Crocus 2011

Welcome Michael,
Wonderful start. It's good to see you on this excellent site.
Cheers,
Cliff

maybe in 3 months I'll start to see some of mine  :-[

These images are a real pick-me-up!

What wonderful photos you bring to us on your debut here, Michael.  Welcome!

Ccocus chrysanthus certainly is a variable lot.  I would have thought your pic of C. chrysanthus from sumbegli was a different species!

Welcome Michael to the NARGS forum - your pictures give warmth to a soul sitting in Colorado with temperatures nearing zero F. and apparently staying there for a few days. 

Some of my crocus in flower at the moment

Crocus baytopiorum
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor white
Crocus biflorus ssp issauricus
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor x chrysanthus natural hybrid

The Brits are arriving in force ... with beautiful bulbs!  Welcome Tony.

Some more crocus in flower today

View of crocus greenhouse
Crocus cyprius two views
Crocus chrysanthus
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor x chrysanthus natural hybrid

Excellent pics as always, Tony and Michael.  :o

Tony wrote:

Crocus cyprius two views

Wow, Michael,
I've just ordered this one (can only afford one corm!) so it's good to see what it looks like! It'l take awhile to achieve what you've got though!
cheers
fermi

An easy grower-Cocus sieberi 'Firefly'

Some more out today

Crocus angustifolius
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor x chrysanthus natural hybrid
Crocus chrysanthus
Crocus gargaricus
Crocus sieberi three different forms
Crocus veluchensis
Crocus vernus

Tony,

I just love the delicate colouring on the Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor hybrid c322.  Very different (and very nice).  The angustifolius is such a great contrast in colours.

Great stuff!!  :D

I have to say, growing crocus in pots sure is the best way to admire them up close. 

ALL of them are just fabulous!

RickR wrote:

I have to say, growing crocus in pots sure is the best way to admire them up close. 

ALL of them are just fabulous!

Rick, I'd like to do both eventually... have a greenhouse and grow them in pots to enjoy the flowers early and unspoiled by weather, although from what I've seen of potted plants versus plants grown outdoors, in the right conditions plants growing outdoors can bulk up into spectacular clumps that surpass potted plants.  I would possibly favor growing autumn crocus species in a greenhouse though, as the autumnal flowers are more likely to be damaged from inclement weather outside.

But I agree, Tony and Michael, all of these crocus are fabulous, thanks for sharing... crocus are among my favorite plants to dwell upon and I spent lots of time on SRGC ogling them, so it's nice to be able to ogle over here on NARGS too.

A warm welcome to the beautiful Crocuses and their (equally beautiful ;D ;) ???) growers!
I say that because all my Crocuses are still buried deep in the soil waiting for more sunshine 8)

Some Crocusses which were flowering here in the last week:

Crocus alatavicus
2 x Crocus antalyensis 'Sky Blue'
Crocus chrysanthus 'Uschak Orange'
Crocus dalmaticus 'Petrovac'
2 x Crocux fleischeri 'Gulek Pass'
Crocus korolkowii 'Lucky Number'
Crocus laevigatus
and Crocus versicolor

Wim, these are just as good the second time around :D  All are lovely, but the purple tracery on C. alatavicus remains my favorite, exquisite!  In New England one doesn't begin to think about things like crocus until March at the earliest, so it is fun to see the brilliant color here.  The crocus might be later this year compared to last, probably April, we have a meter of snow on the ground, in fact, I waded through the deep snow to snap some pics: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=565.0

Thanks for showing these beauties.

McDonough wrote:

Wim, these are just as good the second time around :D  

Mark, I thought to post them here also...so you N-A'rs could enjoy them too  ;)

McDonough wrote:

All are lovely, but the purple tracery on C. alatavicus remains my favorite, exquisite!  
Thanks for showing these beauties.

Thanks for the praise. That C. alatavicus is my favorite too but I'm Croconut(s) enough to love them all.  :rolleyes:

Hi Wim,
Good to see you here.  I'm not really a bulb nut, but I was very interested to spot the name 'Petrovac' in your glorious posting. We stayed in this beautiful coastal resort when it was still part of Yugoslavia.  I remember a lone steep descent into the village cloaked with interesting trees and shrubs.  This was so far back in time that I had barely discovered alpine plants and took more interest in the attractions of the beach and the bars than the possible joys to be found in the mountains.  How things change ... is the bar open yet?  :D

A few in flower here

Crocus corsicus 1
Crocus corsicus
Crocus sieberi Ronald Ginns
Crocus sieberi Ronald Ginns
Crocus veluchensis
Crocus veluchensis
Crocus versicolour
Crocus versicolour
Crocus sieberi subsp sublimis f. tricolour
Crocus cvijicii

A few more. Opinions on those with ? please.
Crocus  Mt Parnassus ?
Crocus abantensis
Crocus scepusiensis var Leucostigma ?
Crocus sieberi subsp atticus  ?

Booker wrote:

Hi Wim,
Good to see you here.  I'm not really a bulb nut, but I was very interested to spot the name 'Petrovac' in your glorious posting. We stayed in this beautiful coastal resort when it was still part of Yugoslavia.  I remember a lone steep descent into the village cloaked with interesting trees and shrubs.  This was so far back in time that I had barely discovered alpine plants and took more interest in the attractions of the beach and the bars than the possible joys to be found in the mountains.  How things change ... is the bar open yet?  :D

Hi Cliff,
it's nice to see all these familiar faces on this forum indeed.
I can imagine there was a time you were more interested in fauna  ;) along the beach...but I guess that hasn't disappeared completely, has it? I like that fauna too, by the way  ;)

Now back to the plants: I think I got 'Petrovac' from Tony G. two years ago. It was a very small bulb but it flowered from the first year although it doesn't seem to give offsets. I should try to get some seed of it.

Beautiful Crocuses, Michel and WimB. Seems you look after them well! Do you grow all your plants in pots?

About 80% of mine are in pots,no more space in the garden. :)

Michael wrote:

About 80% of mine are in pots,no more space in the garden. :)

Yes, therefore I have 100% of them there ;) ;D

Hoy wrote:

Beautiful Crocuses, Michel and WimB. Seems you look after them well! Do you grow all your plants in pots?

Trond,

mine grow all outside.

Beautiful!!  :o

I particularly love the Crocus alatavicus and the delicate blue of the C. abantensis.  Not too long now before the autumn ones start up here.  ;D

Crocus sieberi George.

Michael, I can barely wait for my own to appear! But the weather forecast says very cold weather next week so I have to be patience  :-\
Therefore it is a pleasure to look at your plants (even if I'm a bit jealous :-[ )

Great colour, Michael.  Reminds me a lot of 'Hubert Edelsten', but even more intense? 

Many familiar "croconuts" over here...  ;D

I might add some of mine that flowered over the past few weeks :

1) Crocus biflorus isauricus from Akseki
2 and 3) Crocus biflorus nubigena
4) Crocus fleischeri from Gulek Pass
5) Cocus x reticulatus 'Janis Ruksans' out in the garden

A crocus-etravaganza!  Please add some of these beauties to our image gallery.  Amazing that these are all blooming in Feb.  I have a number of these in my garden but late April-May is the blooming season...they will be distant memories to the UK people at that stage.

Luc wrote:

Many familiar "croconuts" over here...  ;D

I might add some of mine that flowered over the past few weeks :

1) Crocus biflorus isauricus from Akseki
2 and 3) Crocus biflorus nubigena
4) Crocus fleischeri from Gulek Pass
5) Cocus x reticulatus 'Janis Ruksans' out in the garden

Hi "neighbour",

I've said it before but I'll say it again. I love your Crocusses, especially C. biflorus nubigena with those black anthers.

Todd wrote:

Please add some of these beauties to our image gallery. 

??? ??? How does one do that  ???  ???

Todd wrote:

A crocus-etravaganza!  Please add some of these beauties to our image gallery.  Amazing that these are all blooming in Feb.  I have a number of these in my garden but late April-May is the blooming season...they will be distant memories to the UK people at that stage.

Is there an idiot's guide to adding to the Gallery please?

Signed,
Idiot (first class)

Well, there is no "Idiot's Guide", but being something of a computer idiot, I'll take a stab at explaining it...  
**(see message below from Mark McDonough)

The Gallery being referred to is on the NARGS Main Website - "NARGS Photo Galleries".  To get there, note at the top of each page within this forum site, where it says "Click here to go to the NARGS Main Website".

Once you are there at the main website, you will see a tab for "NARGS Photo Galleries" down the left side of the page.  (Click on it if you would like to browse the photos or to see how the galleries are set up.)

At the top of the main website page, immediately under the NARGS title banner, you will see "WIKI".  Click on it to see instructions for various topics.  Ones that may be helpful are "How to prepare WIKI photos" and "How to upload photos".  

Alternatively, if you have already clicked on the NARGS Photo Galleries tab and are on that page now, you can access this same info by clicking on either the "WIKI" or the "How to do it" tabs that run across the top of the screen.

(NB.  One caution.... When you are uploading photos to the photo galleries, please ignore the bit where it says "Maximum image size is limited to 24 MB".  This is NOT true and I hope if I keep whining about it, it will finally get corrected some day  ???; the max image size is actually ~500 KB, as is explained in the text.)

I hope this is helpful!  
Lori

EDIT:  Oops! As Mark mentioned, one does have to be a NARGS member and then "apply for" a username and password (a very short process) to post on the NARGS Main Website.  I forgot to point that out.  Sorry to cause confusion!

deesen wrote:

Todd wrote:

A crocus-etravaganza!  Please add some of these beauties to our image gallery.  Amazing that these are all blooming in Feb.  I have a number of these in my garden but late April-May is the blooming season...they will be distant memories to the UK people at that stage.

Is there an idiot's guide to adding to the Gallery please?

Signed,
Idiot (first class)

I'm sorry David, there seems to be some confusion.  Now that the NARGS Forum is open to anyone who applies (and is approved), we have a mix of NARGS members and non-NARGS members here, an excellent development in my opinion :D  However what might not be so clear to forum moderators, is who is a NARGS member and who isn't, which doesn't matter here in the forum, but it does matter for other components of the NARGS.ORG site as a whole.  Editing access to the NARGS Wiki and Image Galleries is restricted to NARGS members only, NARGS members themselves still need a separate login account to gain edit-access to them, see:
http://nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-index.php?page=Frequently+Asked+Question...

Of course, anyone on the internet can access the NARGS Wiki & Image galleries for general browsing.

David, we're always very happy to have your photo contributions on the NARGS Forum, where photos are simply uploaded along with a message.  If however, you'd like to share any photos to be added to the NARGS Image Galleries, I'm sure that Todd Boland would be pleased to accept them and add them in on your behalf (you could send him a PM, or send to his email available in his forum profile page), it's totally up to you.

Again, sorry for the confusion, I hope that makes things clearer. :)

Many thanks Mark and Lori, I'm clear now.

Two more Crocussew which were in flower today:

Crocus abantensis and
Crocus sieberi ssp. sublimis 'Tricolor'

Just a further thought about the Gallery. As I'm not a NARGS Member and therefore can't add images to it I would be perfectly happy (indeed I'd be deliriously happy!) if anyone thought one of my images was good enough to add to the Gallery and did just that.

deesen wrote:

Just a further thought about the Gallery. As I'm not a NARGS Member and therefore can't add images to it I would be perfectly happy (indeed I'd be deliriously happy!) if anyone thought one of my images was good enough to add to the Gallery and did just that.

I feel exactly the same David !
Some more Crocus :

1 and 2 : This was supposed to be Crocus corsicus, but according to highly respected specialists, it is not, because of the yellow throat.  Could be a hybrid involving C. Imperati.
But I like it anyway...  ;)
3 and 4 : The same Crocus sieberii sublimis 'Tricolor' as Wim showed.

Luc wrote:

deesen wrote:

Just a further thought about the Gallery. As I'm not a NARGS Member and therefore can't add images to it I would be perfectly happy (indeed I'd be deliriously happy!) if anyone thought one of my images was good enough to add to the Gallery and did just that.

I feel exactly the same David !

Hear, Hear...

Luc wrote:

Some more Crocus :

3 and 4 : The same Crocus sieberii sublimis 'Tricolor' as Wim showed.

Nice Group, Luc.

Crocus reticulatus x angustifolius early gold

Beautiful croci everyone!  Wish we had some here ;)

We just had two days of surprisingly warm snow-melting temperatures (50 F, 15 C) after a solid deep freeze, but there's still 2-1/2' (75 cm) of snow out there.  Tomorrow, we're back into the deep freeze.  The first crocus to bloom for me is invariably C. vitellinus, so once the impressive snow-pack melts away, I expect that species to bloom first, along with snowdrops.

Crocus chrysanthus Zenith.
Crocus chrysanthus nr Edesson
Crocus Heuffelianus  Dark eyes.

Dark Eyes in particular is excellent!  Thanks Michael.

Some Crocusses which are flowering here now:

Crocus vernus subsp. vernus var. heuffelianus 'Carpatian Wonder' (twice)
and Crocus vernus subsp. vernus var. heuffelianus 'Dark Eyes' (seen from another viewing point than Michael's.)

Wim,

'Dark Eyes' is just amazing!!  What a colour. :o

Last year I showed an anomalous 10-petaled flower on Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus.  Evidently, this is a common occurrence, and was given the assurance that the flowers will be normal in subsequent years.  I also saw photos in the forums of other crocus species with aberrant polypetalous flowers.  

Here's my photo from spring 2010 showing the 10-petaled C. biflorus ssp. isauricus.

Here's the same plant taken today; to my surprise is remains polypetalus, but this year with 14 petals!

I wonder is this particular bulb will remain multi-petaled, there are a couple of "double-flowered" cultivars that exist.

Been feeding it steroids Mark? ;D

deesen wrote:

Been feeding it steroids Mark? ;D

Nope, but I do whisper sweet nothings nothings to my plants. ;)

Your "double" also has multiple stamens and stigma sections.  I wonder if that means anything regarding stability?

RickR wrote:

Your "double" also has multiple stamens and stigma sections.  I wonder if that means anything regarding stability?

It does this year (double stamens/stigma) whereas it was normal last year as can be seen in the 2010 photo.  Not sure what to make of it.  I may tag this one and dig it up and replant to it's own location, to see if the doubling behavior persists.

McDonough wrote:

It does this year (double stamens/stigma) whereas it was normal last year as can be seen in the 2010 photo.

Are your sure?  I think I count 5 stamens in your 2010 photo...
What am I looking at?

RickR wrote:

McDonough wrote:

It does this year (double stamens/stigma) whereas it was normal last year as can be seen in the 2010 photo.

Are your sure?  I think I count 5 stamens in your 2010 photo...
What am I looking at?

You're right Rick, I wasn't looking as closely as I should have.  On the left is a zoomed in view from a different angle (2010 photo).  In addition to 5 stamens it also has a 4-part stigma instead of a 3-part one.  On the right is a new angle closeup (2011 photo), which shows 6 stigma divisions... I will look more closely at it to see if there are two trifid styles or one multi-branched one.

After two absurdly warm days (near 70 F, 21 C) sunny weather continues but now only in the lower 40s F (~6 C) yet the sun is still warm, and the spring bulbs are literally jumping out of the ground.  Here are some welcome spring crocus.

Usually the first to bloom, but beat out this year by C. biflorus ssp. isauricus, is C. vitellinus.

One of my favorite spring Crocus is C. gargaricus, the buds pop right up out of the soil looking like orange lipstick; the wide open chalices about the brightest orange of any crocus.

Crocus etruscus 'Rosalind' is a selection that I got from Jane McGary, and it is an exquisite Crocus; it literally popped up and started blooming in a single day.

This is a misidentified Crocus, bought as C. minimus, but looking like a C. vernus selection; it is beautiful and welcome whatever it is.

As much as I love species crocus, I've been getting lots of enjoyment scratching in seed of open-pollinated C. chysanthus cultivar seed, the bees no doubt mixing things up, and innumerable hybrid seedlings result in all sorts of colors and variations.  No need to worry about cultivar name; just enjoy the crocus hybrid party.  One of the parents in this area, was C. chysanthus 'Advance', with flowers purplish on the outside and yellow inside, the seedlings give rise to lots of coppery brown colored seedlings; such fun.

What a difference a day makes, a couple inches of snow overnight, views of Crocus gargaricus and C. etruscus 'Rosalind' in snow.

The sun didn't shine today, stayed cold and gray, so crocus are not opening up.  But for those species that are richly striped or marked on the outside, it's a good opportunity to photograph that characteristic.  Here are three views of Crocus angustifolius.  The first two photos show a patch that is growing in thickly, as each year I scratch in fresh seed around the mother corms.  The seedlings show a little bit of variability, in terms of color and intensity of the feathering, from brown, to purplish such as the flower in the far left (left photo).  The middle photo shows a close-up of the same clump.  The photo on the right is a different clone, one I got from Jane McGary, which grows a bit shorter, and more richly marked with brown.

the last of my crocus flowering for this season is Crocus pelistericus. This is one that does well for me in my climate.

A very nice color of that one, Tony!
Can't say the Crocus season is over here yet. Here are some flowering now.

Mark, inspired by your discovery I did take a look my Crocuses too and found this 9-petaled one!

Mark and Hoy,

wonderful to see your Crocusses flowering too. Some very nice crosses you have there, Mark.

Tony,

C. pelistericus looks stunning. I've sowed this species last year,I hope to see germination soon now.

And a couple of pics of Crocus veluchensis are included here too. It's one of the last to flower here.

Tony, I second the appraisal that you C. pelistericus is stunning, such deep color!

Trond, I like your "nonagonous" Crocus bloom (nonagon = 9 sides).  Lable it, then it should be interesting to see if that characteristic persists in following years.

Wim, C. veluchensis looks good, not sure why it is such a seldom grown species here, it should be hardy and doable in our climate.
I came across this photo, with receding ice:
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/35358201.jpg

A few photos from today, sunny with tempertaure just a hair above freezing, stiff cold wind; the crocus barely able to "crack a smile" and open their flowers a bit, although the C. chrysanthus hybrid seedlings seem a bit more immune to the cold.

Left to right:  
C. sieberi 'Firefly', C. chrysanthus hybrid seedlings, C. angustifolius (from Jane McGary), C. gargaricus.

Slowly it warmed to the upper 30s F today, and eventually Crocus blooms opened up:

Two views of Crocus angustifolius, a form from Jane McGary, with C. etruscus 'Rosalind' behind, still refusing to open its blooms.

From left to right:
C. sieberi ssp. sublimis 'Tricolor' - used to have a wide patch of this, then varmints got at them one year, so I'm rebuilding stock.
C. gargaricus again, finally opening its perfect pudgy goblets of gold, among my top 10 fav crocus species.
C. chrysanthus - mixed hybrid seedlings
C. chrysanthus - beautiful cream tinged pale lavender, a hybrid seedling.

I'll be sharing mine in May when they are distant memories for the rest of you!  :(

After a 2-day snow-induced Crocus hiatus, the snow has melted, the sun is warm, and once again Crocus are smiling.  I'm always surprised how crocus can magically break ground and appear in flower in just 1-2 days, such is the case with the lovely C. malyi, one of my favorites with pristine white flowers and bright orange-yellow stamens & stigmas.

Growing among a group of A. malyi I got from Jane McGary in 2002; the two seedling plants have huge flowers that are exactly double the size of normal C. malyi blooms; not sure what caused these plants to have such large flowers, but I think it is worth singling these two out and attempt increasing them.  The extra large blooms are easy to spot, they are over 3" (8 cm) wide.  Notice in the side views, the tubes are dark brownish orange near the top on some seedlings (including the large-flowered ones), or light yellow on others.

Crocus malyi 'Ballerina' (white), C. angustifolius (gold), C. kosaninii (blue purple)

Two views of C. sieberi ssp. sublimis 'Tricolor' (2 left photos) + species Crocus view (3rd) + C. chrysanthus hybrid seedlings view (right)

I can't resist taking photos of Crocus on bright sunny days, as the blooms open fully to welcome the sun's warmth.  And so I shall take photos of these beauties, because after 17 months of unemployment (but unfettered constant access to the garden), I have rejoined the rat-race with a new job and huge daily commute, I'm back once again to photographing the garden only on weekends (if the sun comes out); a mixed blessing.  So, I photograph the very dwarf and beautiful C. imperati suaveolens even though mostly still just in bud, because in another week they might be over entirely.

C. chrysanthus hybrid seedlings (left) + C. imperati suaveolens (center) + C. etruscus 'Rosalind' (right)

One of the very best dwarf species with charming tiny flowers and gregarious colonizing habit, is C. kosaninii.  While under snow for two days, this species appeared and is jumping at the chance to bloom.  In a couple view, the gold-yellow is C. angustifolius.  Last year, I believe due to the unrelenting heat and drought, this species set no seed.

It is a huge difference between your Croci and mine, Mark! Yours open their flowers, mine do not - I lack sunshine :(
Yours have short leaves and a dominant flower, mine have huge leaves and lanky flowers :( :(

Beautiful, Mark!!  8) 8)

Great display Mark!

Wonderful, Mark. It looks very much like spring  ;) ;)

My first crocus are somewhat open.  Most are still under snow but the one bed that is melted responded to the cool sun today.  Crocus tommasinianus , C. t. Ruby Giant, C. t. 'Lilac Beauty/

Crocus etruscus just needs one more sunny day.  First C. chrysanthus opened..."Fuscotinctus' and 'Dorothy'

Suppose to be around the freezing point the next 2 days but the next week is suppose to be around 5-6 C every day.  I expect (hope) there will be plenty of crocus open by the time I get back from the UK on the 18th.

So these are where you shoveled the snow away, Todd?

Very nice, by the way. 

Well, Todd, are you ahead of us? Have May already arrived? Nice to see your crocuses too ;)

No Rick, these are blooming in the first flower bed that naturally melted.  Snow has a funny pattern in my garden.  My back gathers snow like no ones business but I have one area that only got about 2 feet of snow...that bed, along with the shovelled one, are now free.  There are a few tommies in the shovelled bed but most of my bulbs are in the back end of the garden.  As the snow melts, the crocus are literally in bloom within a couple of hours!  Quite amazing to watch!  Remember, I have no frost in the ground like you do, so plants are already growing when the snow leaves them.  Once our snow finally melts, I will be caught up to usual (from a Newfoundland standard).  Unfortunately, my drift in the back reached over 5 feet.  It is down now to 2.5 feet.  Too slow for my liking.  No melting for the next two days.  In fact, it is suppose to drop to -8 C this evening.  On the plus side, all of next week is suppose to be mild so hopefully this next 2 days will mark the end of our winter season.

Todd, I need to add some of those deep color "tommies" to my Crocus repertoire, a most compelling color statement for the spring garden! I hope by now your getting some warmer spring weather and more crocus are putting on a show.  Mine are getting ready to finish up, but after working all week and not seeing my crocus babies, today it is sunny and a warm 63 F (17 C), and a few crocus clumps look nice, I have to share some photos.

Left:  from a few bulbs in 2002, a clump of Crocus kosaninii is picture-perfect today; hardly a finer spring crocus species.
Center:  Crocus imperati suaveolens; a very slow grower, also planted 8-9 years ago , it is slowly increasing.
Right two photos:  Crocus malyi 'Sveti Roc', a dwarf cultivar with full rounded flowers, a wonderful cultivar and reliable grower.

Beauties Mark.....it was only 2 C today and only suppose to be 3 C tomorrow...crocus are in suspended animation!  With low to mid 40's F next week, I may arrive home from the UYK with many more crocus open...who knows, maybe my Eranthis and Galanthus will even be exposed.

Seems that Crocuses like your climate, Mark!

Here the Crocus season is soon history but today we had the warmest day so far this spring 18C/64F! ..and the last Crocuses suddenly opened up fully.

Mostly vernus and tomasininus hybrids.

Hoy wrote:

Seems that Crocuses like your climate, Mark!

Here the Crocus season is soon history but today we had the warmest day so far this spring 18C/64F! ..and the last Crocuses suddenly opened up fully.

[attachthumb=1]

Mostly vernus and tomasininus hybrids.

Thems a lot of Croci Trond, most colorful and exuberant!  I have managed to contain crocus within my garden bed areas, but now some of the chrsyanthus types are seeding into lawn areas; maybe I should encourage their spread, like some of the fantastic bulb lawns seen on the SRGC Forum.

I let them self sow, Mark, and get a lot of new color combinations. Seems that vernus and tomasinianus easily cross and make viable fertile offsprings too. The flowers are very variable, both in color and size - from 5 to 15cm across!

PS. Congratulation with your new job Mark!

Lots of crocus open here now.  My kosaninii have flowered for the first time....only 3 blooms but I'm delighted.

Congratulation Todd. Is it from seed?

Beautiful scenes, Mark and Trond, and congrats, Todd!

Here's the state of the crocus bloom here... close, despite the snow and cold (-9 deg C last night).  Ugh, what a climate!
 

Skulski wrote:

Beautiful scenes, Mark and Trond, and congrats, Todd!

Here's the state of the crocus bloom here... close, despite the snow and cold (-9 deg C last night).  Ugh, what a climate!

Cheer up, Lori, you will soon have a heatwave and catch up ;)

The crocus season is just about finished...taken today are my two favs...Crocus minimus and Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelstein'

Todd wrote:

The crocus season is just about finished...taken today are my two favs...Crocus minimus and Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelstein'

The last one in particular is a stunner Todd.

Not much colour here as we are well into autumn--currently just past midday ,cloudy 9c and Brrrrrr! :(

Cheers Dave--

9 C is WARM in my area for this time of year! (It's all relative!)

Crocus chrysanthus 'Advance':
 

Crocus tomassinianus:

Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor':
   

And some jolly mixes of various cultivars of C. chrysanthus, C. biflorus, C. tommasinianus and C. vernus:

             

Nice display, Lori.  I had always wondered if the tricolors might show through to the back sides of the petals of C. sieberi 'Tricolor'.  Thanks for that shot of the buds that depict it. 

Nice displays Lori! Seems you let'em loose in your garden ;)

A number of Crocus are starting to bloom in the garden here.

I watched this comical visitor in a pot of C. abantensis ,(ex Gotenburg seed sown March 07).
It spent an considerable amount of time in the cup.......eventually flying off to repeat the effort another 3 times.

Cheers Dave.  

A few "spring" crocus here as well, Dave.
Crocus cyprius

Crocus sieberi sieberi

cheers
fermi

I am glad I still have summer without croci ;)

Is the colour of the abatensis that blue, Dave?

Hoy wrote:

Is the colour of the abatensis that blue, Dave?

Yes Trond .The blue fades a bit towards the bottom of the cup.

I see a bud forming on another seedling so hopefully i will be able to compare for any variations in colour.

Cheers Dave.

A few starting to flower here.
Crocus speciosus oxonian x 2
Crocus pulchellus.
Crocus pulchellus albus.
Crocus kotschyanus

Beautiful crocus Michael; still a bit too early to see any fall crocus here.

The veining on those are so exquisite - like threadwork!

Impressive, Michael. Love them all.

Some Crocusses in flower in my garden now:

Crocus banaticus (2 x)
Crocus speciosus 'Artabir' (2 x)
and Crocus speciosus 'Oxonian' (2x)

Love them all, Wim. 

Crocus stigmas can be so interesting...

A few today.

Crocus boryi in the morning
Crocus boryi in the afternoon
Crocus goulimyi
Crocus cambessedesii
Crocus medius
Crocus cancellatus damaescenus
Crocus pulchellus
Crocus hadriaticus. sorry this one is a bit fuzzy,strong wind blowing.

I'm getting a little jealous! I have some fall blooming  crocuses but they are either eaten by slugs or broken by rain and hail :(
I grow almost all my plants in the garden as I can't have too many pots!

All really wonderful, Michael.  Crocus pulchellus, especially, is to-die-for. 

How did you get it to glow in the center ;D?  The anthers on this is particularly pleasing, too!

Wow, what beautiful crocus, Michael and Wim!  Reminds me that I should go out one of these days and see if my one or two puny specimens are still there.  :rolleyes:

Does Crocus banaticus always have such a difference in size between the sets of petals (3 big, 3 small?), or was that flower not completely open yet?

Lori wrote:

Does Crocus banaticus always have such a difference in size between the sets of petals (3 big, 3 small?), or was that flower not completely open yet?

Another name for this crocus was "iridiflorus" which might 'give you a clue' - as someone I know always says! ;D
cheers
fermi

Fermi wrote:

Lori wrote:

Does Crocus banaticus always have such a difference in size between the sets of petals (3 big, 3 small?), or was that flower not completely open yet?

Another name for this crocus was "iridiflorus" which might 'give you a clue' - as someone I know always says! ;D
cheers
fermi

Fermi,

I think I know who you mean  ;)  ;)

As Fermi said, in Crocus banaticus you can see why the genus Crocus is placed in the family of the Iridaceae.

Yes, very interesting!

Crocus  biflorus melantherus
Crocus cancellatus Lycius

What interesting petal backs on the Crocus  biflorus melantherus.
Makes me what to see what the tops look like!  (hint)  :o

Will take more pics if the sun comes out, cloudy for the past four days.

Finally got the flowers on Crocus bifloris melantherus to open,

And the purple perianth tubes are showy to boot!  The flower sure is taking its sweet time.  Do the three inner petals ever open "completely"?  I see that they are a bit shorter than the sepals, too.

Not this year,no sun and too cold,it seems to need higher temperatures than the others to open. I can't remember what happened last year.

cheers.

Michael wrote:

............. I can't remember what happened last year.

cheers.

You should be so lucky Michael I struggle to remember yesterday at times ;D

Here's a few of my Crocuses.

Crocus laevigatus. Grown from seed sown 18 Sept. 2008. Seed obtained from Crocus Group Distribution of seed collected from Evvia, Greece under reference CEH612 (John Lonsdale grows this one too) {3 pictures}

C. goulimyi. Also grown from seed from the 2006/7 SRGC Seed Ex ans sown 29 Aug. 2007 {2 pics}

C. ligusticus (formerly medius) a gift from a friend earlier in the year and something of a triumph for me as it's the first time in years that I've got hold of a medius that wasn't  virused . {3 pics}

Very nice fall crocuses both of you have! The few I have are all gone - the last ones damaged by a hailstorm. I grow them all in the ground outside though, can't cope with more pots!

Crocus Laevigatus
Crocus Laevigatus fontenayi x 2
Crocus speciosus albus

Some beautiful fall crocus pics being posted here, what's not to love about these late blooming treasures.  I have 8 species in bloom in the garden right now, although with the amount of rain we've had this autumn the display has been somewhat spoiled and they aren't very photo-worthy at the moment.  I was working from home today and ran out and snapped a photo of Crocus sativus, the saffron crocus... a bit weather-beaten but not bad. The blooms are very large, richly colored and perfumed.

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?

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

deesen wrote:

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

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

RickR wrote:

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 :o.  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.

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?

RickR wrote:

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.

McDonough wrote:

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

Crocus sativus is a sterile triploid hybrid.

deesen wrote:

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?

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.........."

Crocus longiflorus

deesen wrote:

McDonough wrote:

................ 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 ;D
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

deesen wrote:

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.

Flowering here now:

Crocus longiflorus
and Crocus laevigatus

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

Bob

Nold wrote:

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.

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

Nold wrote:

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

;D ;D

Nold wrote:

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  :rolleyes: :rolleyes:  :(

I have never experienced birds damaging Crocus but like Wim I suspect rodents do (and squirrels). On the other hand the autumn weather usually is not to the liking of autumn crocuses. However, this autumn is an exception and in hope of better autumn weather in the years to come have I planted several species! My hope is that at least some will proliferate and make displays like Nold's.

One of the few of autumn-flowering species that grows well here is C. banaticus. Unfortunately slugs seem to like it >:(

I think it's the robin (Turdus migratorius) that shredded crocuses here, but only in "spring". (No crocuses in bloom here as late as the vernal equinox.)
The French Scare Cats posted in the various parts of the garden where crocuses abound seem to have frightened them off; haven't seen this happen since the cats were put in.
I saw a slug in the garden here this year.

Bob

Just one slug? I killed several today . . . .

Some autumn crocus growing in our alpine house at work.  Crocus banaticus, C. goulimyi, C. cancellatus and C. tournefortii

Todd, very nice plants....love them all but C. goulimyi and C. tournefortii are personal favorites.

WimB wrote:

Todd, very nice plants....love them all but C. goulimyi and C. tournefortii are personal favorites.

.......... but I would take the cancellatus.

Very nice indeed Todd and very well grown.

Quote:

Just one slug? 

Just one slug. There was quite a bit of rain (for us) in May and June, and I saw a slug. Some snails, too, that apparently had come in from nursery plants. I stepped on two large ones by mistake; disgusting sensation.
It never rains here in the winter. (Never in the same sense that I never worry about elephants trampling the garden.)
I'm fairly jealous of Todd's crocus; I should try to get these next autumn. Despite the fact that it snows for nine months of the year here, there are occasionally periods when it isn't snowing, and I've had crocus in bloom on January 1st, which to me is more exciting than almost anything that summer has to offer.

Bob

Nold wrote:

Quote:

Just one slug? 

Just one slug. There was quite a bit of rain (for us) in May and June, and I saw a slug. Some snails, too, that apparently had come in from nursery plants. I stepped on two large ones by mistake; disgusting sensation.
It never rains here in the winter. (Never in the same sense that I never worry about elephants trampling the garden.)

:o :o I wish, we get slugs and snails over here from January until December  :rolleyes: :rolleyes:. After stepping on hundreds of them you get over the disgust  ;) ;)

And no rain in winter....interesting....here we get rain from January until December too...that comes with the slugs (or is it the other way round?)  ;D ;D

....... and me, in quantities >:(

...and I take the banaticus!
Do we arrange a sluggy competition? Who collects the less slugs and snails in 10 minutes?

I get PRECIPITATION from January to December...for 4 months at least it's in the form of snow...can't see the slugs then!  But they will be waiting for the first of the SPRING crocus for sure!