Crocus February - 2009

[mark smyth]

Luc there are no more than five corms in the pot

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very good value Mark !!

[mark smyth]

If you smile nicely ....

[hadacekf]

Tony,
Wonderful pictures from beautiful Cemetery , Thanks

[tonyg]

Tony, is Earlham Gold Tip in cultivation now?

No!  Unless you count the roadside location.  As last year I reckon they will do fine where they are.  I have provisional permission to collect from the cemetery but I'm makin do with seed which is copiously produced.  Seed from the roadside plants is more elusive but I'll keep looking.
There seem to be more gold tipped plants this year, if I collect in futire I'll be looking for one which is a good increaser

[Roma]

Lovely to see crocuses doing so well naturalised, Tony.  Over 30 years ago I planted crocuses and Cyclamen coum in a narrow cultivated strip beside my parents' lawn.  It has long been grassed over but there are still crocuses and cyclamen flowering.  Rabbits and deer may be reducing the numbers of flowers.  There are 3 flowers of Crocus tommasinianus 'Whitewell Purple' but quite a few leaves.  I'm not sure if any of the chrysanthus are originals or seedlings.  The bronze one disappeared the next day, obviously tastier than the others.  I have dug up similar ones in the past but they have not done well in a pot.

[Roma]

I've been amazed how fast flowers have been opening since the snow went.  The first picture is of crocuses in the coldframe on February 17th.  The 2nd is on February23rd.  The pots have been moved around as some went to Dunblane last Saturday.
A lovely crocus flowering now - Crocus biflorus ssp. weldenii 'Fairy'.

[mark smyth]

Nice collection Roma

The sun shone long enough this morning for me to run around like a blue a$$ fly bring Crocus to the living room window

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldmine'
C. kossaninii doing well in the garden and now seeding slightly
C. tomm. 'Bobbo'
C. tomm. 10zz/lozz - I really dont know what the cultivar/selection number/name should be
C. vernus ex (former) Yugoslavia ex Tony G.

[mark smyth]

Can anyone put a name to this Crocus

[Lesley Cox]

Wonderful pictures Tony, what a treat and surely enough to make you forget the dentist - and his bill! I can imagine Forumists lining up to be planted, eventually, themselves, in that beautiful place.

I see in the second cemetary picture that those pesky snwdrops are prepared to sneak in absolutely ANYwhere.

[Graeme Strachan]

Double Crocus

Last year I planted quite a few varieties of crocus in my lawn. I was intrigued when I found that quite a high proportion of E.P.Bowles were doubles. I researched this site and then the “rest” of the internet to find out more about this phenomenon. I found very little information

Fraser Henderson posted ”I have a single Crocus chrysanthus 'Zwanenburg Bronze' flower which has 11 petals”

On February 6th 2006 Thomas Huber wrote
“Many Crocus species tend to built flowers with more than 6 petals. I'm not sure about the cause, but I think it's a saisonal genetical mistake, which will not repeat next year and also seed will not produce double flowers.
I've often seen that in chrysanthus "Goldilocks" but the only permanent double flowering Crocus is chrysanthus "Goldmine"

And Tony Goode showed a picture of Crocus biflorus in the wild

http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/5012/23624.html

Tony Goode posted October 18th 2005 (replying to Mark Smyth about Autumn Crocus)
“Mark, it is just an occasional unstable occurrence connected with conditions at flower bud initiation time in early summer. The plant probably won't repeat the extra petalled performance next year.”

Thomas Huber wrote on October 19th 2005

“There is one form of Crocus chrysanthus called "Goldmine" offered by Janis.
This is the only permanent double Crocus that I know.

Chrysanthus "Goldilocks" often forms doubles, but not permanent, just for one season.”



From the internet

The Lithuanian Bulb Garden http://members.fortunecity.com/ezhiukas/catalogue.htm
States Crocus chrysanthus GOLDMINE ” Up to now is the only double crocus. Brightest orange yellow flowers. Flowers early spring like earliest C. chrysanthus varieties.

Also

In C. tommasinianus there is one semi-double, 'Eric Smith', with a 4 x 4 arrangement, and the same occurs in some flowers of C. chrysanthus 'E.P. Bowles'. At one time there was a semi-double C. imperati, and Crispin van de Pas in his Hortus Floridus of 1615 illustrates a semi-double plants of(probably) C. biflorus and C. angustifolius. So semi-double Crocus areknown, but are unusual and certainly worth selecting.
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/pbs/2005-March/020908.html

Dr John M. Grimshaw
Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens


I am interested if anyone knows the “occasional unstable occurrence connected with conditions at flower bud initiation time in early summer.”

I am sure that the growers have tried to replicate the conditions, as no doubt this would be a viable commercial proposition, but as yet no one as far as I am aware has brought this to market.
Maybe it’s something else.
Anyone’s thoughts please.

      Graeme Strachan
All photos taken this morning

******"THE DOUBLE EP BOWLES PHOTOS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND TO BE GOLDILOCKS"****** Graeme

[tonyg]

Lovely to see crocuses doing so well naturalised, Tony.  Over 30 years ago I planted crocuses and Cyclamen coum in a narrow cultivated strip beside my parents' lawn.  It has long been grassed over but there are still crocuses and cyclamen flowering.  Rabbits and deer may be reducing the numbers of flowers.  There are 3 flowers of Crocus tommasinianus 'Whitewell Purple' but quite a few leaves.  I'm not sure if any of the chrysanthus are originals or seedlings.  The bronze one disappeared the next day, obviously tastier than the others.  I have dug up similar ones in the past but they have not done well in a pot.

There are plenty of bronze shades among the plants in Norwich and the others in your picture are similar to those I identify as being originals here.  Your comment about them not doing so well in a pot justifies my decision to leave them alone   Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[tonyg]

Can anyone put a name to this Crocus

Crocus vernus ssp vernus - in the form that used to be / sometimes is called heuffelianus or scepusiensis.  Typical of the northern forms from the Balkans through to Poland.

[tonyg]

Double Crocus
Last year I planted quite a few varieties of crocus in my lawn. I was intrigued when I found that quite a high proportion of E.P.Bowles were doubles. I researched this site and then the “rest” of the internet to find out more about this phenomenon. I found very little information

Fascinating - you may have a goldmine there  
It may be a result of storage conditions ie just a one-off seasonal occurrence.  If it is stable then you have a lucky find ... unless someone who knows the cultivars better than I do can report on this as a regular occurrence with E.P. Bowles. 

[Janis Ruksans]

Double Crocus
Last year I planted quite a few varieties of crocus in my lawn. I was intrigued when I found that quite a high proportion of E.P.Bowles were doubles. I researched this site and then the “rest” of the internet to find out more about this phenomenon. I found very little information

Fascinating - you may have a goldmine there  
It may be a result of storage conditions ie just a one-off seasonal occurrence.  If it is stable then you have a lucky find ... unless someone who knows the cultivars better than I do can report on this as a regular occurrence with E.P. Bowles. 

Crocus GOLDMINE I selected from open pollinated Crocus chrysanthus seedlings so exact parentage I don't know. It really at present is single more or less constant double (really semi-double) cultivar making ~80% of double flowers from large corms. Crocus tommasinianus Eric Smith is less constant and here it gives some 8 petalled plants only if left undisturbed for second year and well feed in previous season.
Willem van Eeden had another double chrysanthus, but less constant than Goldmine and he got from me few Goldmine corms for intercrossing but he never informed me about results and now I think he is too old. Pity.
Several other crocuses from time to time forms semidouble flowers. I got semidouble biflorus melantherus from John Fielding but stock still is too small to judge how constant this feature will be.
Janis