Crocus February 2014

[Janis Ruksans]

I'm slowly bringing in pot by pot for pollination. May be tomorrow will start to take off covering in greenhouses as by long term weather broadcast it seems that winter ended. Oh, oh - if not? And if frost will return?
Here in two entries Crocus reticulatus - the first is from Moldavia (Bessarabia).

[Janis Ruksans]

The same Crocus reticulatus but from Greece (Macedonia)

[udo]

Incredibly, now 5 days ago still snow lay here, is Crocus suaveolens in full flower. Maybe the earliest species which is suitable really well for the open land.

[Tim Ingram]

These crocuses just get more and more irresistable! Even though I have been a sort of lurking member of the Crocus Group for many years, I have never been hugely successful growing them because we grow most plants in the open garden - with rabbits and mice and squirrels... but now with a terrier to control these and the wonder of all these pictures to stimulate us I shall have to take up the challenge. In the meantime a few chocolates for the taste buds! (From our local market in town).

[uvularia]

Can anyone help name this little Albanian friend that has popped out in recent days?

[udo]

Can anyone help name this little Albanian friend that has popped out in recent days?

Paul, do you have a picture of the inside of the flower?
Possibly it is Crocus veluchensis.

[YT]

We had a chilly sleet storm throughout yesterday, and warm sunshine came back again this morning
Crocus sieberi 'George' has just started to open today.

[Graeme Strachan]

We’ve had a very mild winter in Aberdeen so far.
Below is C. gargaricus from 2010 “Crocus Group” seed – I’ve had a bit of a wait for the flowers.
Also a mixture from “Gipsy Girl” seed I collected in my garden.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

We’ve had a very mild winter in Aberdeen so far.
Below is C. gargaricus from 2010 “Crocus Group” seed – I’ve had a bit of a wait for the flowers.
Also a mixture from “Gipsy Girl” seed I collected in my garden.

I have the same C. gargaricus from the same source in flower today, Graeme ! 

[Graeme Strachan]

Very nice Luc - How long did it take for yours to flower?

            Graeme

[Luc Gilgemyn]

They were sown October 2010 and are flowering for the first time Graeme !

[Graeme Strachan]

Luc - same here - maybe they were from the same donor.

                Graeme

[Janis Ruksans]

Yesterday I opened my pots from winter cover. Extremely early, but I hope that long-term weather broadcast will be true. Left to pray...
I again brought inside few pots
The first picture is Crocus olivieri subsp. istanbulensis - true species from locus classicus where left only some 100 plants. I didn't collect it. Really just protection put this plant under greatest danger. It needs open spots but after closing of locality there quickly started to grow shrubs and population started dramatically decrease. Not easy to keep the spot inside quickly raising Istanbul as small green island.
Another yellow plant 3 times changed name in my collection. I collected it under name of C. atrospermus (now I know that in proximity could be found C. tahtaliense, not atrospermus), but when I saw yellow color on wilted flowers (I was away at its blooming) I changed label to C. chrysanthus, but now to its real name - Crocus danfordiae, although it is collected at locus classicus of C. minutus - almost twin to blue danfordiae but with white stigma and different genetically.

[Janis Ruksans]

On this entry again pictures of Crocus chrysanthus from near Uschak - TULA-020
Note variability - white stigma, orange stigma, anthers plain yellow and anthers with black basal lobes.
Common to all (you can see in last picture) is purple colour deep in throat - easy spotable when you dissect the flower.

[tonyg]

Crocus aplenty in this too early Spring.

Crocus tommasinianus - can you beat the impact of a glade of tommies in the sunshine?

Crocus biflorus ssp ?  raised from my own seed labelled ssp isauricus.  Lovely dark purple, feathered outers.