Crocus March 2009

[annew]

It is a nice substantial flower isn't it?
Thank you for your advice, Thomas, I'll leave it as late as I can.

[hadacekf]

Armin,
The Blaue Holzbiene - Xylocopa violacea visited also my crocus.

[Kenneth K]

I bought 'Prespa Gold' from Paul Christian a couple of years ago. It is a selection from unhybridised material collected in high alpine meadows in Macedonia. I believe that Prespa is the name of a district in Macedonia.

[Tony Willis]

I bought 'Prespa Gold' from Paul Christian a couple of years ago. It is a selection from unhybridised material collected in high alpine meadows in Macedonia. I believe that Prespa is the name of a district in Macedonia.

Prespa is noted for its lake which is divided between Greece ,Macedonia and Albania.It's main claim to fame is the bird life and the fact that it is infested with an amazing number of water snakes.

[Alex]

Hi Anthony,

Is that Cream of Creams from Janis? That's very interesting, he sent me one of these last year and when it came out yellow I assumed he'd mixed it up and relabelled as normal cvijicii! Perhaps I was too hasty! Is it just a rather paler yellow than usual?

BW,

Alex

Sorry for late reply, was away from home. Possibly some replied earlier.
Crocus cvijicii 'Cream of Creams' isn't white - it is creamy yellow! For that the name! I offered it in 2008 but request was so large that I sold too much, left only few with me and now will be needed few years to rebuilt stock.
Janis

Yes, I stand corrected - and a very beautiful clone it is.

Alex

[annew]

It is very kind of The Blaue Holzbiene  to be so photogenic! Does it always visit flowers which enhance its colour?

[Gunilla]

Sunshine today and some of my crocus have opened up.

C. chrysanthus 'Romance'  - I have looked at Armins photos earlier on in this thread and altered the name. Hopefully I got it right. The flowers are bright yellow inside and pale yellow outside.
C. tommasinianus Albus  - not entirely white
C. chrysanthus 'Zwanenburg Bronze'
Unknown 1. Showed up this year in the middle of some C. chrysanthus Saturnus and I have no idea what it is or where it comes from.
Unknown 2.
 

[Jim McKenney]

Hi Gunilla!

Your unknown number 1 shows markings on both the inner and outer tepals - that usually means Crocus versicolor, doesn't it?

Your unknown number two agrees well with what I grow as 'Herald'.

The early crocuses are still blooming here in my zone 7, Maryland, USA garden. Believe it or not, although we are well over a thousand miles south of you, we are on a bloom  schedule which seems to be closer to that of Sweden than that of the UK - at least for the very early bloomers.

[Armin]

Thanks Armin for a great show of Crocus.

Do you grow them on in your sand bed before adding them to the lawn?

Hello Arthur,
yes, this is exactly my plan. After blossom will have finished I want to close the gaps in the lawn.
Initially, I laid out the corms directly in the lawn in autuum but the problem appears if you want to add some more corms the next season. You simply can't locate your previous laid out corms.
I cut too many with my spade.  

Hello Gunilla,
I agree with Jim for "Romance" and "Herald" but your unknown 1 looks more a nice C. vernus then C.versicolor.
Do you have a picture from top view to see the style?

Hello Franz,
what a beautiful shot of the Xylocopa / carpenter bee. I hope that my solitary bee house I built in last autuum will be utilized multiple times.(It is in the background of my lawn picture)

Hello Anne,
Xylocopa violacea is a solitary bee and appears as early in February just after wake up from hibernation.
They are unrestly hunting for nectar. Early flowering Crocus just fit their needs.

Hello Simon,
beautiful crocus collection...

[Jim McKenney]

Armin, on reconsideration, I think you are right - that second one is likely to be Crocus vernus. As you said, a peek inside the flower should confirm that.

[Gunilla]

OK!  Here it is 

[Maggi Young]

Some crocus still looking good here....

a tiny form of Narcissus cyclamineus beside a muscular Crocus versicolor

   

two Dutch yellows.....



from a couple of days ago.... a pot of Crocus pelistericus looking a bit chewed....


today it looks better....
 

[Maggi Young]

At the edge of a bed....

[Jim McKenney]

OK!  Here it is 

Well, Gunilla, that looks like a typical Crocus vernus style to me. The small flower tempts me to think Crocus vernus ssp. albiflorus, but the fact that the style extends above the anthers suggests otherwise. The anthers look somewhat malformed, so perhaps there is more to the story.

What think the crocus experts?

[Gunilla]

The early crocuses are still blooming here in my zone 7, Maryland, USA garden. Believe it or not, although we are well over a thousand miles south of you, we are on a bloom  schedule which seems to be closer to that of Sweden than that of the UK - at least for the very early bloomers.

Amazing! I would have thought your spring season started much earlier.

Crocus vernus or not it is a mystery where it came from. The same goes for 'Herald'. I have not planted either of them and have not seen them before anywhere and we have lived here for more than 25 years now.