Crocus October 2019

[annew]

A fantastic selection from Janis, it must smell wonderful in his tunnels. My autumn crocus have only just begun, as I was so late watering them this year. I only have a few, but the scent still brings in the bumblebees.
Below:
A nice white C. pulchellus Michael Hoog
Crocus mathewii HKEP 9291
Crocus laevigatus ssp pumilus AH 0138 (new this year )
My single C. archibaldiorum. I'm patient!

[annew]

This seedling from Crocus hadriaticus Purple Heart Seems to be stable as a 'double' with 8 segments. The photos are from the last 3 years. On the downside - there is still only one corm!

[Janis Ruksans]

Now last five pictures from last Friday. It seems that for some time there will be no new pictures as temperature today will drop down to minuses in night. May be I will bring some pot inside room to force blooming, but I'm not sure. Always this action caused some problems with following corm crop and all species which still didn't started blooming are rarities. Yesterdays wind + rain destroyed all flowers of outside blooming crocuses.
On Saturday I visited my old place to check by bees (my bees still stay there as around are 2 miles without farming and chemical use). Was surprised seeing in grass blooming of many autumn blooming crocuses regarded by me as not growable here outside. May be milder winters, may be protected by grass... they were not intentionally planted there, but I'm always using old potting mix to level grass, outside beds etc. and quite often some small corm or seeds escape attention and such a way goes to garden. My wife's perennial beds are full with crocuses, corydalis and other bulbs.
On the first picture one of the best of so named "Turkish Crocus pallasii" which of course need own name from surroundings of Labranda (population almost destroyed by wild boars).
Then very tiny form of Crocus pumilus from Crete.
And last 3 pictures are from Crocus tournefortii - the first from Rhodos Island, following two are white forms from Crete, but could be wild hybrids with C. boryi.

[Janis Ruksans]

Today again was sun, although air was cool - only + 4 C and in night offered frost and snowing. But crocuses continue blooming. In this entry hybrid between boryi and tournefortii from Dirk (I don't know is this cross made by him or it comes from wild - I collected similar on Crete)
Crocus caspius now rarely blooms with white flowers, the last ones usually becomes more and more bluish. Both flowers from same stock.
This Crocus cancellatus aff. comes from Syria, 100% reproduces itself from seeds and certainly isn't cancellatus - need own name.
I don't know which one of autumn crocuses will be "champion" in competition for smallest flower. The first candidates could be Cretan pumilus and Crocus cambessedesii shown here.
Although not Crocus - but the first runner for Tulips - every year with me it starts blooming in December, but this season already in October. On picture Tulipa biflora from Kazakhstan  - semi-desert near Chinese  border.

[Janis Ruksans]

The second sunny day. Outside last night temperature dropped to minus 5 but in greenhouse minimum was only minus 0.7 C. Crocuses continue blooming and sun allows to make some pollination and pictures.
At first new species (will be published) from Israel earlier regarded as aleppicus but has several very good features to separate both.
On the second picture typical C. aleppicus from Israel.
Then Crocus cancellatus aff. 14TUS-023 from Sandras Daģi in Mugla province, along road to Denizli.
Earlier I showed C. clusii with very light flowers, in this entry deeper purple toned plant from the same population
and as last - Crocus dilekyarensis described by me from W coast of Turkey - Dilek Yar mountains.

[Janis Ruksans]

Some more pictures of last two days:
Crocus hadriaticus 18GRA-096 from mount-top over Cave of Peramo in N Greece, collected last autumn, blooming but without roots due extremely dry and hot autumn, so well rooted after planting here and grew without any problems forming good flowering size corms just after introduction.
Crocus hatayensis  was described by me. It is related to C. kotschyanus, but has different chromosome number and forms leaves already in autumn during blooming.
Crocus hellenicus from Varnakovo in Greece blooms much later than C. hellenicus from locus classicus in N Greece. I think the best form and as lowland population blooms much later than plants from type location growing in North and at higher altitudes.
Last two pictures are of Crocus hermoneus from Jordania.

[Janis Ruksans]

Here two of speciosus group crocuses which still are blooming.
Crocus polyanthus was named by Grossheim, but never published officially. In wild it is growing in Talish, Azerbaijan. Those plants were collected near Lerik. Their status must be checked by DNA. Seems that they are intermediate between typical C. speciosus from Georgia and Armenia and C. archibaldiorum from Iran.
Next is Crocus sakariensis from low altitudes in NW Turkey, known from only 2 localities,
The last 3 pictures are of Cretan Crocus pumilus. The first picture was made some 2 weeks ago and shows marvellous yellow back of flower segments, the next - the same stock yesterday in full bloom.
And last is Crocus pumilus form which I got from Antoine Hoog.

[Janis Ruksans]

Last entry for today is dedicated to Crocus robertianus. The first 3 pictures are from Northern population, plants growing at altitude 860 m
Last two - from lowland population near Varnakovo. Most interesting is tri-coloured form, not so impressive than sublimis tricolor, but good in any case.

[Janis Ruksans]

Outside temperature around zero. Snow changes to rain and back but in greenhouse  crocuses are still blooming. As flowers are closed, I'm showing pictures from last sunny days and this entry is dedicated to Crocus robertianus. There are 2 something separated areas of this species - on the first 3 pictures are last flowers from Northern area, collected by my Greek friend George at altitude 860 m, last two comes from Southern area near Varnakovo, most interesting is tricolored form - something resembling C. sublimis tricolor, although not so impressive and blooming in autumn.

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocus moabiticus usually here blooms at end of November or in December. I have two samples from Jordan and this season one already is in flowers. I collected anthers with pollens, put them in tea-bag and then in the small glass jar with silica gel to be kept into freezer. When another stock will start blooming, pollens will be used for pollination.
Another pair of pictures represents Crocus sativus - the triploid cultivated "species" used for production of saffron. On the first picture sample from Iran, on the 2nd - from Greece.
On last picture - last flowers of Crocus niveus from Peloponnesus in Greece.

[Janis Ruksans]

Some more pictures of last week, made still in October:
The first two represents Crocus hyemalis - the first from Israel, the 2nd from Jordan
Then seem to be last flower of Crocus sakariensis
followed by new Crocus species from Turkey
and as last Crocus serotinus from Cabo de Sao Vincence

[Janis Ruksans]

And as last from October -some of speciosus group
Crocus zubovii finished blooming some time ago, but suddenly came up this quite atypical flower
Crocus vallicola bloomed extremely long. On picture selection BLUSHING MARMOT (from Gothenburg BG), it starts white (you can see the last flower - still white - behind two which already "blushed")
Typical Crocus speciosus is growing in Georgia (and partly in Armenia) - on picture sample CMGG-032 from near Gremi church/monastery where it was growing inside dense shrubs
This Iranian Crocus speciosus aff.  was collected for me as single corm by Jill White in "middle of nowhere" in Iran - I long searched in vicinity and didn't found any more at this spot.
Crocus speciosus ALBA finished long ago, it is one of three "oldies" - old Van Tubergen cultivars still grown by me (others are OXONIAN  and  ARTABIR)

Next entries will be under November.

[Tomte]

Janis, thank you for showing these amazing photos. I particularly admire the BLUSHING MARMOT. Is it possible that some of their offspring made it to your customers? I think one of the corms I got from you this seasons was clearly blushing, although I'm not sure that it was quite as much as those shown above. Strangely enough, it had only 4 segments - but beautiful nevertheless.

Please let us have more of your photos 

[Janis Ruksans]

[quote
Janis, thank you for showing these amazing photos. I particularly admire the BLUSHING MARMOT. Is it possible that some of their offspring made it to your customers? I think one of the corms I got from you this seasons was clearly blushing, although I'm not sure that it was quite as much as those shown above. Strangely enough, it had only 4 segments - but beautiful nevertheless.

Please let us have more of your photos 
[/quote]

When Blushing Marmot started blooming this autumn, I was afraid that in some mysterious way were mixed labels of two different vallicola stocks as another pot two rows further bloomed with typically "blushed" flowers, but pot bringing label of BM was with white flowers. It was great mystery for me - how it was possible to mix those labels. But after few days those white flowers started to blush. Both stocks came from Artvin - only BM I got from Gothenburg BG where it was named by Henrik Zetterlund (originally came from Kletzing), but another was collected by Antoine Hoog & Erich Pasche (AHEP-8328) - both near Artvin.
Relating number of flower segments - it depends from conditions during summer - when ontogenesis of next flower happens in but of replacement corm. This summer was strange - starting very hot it changed to unusually cool in mid and again was followed by long hot wave. Many autumn crocuses blooms a little strangely and not in "normal" line - flowers has misplaced and wrong number of parts and sometimes even shape,