Crocus September 2014

[WimB]

Cracking image Wim.

Thank you, David!

[Steve Garvie]

Crocus (kotschyanus) cappadocicus




The corm grows on its side like Crocus suworowianus.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Brilliant Steve !

[udo]

Nice pictures from all.
Here is Crocus cancellatus and Crocus karduchorum in flower.

[Cyril L]

Dirk, wonderful Crocus karduchorum, in its best form.  The much divided stigma is so delicate.

[ruben]

Crocus kotschyanus is well in flower today.

Crocus kotschyanus ssp. kotschyanus (dark blue form)
Crocus kotschyanus ssp. kotschyanus ('white' flowering type)

[ruben]

Crocus kotschyanus 'Reliance'

[tonyg]

Crocus niveus - been in the garden for over a decade.  Found a new home in a raised bed last year and seems happy there.

[Janis Ruksans]

I almost finished replanting of collection. Still left Ornithogalums - approximately 150 stocks, so around 200 pots. Of course I will help to Liga with replanting of business stocks - still left around half - Scilla, Muscari, Ornithogalum, Allium, tulips, Irises and aroids, but now I'm more free with other activities and will have more time for forum.
So this time I want to show you some plants and nursery
On first picture pots with replanted Crocus collection. There are more than 1500 stocks or more than 2000 pots. Still I wait for some super-rarities from my friends, so some more stocks will be added in following days.
The next is not crocus but with similar flowers - Sternbergia colchiciflora. This autumn it blooms unusually abundantly. I suppose that it was induced by very hot summer and good watering after replanting. On picture stock collected in Turkey at Ziyarertpesi gecidi where are growing a lot of fantastic bulbs between those C. cappadocicus and Crocus from biflorus group similar to C. schneideri.
The first of Crocus speciosus group every season is Crocus ilgazensis. Here flowers from stock originally collected by me on Ilgaz Dag. I have some other stocks got from Gothenburg and from Potterton & Martin. They bloomed a little earlier but with much smaller flowers. By other features - those early dwarfs completely respond to description given by Brian Mathew. If this (pictured) plant would not be ciollected by myself at locus classicus - I would be a little doubtfull for size of flowers. Phantastic plant! When I collected it, flowers were half wilted, just at end of blooming. There are some earlier speciosus, too - but they are exceptional forms from Crimea, occupied by Russia now. They still are not named, but I hope to describe Crimean speciosus as C. puringhiorum, in honour of Latvian botanist who first described Crocus tauricus.
Crocus mazziaricus Mt. Kiliani Greece I got from Jim Archibald by his wish. Elegant and good grower.
And as last today - most painful for me crocus. It is Crocus brachyfilius described by I. Schneider, but before him by me as C. speciosus subsp. elegans. Genetical research confirmed that both are identical. I was too cautious describing it as subspecies. If I would have more courage and background of institutes and genetic laboratories.. but I'm only amateur. Of course name Crocus elegans most perfectly responds to beauty of its flowers, but rules of international code now preference gives to epithet C. brachyfilus. Pity to loose two names in one year (another is Puschkinia kurdica - which name appeared 12 days after Turkish publication although my article was given to publisher 2 months earlier) but such is life...
Janis

[pehe]

Nice to see some Crocus flowers from Latvia!

C. speciosus has started flowering. This is an early flowering clone I got from my Dads garden.
Crocus banaticus self seeds all over my garden even in my lawn.
This C. banaticus seedling looks odd
A second flower on C. karduchorum

Poul

[Janis Ruksans]

Today again are cold and rainy – if last days where as fantastic Indian summer, now we returned to real autumn. Yesterday I finished replanting of collection. Still left business bulbs but that is not more my problem. I will work at Liga’s nursery only as “consultant”.
Some more pictures from last sunny and warm days.
At first are pictures of two very nice Crocus damascenus (earlier regarded as subsp. of cancellatus) – the best form from Kubbe gec, another from Mazikiran.
Then is picture of new Crocus puringhiorum. It is former speciosus from Crimea, Ukraine, now occupied by Russia. Last autumn I succeed to visit Crimea and to prepare type herbariums, but still need to find good morphological features to separate this, although genetically it is very different from other speciosus group crocuses.
What is Crocus speciosus from vicinity of Pinarbasi, Turkey – I still don’t know. Morphologically by flower it looks similar to C. ilgazensis, but it is not my collection and I didn’t see wild population of it to make some decision. Working in Turkey for foreign botanists now is quite difficult, so I will leave this question without answer. This locality is quite far to South from locus classicus of C. ilgazensis, but may be it is growing in much larger area than supposed earlier.
And last is picture of last flowers of Crocus scharojanii flavus. This season it started blooming later than usually and not so abundantly as a year before, but is nice as always.

[ruben]

I got this crocus as crocus nudiflorus. It forms stolons and the leaves appaers long after the flowers.
But the throat isn't colorless. Can someone help me with the ID? Is this crocus nudiflorus? (or is this a virus infected plant)?

[ruben]

Janis, the crocus damascenus from mazikiran is wonderful! What was the previous name of damascenus? Crocus cancellatus ssp. ..?

[tonyg]

I got this crocus as crocus nudiflorus. It forms stolons and the leaves appaers long after the flowers.
But the throat isn't colorless. Can someone help me with the ID? Is this crocus nudiflorus? (or is this a virus infected plant)?

Yes could be C. nudiflorus BUT C. serotinus salzmannii occasionally makes stolons and it can also be somewhat feathered in it's colouring.  Yours is very deep colour compared to those I have seen.  The dark colour is more typical of C. nudiflorus.
Virus?  hard for me to say.  Janis is expert in this.

[Cyril L]

Two easy crocus in the open garden, slightly different from the usual:

Crocus pulchellus with dark veins
Crocus kotschyanus cappadocicus ssp. kotschyanus with pink/purple flowers (with one of the more usual colour in the background)