Crocus in pots February 2010

[mark smyth]

whatever it is it is lovely. I think a couple of years ago I was told it was Goldilocks

[TheOnionMan]

Mark and Armin,

First of all, Mark S, I like your C. chrysanthus E.P. Bowles, I'm partial to the many "chrysanthus" cultivars.
Do you find you get hybrids of C. chrysanthus when sowing by seed.  Have you tried deliberate crosses with them?   I get boat loads of seed on them, and in recent years just scratch them into the soil.  In 2008 some seedlings started flowering.  One seedling caught my attention, particularly brownish in bud, later opening up brownish yellow and purplish, somewhat similar to C. chrysanthus 'Advance" that is growing near by.  It's fun seeing the different colors.  A few photos uploaded (I know these aren't in pots, but the topic relevance in this case is C. chrysanthus forms).  The pale blue crocus in the background I purchased as C. c 'Blue Pearl'.

[Armin]

Mark,
hybridisation amoung cultivars happen when they are freely pollinated by bees or hand pollinated.
But not all cv.'s set seed. Some crosses are completely sterile, others have defective anthers/pollen.
The latter ones can set seed only with external pollen. The hybrid seed can vary in size, shape and color.

It is always a pleasure when some hybrids appear.
The brown hybrid is very attractive.

[mark smyth]

Advance at it's best, Mark. I have got it many times but they were always something else

[mark smyth]

Mark I rarely get seeds and that includes after a lot of brushing pollen on styles

[TheOnionMan]

Mark I rarely get seeds and that includes after a lot of brushing pollen on styles

Oh, that's too bad you don't get much seed.  Maybe we just happen to have lots of crocus-loving bees here .  One thing I should explain in the photos above, the weird black debris around the crocus blooms are the old spent blooms on Hibiscus syriacus cultivars, under which these crocus are planted.

Armin, the C. chrysanthus hybrid seed must be of mixed types?  The seed looks varied in size and shape.

PS.  Mark, sorry to hear that your greenhouse was vandalized, that's terrible and shocking, just so senseless!

[mark smyth]

Mark what is the little crocus to the left of Advance?

[TheOnionMan]

Mark what is the little crocus to the left of Advance?

It is C. fleischeri (it is included in the photo title), cute little thing isn't it 

[Armin]

Mark M,
yes, the seed is a mix from open pollinated chysanthus/biflorus cultivars. C. fleischeri is a nice specis. I like it.

Mark S,
I'm not sure you grow your crocus collection only in the Greenhouse and if you allow bees to enter it when the sun is shining.
I have had great pollination success with my bee hotel for solitaire bees.
They are active at much lower temperatures compared to state building bees and they don't sting at all.
There are certainly 30 to 50 different specis in Ireland too - great for close observation.
Maybe a try worth?
Fix the bee hotel (hole diameters range from 3 to 10mm) on a south faced side, sheltered from rainfall/moist. And wait. It will certainly not last long until the first bees arrive.

[Armin]

Forgot to mention a good web site (german language) for different types of bee hotels:

http://www.tierundnatur.de/wildbienen/wbschutz.htm

Click on the left side to see different types and to get inspiration for your own hotel design!

[Otto Fauser]

Armin , I've been trying to locate Cr.chrys. 'E.A. Bowles ' for many years but without  success. Do you know if it has been lost to cultivation ?
 C. chrys. 'E.P. Bowles' is available here in Australia and it has been in my garden since the 1960s  .

[mark smyth]

Armin we do not have bees flying at this time of year. It will be another 4 to 6 weeks. Due to our unreliable weather.  I grow most in the greenhouse so I can enjoy them. In the garden are tommies, vernus, dalmaticus and some chrysanthus.

[Janis Ruksans]

Here's a view of my Crocus and other bulbs. The close up is what I got as E.P. Bowles

Seem to be true. I'm not growing it more for decades, but I checked by my first monograph on Crocuses (1981, in Latvian). See attached scans from it. On second picture back designs 23 - cv. E.A. Bowles, 24 - E. P. Bowles. Only your pictures are too bright yellow, real color is paler.
Janis

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wonderful Crocus clumps Mark MCD !!  Beautiful !
Love the hybrids too - I found some of my own as well last year - will show them when in flower.   

[Armin]

Otto,
I failed to find cv. E.A. Bowles too and I believe it is no longer in commercial cultivation.

Mark,
of course now no bees are flying. But your flowering season won't be over in 4-6 weeks? Consider to built one! At least for natur protection reasons and the crocus growing in the garden  

Janis,
thank you for your excerpt of your first monograph on Crocuses. I feel pity some real beautiful cultivars in your graphic are no longer available i.e. chrys. Nanette, Buttercup, E.A. Bowles, Mariette, Blue Peter, vernus Early Perfection.
I don't know "Maximilian". Is it one of your own selections/hybrids?