Crocus October 2013

[Rimmer de Vries]

Crocus in full glory today

goulimyi- group shot
niveus singles white and purple

[Rimmer de Vries]

other crocus blooming to day are
Crocus boryi
Crocus speciosus - commercial form -with 4 points
Crocus kotschyanus kotschyanus
Crocus pulchellus 'inspiration' - looks a lot like C. kotschyanus

[de.da.]

@Rimmer:very nice blooms!
@udo: very nice too, specially the cross!
The beautiful cancellatus at my last photos are from you!
Daniel

[Armin]

Great images from all!

Autuum season no. 2 after Feb. 2012 black frost desaster:
Counted some 25+ survivors (C. specious and hybrids with C. pulchellus 'Zephyr')
All other autuum species disappeared

Interesting findings:
1) not a single crocus flower to find in my raised beds. All original stocks seem eradicted.
2) all crocus flowers in the meadow appear close to the stone wall (stones gave a protection?)
3) all are invaryable escapees (seed) from the original stocks in the raised beds
4) Ants have probably done a good job!

I'm excited how it develops the next years...

[tonyg]

Crocus goulimyi is in full glory today

Glorious indeed.
I think that the first pic, of a group, is the only one that is goulimyi though.  The others look like nice forms of Crocus niveus.

[Rimmer de Vries]

i did question the lack of the goblet form on the white and other single one, so i agree
You are correct! my mistake i get these names mixed up. the posting is my way to straighten them out.
Boy you are good at this!
Thanks

Rimmer

[Mike Ireland]

picture 1, Crocus ligusticus (medius) with virus

Thanks for the names Udo.
Should I destroy the virused C. ligusticus?

[pehe]

The autumn crocuses are peaking now

1. Crocus cartwrightianus in sunshine
2. The same in shadow
3. C. kotschyanus HKEP.9317
4. C. longiflorus
5. C. oreocreticus

Poul

[pehe]

And finally Crocus tournefortii - or is it a hybrid?

Poul

[Rimmer de Vries]

Hi Poul
this the my Crocus tournefortii from PC blooming a few weeks ago.

yesterday i noticed some shoots on Crocus tournefortii that seemed stalled in growth so gave a little pull and they dislodged as if the base was rotten.

is this problem due to too much moisture or inconsistent moisture after being covered and baked all summer?
We have had a lot of rain recently and these are in an open frame.

i have had this problem of stems aborting before with other fall crocus coming into bloom after heavy rain.

[Tony Willis]

Rimmer

I have had this problem with some autumn flowering galanthus and on tipping them out I have clearly over watered and the roots have rotted as well as the flower stem aborting.

[Rimmer de Vries]

Thanks Tony
would you recommend that Crocus tournefortii be planted in the open garden side in a sand bed or well drained clay soil to use the earth to wick away the excess moisture from fall rains?  or use a smaller pot?  This was in a 16 per flat size pot (~2/1/2"), i use 32s (~2" pot) for seedlings.

though we has a lot of rain and the pots in the sand plunge were quite damp, the undisturbed soil (clay) in the open garden is rather dry, but the disturbed garden soil is very wet.  I think the undisturbed soil texture is very important for drainage. but fall planted bulbs result in disturbed soil that absorbs too much water, then heaves in the winter freeze thaw cycles.

Rimmer

[Pauli]

Crocus niveus, an exceptional large bloom with a more normal one
Crocus nudiflorus
Crocus ligusticus
I hope, I did not mix the last two

[udo]

What a nasty little beast! Did it eat the corm too?

Do you know what it is?
I have similar ones in my garden, but I have never seen them eat crocus, only other small plants, mostly in my vegetable garden. I do not hope that they get taste for crocus or other bulbs!

Poul

These are earth caterpillars, larva of night butterflies.
They eat only the stem and, besides, pull the blossom in the earth. The corm is not damaged.
This year there seem to be many of it, I have already found 7 pieces.

[udo]

picture 1, Crocus ligusticus (medius) with virus

Thanks for the names Udo.
Should I destroy the virused C. ligusticus?

Yes, it is better absolutely to destroy the struck plants. Otherwise, aphides or other animals could infect other plants.