April Crocus 2017

[ArnoldT]

Crocus heufflianus "Dark Eyes"

[anita]

Crocus season is beginning in Australia, as we are now into autumn.
Amongst the first to flower for me was C caspius. I only have a few bulbs, generously given to me by Jamus (Jupiter), with the original bulbs coming from forum legend Otto Fauser who obtained them from, Paul Furse. The 'parent' corm has already produced a few flowers, but today one of the others in the pot surprised me by producing a multi-petalled mutant. It has 13 petals and also multiples of reproductive organs.
Unlike some freaks it's quite pretty. Very like a bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadiensis). Apologies for the picture quality. I took a quick snap with my phone. Further apologies for the grotesque wire in the shot. Blackbirds are a pestilence, and the wire's the only way I can prevent bulbs being excavated.
I'm so excited, but it could always be a one off - I'll have to wait a whole year to see if there's a repeat.
Otto, have you had any similar mutations amongst your corms?

[ArnoldT]

Crocus sieberi Tricolor.

[Jupiter]

Anita I think it's a very attractive 'mutant', worth singling out and following to see what it does next year. Otto told me yesterday that Crocus caspius is from a very warm climate right down to or near to sea level on the Caspian sea, so a very good one for you down on the plains. Did you get any C. nudiflorus from Otto in the corms I passed to you? He tells me that it is the only stoloniferous Crocus species and a good doer in the garden. I'm still waiting for my goulimyi seedlings to reappear. I hope to have them naturalised in the garden like you do some day.

[anita]

Anita, Otto told me yesterday that Crocus caspius is from a very warm climate right down to or near to sea level on the Caspian sea, so a very good one for you down on the plains. Did you get any C. nudiflorus from Otto in the corms I passed to you? He tells me that it is the only stoloniferous Crocus species and a good doer in the garden. I'm still waiting for my goulimyi seedlings to reappear. I hope to have them naturalised in the garden like you do some day.

Jamus, The C caspius seems to have thrived in the pot, so I'll liberate a couple of corms into the garden this summer and see how it goes - not the 'mutant' of course!
My own C goulimyi seedlings from 2014 and 2015 are not up yet, nor are the corms in pots or gardens so there is time yet for your seedlings. Nudiflorus was not one of the species you share with me ... but if you have any to spare I wouldn't say no  .  I have some cyclamen to spare - the last of Marcus Harvey seeds

[Otto Fauser]

Anita , I rather like your "double" C. caspius ,but not as handsome as the normal one . C. caspius has over the years self sown in many parts of my garden but I have never discovered a mutant . It flowers for a long period here -starting now and I have had flowers as late as June from white to pink-lilac . Look for seed capsules at or below soil level in Oct/Nov. Occasionally I get "double " flowers on a vigorous pale lilac form of C, niveus ( a Brian Mathew Number ) but the next year it is back to normality.

[anita]

C. caspius has over the years self sown in many parts of my garden but I have never discovered a mutant . It flowers for a long period here -starting now and I have had flowers as late as June from white to pink-lilac . Look for seed capsules at or below soil level in Oct/Nov. Occasionally I get "double " flowers on a vigorous pale lilac form of C, niveus ( a Brian Mathew Number ) but the next year it is back to normality.

Hi Otto, C. caspius' odd seed capsules nearly fooled me last year. I helped fertilise the blossoms with a feather and was happy to see capsules in the throats of the plants. I was waiting patiently for the capsules to start elongating as they usually do with Crocus, when I noticed that they had started to break open slightly below ground level. I used my eyebrow tweezers to carefully 'rescue' the seeds from within the open pods and collected about a dozen seeds. Tricky little chaps!

[Janis Ruksans]

Amongst the first to flower for me was C caspius. I only have a few bulbs, generously given to me by Jamus (Jupiter), with the original bulbs coming from forum legend Otto Fauser who obtained them from, Paul Furse. The 'parent' corm has already produced a few flowers, but today one of the others in the pot surprised me by producing a multi-petalled mutant. It has 13 petals and also multiples of reproductive organs.

Such individuals occasionally appear, but at present I know only one cultivar - C. tommasinianus 'Eric Smith' where 8 petals are normal and usual (but even then not always). Picture of it attached. I have melantherus sample which once in 2-3 years forms more flower segments than usually, and I had C. chrysanthus 'Goldmine' where 1/2 to 2/3 of flowers were semidouble, but not in last 5-6 years, so I stopped to offer it. Yours sample seem to be so named "fasciation" when for some development reasons two or more shoots grew together forming one flower in which are joined segments from all flowers from each shoot. Usually this isn't permanent and disappear in future seasons. But always it is worth to mark such individual and to check its development in future .

[Janis Ruksans]

Did you get any C. nudiflorus from Otto in the corms I passed to you? He tells me that it is the only stoloniferous Crocus species and a good doer in the garden.

There are several stoloniferous species. Some forms of CC. salzmannii, serotinus, some from the large "C. speciosus" complex, C. fleischeri, some C. kotschyanus forms, and always C. thirkeanus (herbertii) are stoloniferous, too. All of them are good growers in the garden, too. May be I forgot to list some. In attachment stoloniferous C. speciosus sensu lato from Iran, found in 2016.

[Janis Ruksans]

Very few crocuses blooming at present with me.
At first Crocus cvijicii - the most popular form from mountains of Greece. Very uniform, with extremely rare albinos in nature, but easy hybridizing with C. veluchensis and then many light, bluish and pure white seedlings can appear.
The next is typical C. cvijicii from locus classicus in Republic of Macedonia (former Yugoslavia). No one deep yellow were observed there - only pale yellow - to almost white, and by my opinion both are different species.
The third is last picture of C. olivieri Albina. About this you can read in my last book "The World of Crocuses". It is very special crocus well reproducing itself from seeds, regardless of growing between traditionally coloured bright yellow C. olivieri.

[WimB]

Probably the last of this spring in my garden: Crocus minimus 'Bavella'

[kris]

when everyone is showing nice crocus flowers I have an ordinary one to post.I do not know the variety name.If someone can identify the correct name that will be great.The colour of the flowers are kind of steel blue. Somehow my cell phone camera can't capture the right colour.The picture was taken last week.

[kris]

This question is for Janis. If he can answer I will appreciate it.
What is the most hardy crocus.
In Saskatoon(Zone3) I find it difficult to grow them and  if I ever grow they have to be near the foundation.

[Janis Ruksans]

This question is for Janis. If he can answer I will appreciate it.
What is the most hardy crocus.
In Saskatoon(Zone 3) I find it difficult to grow them and  if I ever grow they have to be near the foundation.

With me the hardiest species were C. heuffelianus, C. malyi, C. fleischeri, a little less - C. korolkowii - they all alive after very mild January, when crocuses were in full bloom and followed 2 weeks with black frost (no snow at all) and temperatures around minus 30 C. When real spring started - they continued growth and I got even normal corm crop, only korolkowii although alive, but corms were smaller, some stocks turned more hardy (cv. Lucky Number) some less. Lost was 'Dytiscus' - again lost last winter which was not very cold (up to minus 20) but temperature all the time jumped up and dawn.
I think there were 5 or even 6 species which alive this horrible black frost, but at this moment I remember only those listed here.

[Janis Ruksans]

Here Crocus season goes to end. Only C. minimus still didn't start blooming. But some nice flowers are.
I start with still very mysterious for me crocus. I bought it as "yellow form of antalyensis" but most likely it is hybrid with mouradii or sarichinarensis (less possible, due very limited areal of last, but both in wild grow almost side by side). May be it is form of mouradii? I really don't know and can't check DNA at this moment.
Then very good hybrid between veluchensis alba and Greek cvijicii - marked with "ex" - in my system it means - superb.
Very late this spring blooms C. istanbulensis - this is true plant from locus classicus presented to me by my Turkish friends.
And as last in this entry - still extremely rare in cultivation - C. jablanicensis - I have only 4 plants, one of them doubtful as has yellow stigma, may be Macedonian cvijicii was mixed in when I sorted collected corms.