ago outside and did not recognize a scent. Then I cut one flower to inspect the fine speckled pedals and brought it into the warmth.
After a while the flower smelled unpleasantly (it stinks!). Unbelieveable! :o Consequently it must be indeed a form of C. graveolens!
Thank you, eagle eye! ;D ;D ;D
Armin, I agree with Ibrahim, too. Flavus dissectus style is branched but never so much as on plant pictured by you. So it definitely is graveolens (taking in attention smell).
Janis
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Zhirair,
nice C. vernus species and hybrid seedlings.
Does your C. vernus ssp. vernus set seed and which height does it have?
I have a tiny form (7-8cm height, bought 2007 as heuffelianus 'Uklin Strain'!) in my meadow which resemble yours.
It is a very late flowerer but never set seed. I have doubt it is true specis, maybe hybrid with tommasinianus?
What do you think?
Your crocus is quite similar to my vernus ssp. vernus in appearance. Mine are a bit earlier than large-flowering Dutch hybrids, have the same height as hybrids, but with considerably smaller flowers. I haven been growing it for over 4 years and still haven't seen them producing seeds.
Some pix to show:
crocus vernus Paulus Potter (very distinct purplish magenta colour), considerably differs from other purple-coloured vernus cultivars
crocus vernus 'Violet Vanguard' (sport from 'Vanguard', but not bi-coloured and has lilac shading in colour)
Zhirair,
thank you for your reply on C. vernus ssp. vernus - they are different clones then. But why don't they set seed (sterile hybrids?)?
Paulus Potter is a nice deep magenta cv. - I have it in the garden for the 1st. time too.
The Violet Vanguard is another beauty too. Are the dark streaks on the outer pedals a sign of virus infection or color pigment distortions?
I'm still unsure as this feature can disappear the next season.
Janis,
thank you for your comment. I'll inform my source. It will be a surprise :o I guess ;D
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Zhirair,
nice C. vernus species and hybrid seedlings.
Does your C. vernus ssp. vernus set seed and which height does it have?
I have a tiny form (7-8cm height, bought 2007 as heuffelianus 'Uklin Strain'!) in my meadow which resemble yours.
It is a very late flowerer but never set seed. I have doubt it is true specis, maybe hybrid with tommasinianus?
What do you think?
Your crocus is quite similar to my vernus ssp. vernus in appearance. Mine are a bit earlier than large-flowering Dutch hybrids, have the same height as hybrids, but with considerably smaller flowers. I haven been growing it for over 4 years and still haven't seen them producing seeds.
Some pix to show:
crocus vernus Paulus Potter (very distinct purplish magenta colour), considerably differs from other purple-coloured vernus cultivars
crocus vernus 'Violet Vanguard' (sport from 'Vanguard', but not bi-coloured and has lilac shading in colour)
Zhirair,
thank you for your reply on C. vernus ssp. vernus - they are different clones then. But why don't they set seed (sterile hybrids?)?
Paulus Potter is a nice deep magenta cv. - I have it in the garden for the 1st. time too.
The Violet Vanguard is another beauty too. Are the dark streaks on the outer pedals a sign of virus infection or color pigment distortions?
I'm still unsure as this feature can disappear the next season.
Janis,
thank you for your comment. I'll inform my source. It will be a surprise :o I guess ;D
Armin,
The the dark streaks on the outer petals are most probably colour pigment distortions and this feature usually dissapears the following season. First I observed them 2 years ago on my vernus 'Queen of the Blues' , which I have been growing for over 20 years. I was very concerned about this obnormality and even showed the pix on the forum asking for ideas and opinions. But the following year the streaks dissapear.
The most pity thing is that both cultivars are infected with virus mosaic of leaves. I already lost my hopes for getting virus-free crocus vernus cultivars. I only ahve 'Quenn of the Blues', 'Golden Yellow' and 'King of striped virus free. So I prepared a special place for crocus vernus cultivars, far away from main collection, where I am going to grow them in distant isolation and then raise, so called, strains by seed propagation. This virus is very sly and mostly shows symptoms after harvesting, shipping and late plating. So the fist year symptoms are visabale, but the following years they usually dissapear and you can observe them again only when putting the plants under the stress.
For example, last year I desided not to trash my infected 'Jeanne d' Ark' and planted the corms in the forest. This year I went to the place where it was planted and to my surprise the plants were in perfect shape, abundantly blooming and showing no signs of virus at all.
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Some pix to show:
crocus vernus Paulus Potter (very distinct purplish magenta colour), considerably differs from other purple-coloured vernus cultivars
crocus vernus 'Violet Vanguard' (sport from 'Vanguard', but not bi-coloured and has lilac shading in colour)
Zhirair, I think I must get some C. vernus, they're lovely. Paulus Potter is striking rich color, the purple color in the tubes almost all the way to the base. Do all vernus forms have the strongly white-veined leaves?
Mark,
crocus vernus hybrids are, indeed, very showy and catchy, and can beutify any garden where they grow. Yes, all vernus forms have the strongly white-veined leaves?
And thanks for the wonderful summery and photos on crocus malyi, which appeals to me a lot.
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Zhirair,
thanks again for another lesson in virus detection.
Mark,
nice clumps of C. malyi cvs and the comparison.
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Category 'amazing crocus'.
First picture shows C. vernus 'Vanguard' flowering in the meadow in spring 2007.
In late summer 2009 I built a new raised bed and was a bit unhappy that I couldn't find the 'Vanguard' corms anymore in my meadow :(
The meadow got a 25cm-30cm sand-grit-humus mix top layer behind the stone wall.
The surprise: 'Vanguard' pushed a flower from meadow underground through the surface of my raised bed!
The leaves are bleached as you can see - but what a force and power! :o
In total the crocus corms have grown from min. 30cm deep, maybe a bit more cm. Amazing - isn't it? :o
I'm happy and it will get special protection from now (with label)! ;D
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Well done, brave little crocus! Now you must dig to find it and rescue. :-\
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Digging would involve a major excavation to avoid breaking the stem, unless dug while quite dormant, and that too would take a deep dig. We know that crocus will dig themselves deeper by contactile roots to their preferred depth. Over a year or two, and with their replacement corms, can they haul themselves upwards to achieve the same purpose?
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In total the crocus corms have grown from min. 30cm deep, maybe a bit more cm. Amazing - isn't it? :o
I'm happy and it will get special protection from now (with label)! ;D
Armin, on my old field I last year dug out some Crocus speciosus color forms from more than 30-35 cm depth, the spade was too short to reach corms. They all were of huge size and abbundantly bloomed. Absolute record was in my friends garden where we dug out 2 corms of cv. Jeanne d'Arc from ~50 cm depth. He used deep trench-plouging at depth of 5 spade lenghth (soil - sand) to replace old garden soil with fresh from underground, so one unharvested corm accidentally left at such depth. Alived, marvellously bloomed and increasd to two very large in size.
Janis
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Hurra!
My open garden beds during night opened from snow, still undersoil frosen and not easy to walk between beds, but bulbs at moment still not eaten by rodents!!! :D In front tubes with rodent poison.
From open grown crocuses as allways the first to bloom is C. chrysanthus Uschak Orange.
Janis
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Three forms of Crocus malyi, my last crocus hurrah!
Observing Crocus species over the years, I believe C. malyi to be one of the very best for growing outdoors, providing a bold display of pristine white blooms that are more weatherproof than many. This message compares C. malyi 'Sveti Roc', C. malyi 'Ballerina', and an unnamed form of C. malyi that I received from Jane McGary that looks more like the 'Ballerina' selection yet still differs.
Cultivar flower width tube height scent distinguishing characteristics
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'Sveti Roc' 5.0 cm 2-3 cm none short stature, full rounded flowers, pure white
'Ballerina' 6.5 cm 4 cm light melon scent tall stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, outer petals with fine
purple line on outer tips.
McGary form 7-8 cm 5 cm light melon scent tallest stature, brownish tube tops, long petals, no purple lines
Photos of each are uploaded. In the photo of the Jane McGary form, flowering size seedlings are present, and note one on the lower right with rounder petals, a hybrid.
Mark - My 'Sveti Rok' resembles your 'Ballerina'. It would appear that one of us has the wrong plant. Given that the differences are so slight, I will not be losing any sleep.
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Armin, on my old field I last year dug out some Crocus speciosus color forms from more than 30-35 cm depth, the spade was too short to reach corms. They all were of huge size and abbundantly bloomed. Absolute record was in my friends garden where we dug out 2 corms of cv. Jeanne d'Arc from ~50 cm depth. He used deep trench-plouging at depth of 5 spade lenghth (soil - sand) to replace old garden soil with fresh from underground, so one unharvested corm accidentally left at such depth. Alived, marvellously bloomed and increasd to two very large in size.
Janis
Janis,
50cm deepth is an more amazing value. But it confirms that deeper planting is not always negative and will bring larger corms and a better blossom. Maybe temperatures and moist are more stable at deeper ground and therefore growing period is extended resulting in larger corms / more & stronger flowers?
Good to see spring arrives in your area too and you have no losses due rodents.
Anne,
as Lesley mentioned I'd better not rescue them. The risk to damage the stem is too big.
Lesley,
I believe the crocus will find their best growing position also upwards when kept undisturbed and provided the leaves are not cut during growing season to catch enough sun energy.
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Flowering here now Crocus veluchensis.
The first is in the woodland garden and has been in bud through 2 snowstorms and some unseasonally hot weather. It finally emerged yesterday in the rain.
The second is not quite as bicoloured as the photo shows, and I think would benefit from a shadier location here.
Thanks Maggi :-[
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Simon,
two nice shots for C. veluchensis. 8)
Some more pictures from my garden
C. vernus 'Twinborn': 1st. time flowering with me. Wunderful striped with dark base, already a delight when it is in bud status. Introduced 1955.
C. vernus 'Negro Boy': deep spectrum violet with white margin. Has nicely clumped up in the meadow but flowers grew not as large as last year. Introduced likely 1910.
C. vernus 'Little Dorrit': 1st. time with me. Wunderful mauvette on dark base. A nice vernus hybrid. Introduced 1943.
C. vernus 'Grand Maitre': nice sea lavender violet with silvery gloss and a lighter margin. Introduced 1924.
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more...
C. vernus 'Glory of Sassenheim': 1st. time with me. Flowers striped heliotrope with a dark base. Since 1943.
C. vernus 'King of the Striped': amethyst violet with lighter stripes. Since 1880 in cultivation. This year quite shy flowerer.
C. vernus 'Pickwick': Introduced 1950. Rounded flowers striped mineral violet on grey-white ground, later in flower then cv. 'gestreift' I've posted earlier.
C. vernus 'Pallas': 1st. time with me. Striped campanula violet on greyish ground and dark base, very lovely. Introduced 1905.
C. vernus 'Gladstone': 1st. time with me. I'm not sure it is the real cultivar as it is larger flowering and not 100% matching to the discription 'purple, small flowers, mid early flowering'. Since 1875. Nice anyway.
C. vernus 'Albion': 1st. time with me. Bright violet on white ground, base dark purple. Since 1959. Again I'm not sure it is the true cultivar. Maybe somebody can confirm.
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Armin, your Negro boy don't look dark enough, they look like what I have as Twilight.
Heres Thomas pictures.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1590.msg42696#msg42696
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Hi, the last Crocuses in flower here in Lanzhot this spring…
Igor.
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Armin, you seemingly have a good source for buying such beautiful older varieties 8) ;)
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Guff,
thanks for your comment and link. It is the true cultivar and is as dark as Thomas picture shows.
However, my picture was taken in full front sunshine brightening the flowers. My DSC could not portray the colors correctly.
But I wanted to show the nice clump. The next day was thunderstorm and all beauty was over. :'(
No chance to make a better picture for this season >:(
I think both cvs. 'Twilight' and 'Negro Boy' are the same and the records state introduction 1910 for both.
'Negro Boy' may be a troubling anachronism therefore 'Twilight' was used?
'Twilight' is not registered in KAVB while 'Negro Boy' is.
Luit,
yes you are quite right, thanks to a good friend living in the heart of Hollands bulb growers ;D
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Armin interesting. When I bought my Twilight's, I had asked if they were really Negro Boy, and they said it was the same. But when I look at mine and at Thomas photo the dark black tips is much darker and a larger area. I think Zhirair has both(Negro Boy and Twilight) so maybe he can say if they are the same?
Picture from last year.
Twilight
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Armin interesting. When I bought my Twilight's, I had asked if they were really Negro Boy, and they said it was the same. But when I look at mine and at Thomas photo the dark black tips is much darker and a larger area. I think Zhirair has both(Negro Boy and Twilight) so maybe he can say if they are the same?
I think they are the same and it was the non-political correctness that changed the name at some point. The colour can look quite different when the sun is shining through them
Crocus Negro Boy
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Diane,
thanks for your comment. I fully agree.
You have a nice clump of 'Negro Boy'.
Do you grow more crocus in your lawn?
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Hi, the last Crocuses in flower here in Lanzhot this spring…
Igor.
Igor,
lovely C. candidus you have. In pictures of catalogues they look always so weak which hold me off ordering some. I may have to change my mind. ::)
Do you grow them outside or in a greenhouse?
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Here is my bed of Twilight's, again pictures from last year. To me they don't look dark enough.
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Armin, on my old field I last year dug out some Crocus speciosus color forms from more than 30-35 cm depth, the spade was too short to reach corms.
Janis,
50cm deepth is an more amazing value. But it confirms that deeper planting is not always negative
Janis / Armin - Maybe we should try that here, it may be a trick to wintering C. speciosus which nevers last more that a couple of years here and usually fails to flower a second time.
johnw
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Armin, on my old field I last year dug out some Crocus speciosus color forms from more than 30-35 cm depth, the spade was too short to reach corms.
Janis,
50cm deepth is an more amazing value. But it confirms that deeper planting is not always negative
Janis / Armin - Maybe we should try that here, it may be a trick to wintering C. speciosus which nevers last more that a couple of years here and usually fails to flower a second time.
johnw
And don't forget, deep planting is one issue I keep harping on, as a sure-fire deterrent to squirrel and mouse predation on Crocus corms.
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Yesterday Crocus biflorus Uschak orange was in buds but today flowers widely open. They were joined by Crocus atticus 'Michael Hoogs Memory' named by me in honor of my great friend. Some more started to bloom - korolkowii, tommasinianus but still too damp to walk on field.
Janis
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Your 'Twilight' look really brilliant Guff. Obvioulsly a very good doer. :D
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Hi, the last Crocuses in flower here in Lanzhot this spring…
Igor.
Igor,
lovely C. candidus you have. In pictures of catalogues they look always so weak which hold me off ordering some. I may have to change my mind. ::)
Do you grow them outside or in a greenhouse?
Hi Armin, we grow them with any problems in outdoor. And if you want we can send you the corms in this summer. Cheers Igor
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Armin,
Thanks a lot for showing these buxom beauties!!! :o I was highly impressed and carried away by looking at your wonderful photos of wonderful crocus vernus cultivars.
Guf,
I do have both 'Twilight' and "Negro Boy' and should say that they are identical and seem to be the same cultivars. Just want to give you some hints for you to make sure. 'Nigro Boy' is one of the last croicus vernus cultivars to flower and it increases relatively slow comparing to the other ones.
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Hi, the last Crocuses in flower here in Lanzhot this spring…
Igor.
Igor,
lovely C. candidus you have. In pictures of catalogues they look always so weak which hold me off ordering some. I may have to change my mind. ::)
Do you grow them outside or in a greenhouse?
Hi Armin, we grow them with any problems in outdoor. And if you want we can send you the corms in this summer. Cheers Igor
Igor,
thank you for your kind offer. I'll send you a PM. ;) ;D
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Armin,
Thanks a lot for showing these buxom beauties!!! :o I was highly impressed and carried away by looking at your wonderful photos of wonderful crocus vernus cultivars.
Zhirair,
thank you for the praise - I'm a bit :-[ now. :D
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Lesley thanks, Twilight, aka Negro Boy does well here.
Zhirair, yes they are the last giants to flower here.
Picture 1 Michael's Purple, camera doesn't capture the right color, looks fuchsia.
Picture 2 Uklin Strain
Picture 3, 4 Tatra Shades
Picture 5 Tommy Albus
Picture 6 Pictus
Picture 7 Carpathian Wonder
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Guff,
nice croci you have 8) - it seems you like and prefer all species/hybrids from vernus complex as I do.
Do you grow your crocus only outside or do you have a greenhouse too?
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Armin, thanks. Yes I like heuffelianus the most, vernus and tommy's. No, no greenhouse, all grown outside. I do protect them with deer netting, lots of squirrels here.
Picture 1 Wildlife
Picture 2 Another picture of Michael's Purple that shows the fuchsia alittle better. This went from one bulb that I bought fall 08, to 9 shoots, and 7 of them have flowers.
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Crocus holding Bed. I'm going to dig all these up come summer and add them to my dog's bed.
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You must be very pleased at the performance these crocus are giving you, Guff. They're lovely. :D
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crocus vernus rare cultivar 'Alasca'
(leafe mosaic is easily observed on the leaves, the result of putting it under stress; without this procedure leaves might look healthy)
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Maggi Thanks. I'm very happy, makes that $5+ bulb a better deal when they clump up fast........lol
I'm going to repost some that I already have, more flowers are open.
Picture 1 Firefly
Picture 2 Tricolor
Picture 3 Pictus
Picture 4 Tatra Shades
Picture 5 Pictus and Tommy Albus
Picture 6 7 Uklin Strain and Tatra Shades
Picture 8 Wildlife
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crocus vernus rare cultivar 'Alasca'
(leafe mosaic is easily observed on the leaves, the result of putting it under stress; without this procedure leaves might look healthy)
Not only leaves, those I can't see but the flowers!!! Horrible!!! Heavy symptoms!!!
Janis
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Certainly, Janis,
Flower distortion is also quite obvious.