Crocus 2011

[McDonough]

........ and will it come back next year

...of course it'll be back next year, it is soundly hardy in New England, in its 9th year.

[McDonough]

I especially like all the bicolor specimens, and the saffron crocus. 

A question for you, Mark: it is obviously doing very well.  In your cold climate, does the foliage just survive the winter as is, and continue through the spring?

Yes Rick, the foliage is totally winter evergreen and continues into spring with dense grass-like tufts of leaves.  It eventually goes dormant about the same time the spring crocus have finished flowering and going dormant.  Some photos of winter foliage.

In winter, the snow always melts first around the mulched tree and shrub rings where bulbs are planted. The foliage is that of Crocus sativus.



The same "shrub ring" in mid December when we were hit with the infamous ice storm of 2008, Hibiscus syriacus heavy under the weight of ice, eventually the root ball lifted out of the ground .  Not to worry, in spring I was able to upright the shrub and stabilize it with rocks, and the shrub never blinked an eye.  Isn't it amazing what ice can do to the foliage of Crocus sativus, doing a pretty good impression of a dagger-leafed Aciphylla




And here in late March, the foliage still looks fine, the spring crocus are budded and ready to pop.

[RickR]

That's very encouraging, Mark.  And I am impressed.  They (and the color) are very captivating.  I'll bet you sited them there specifically, so they would be clear of snow early, and have a long cold growing season.  Some of the best Snow trilliums (Trillium nivale) I've seen in the wild here grow on limestone jut outs on north east facing hills.  Snow melts there first, too.

In the last pic, are you showing/looking for seed pods?

[McDonough]

That's very encouraging, Mark.  And I am impressed.  I'll bet you sited them there specifically, so they would be clear of snow early, and have a long cold growing season.  Some of the best Snow trilliums (Trillium nivale) I've seen in the wild here grow on limestone jut outs on north east facing hills.  Snow melts there first, too.

In the last pic, are you showing/looking for seed pods?

I never get seed on any of the autumn blooming Crocus, and I was looking for seed, and I kept looking for seed into the spring months, but in all these years, never found a single pod on C. sativus.  At long last, this spring I did find some pods on C. asumaniae, a heavily perfumed autumn species that is in bloom now, a species that can be used for saffron.

[deesen]

................ never found a single pod on C. sativus...................

Crocus sativus is a sterile triploid hybrid.

[RickR]

Crocus sativus is a sterile triploid hybrid.

That explains why it is non-existent in the wild, according to the Crocus pages. 

So then, surely it must be virus infected, having been only asexually propagated these many, many centuries. Do any crocus collectors care about this?

[deesen]

A few bits and pieces about Crocus sativus gleaned from Janis Ruksans excellent monograph "Crocuses: A Complete Guide to the Genus" Timber Press 2010.

"......... most of the stocks that I've seen clearly show symptons of virus infection"

"......... to get a good flowering it must be grown in areas with a really hot and long dry summer......." (Not Devon, UK then!!)

".........Most likely it is a selected form of Crocus cartwrightianus although in the wild there are no plants with such huge flowers and such long stigmas.........."

[Michael J Campbell]

Crocus longiflorus

[McDonough]

................ never found a single pod on C. sativus...................

Crocus sativus is a sterile triploid hybrid.

David, I thought you might enjoy this... maybe these seeds are truly magic
http://www.magicgardenseeds.com/CRO01

Within a few inches of my C. sativus clump, I have a couple bulbs of C. thomasii flowering at the same time.  This article is for purchase, thus I haven't acquired it, but the title speaks for itself, all is not black and white.  Maybe I should be looking for the chance of seed after all
Fertilization of Crocus sativus L. ovules and development of seeds after stigmatic pollination with C. thomasii Ten. pollen
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/11263508909430244

[McDonough]

A few bits and pieces about Crocus sativus gleaned from Janis Ruksans excellent monograph "Crocuses: A Complete Guide to the Genus" Timber Press 2010.

"......... to get a good flowering it must be grown in areas with a really hot and long dry summer......." (Not Devon, UK then!!)

".........Most likely it is a selected form of Crocus cartwrightianus although in the wild there are no plants with such huge flowers and such long stigmas.........."

Not a problem here, C. sativus always flowers prolifically.

Research paper excerpts that I've been looking at put both C. cartwrightianus and C. thomasii as the two species most likely as ancesters of C. sativus.

[WimB]

Flowering here now:

Crocus longiflorus
and Crocus laevigatus

[Nold]

Okay, then, here's one of favorite weeds. Taken a couple of hours ago.

Bob

[WimB]

Okay, then, here's one of favorite weeds. Taken a couple of hours ago.

Bob

Yeah, it's a shame not all weeds are like that. A wonderful clump of C. speciosus, Bob.

[Nold]

Thanks. Self sown, too. I take no credit at all, except for not accidentally digging it up.....
There are hundreds of C. speciosus here, and for some reason, the birds don't shred them to pieces like they do the spring-flowering ones.
I also like the fact that, even though they get knocked flat by snow over and over again, more keep coming, until around Christmas, when they finally give up.

Bob

[WimB]

Thanks. Self sown, too. I take no credit at all, except for not accidentally digging it up.....

There are hundreds of C. speciosus here, and for some reason, the birds don't shred them to pieces like they do the spring-flowering ones.
I also like the fact that, even though they get knocked flat by snow over and over again, more keep coming, until around Christmas, when they finally give up.

Birds never shred our Crocusses...I guess the birds where you live are more in heat in spring than our birds  
We only have mice who eat the corms