Janis' Crocus news- home and away- June 2013

[Maggi Young]

In the latest AGS journal, Janis publishes the names of seven new crocus.
Here the AGS shows the full paper from Janis.
A large group of Forumists  : Ibrahim Sözen, David Stephens, Johan Nilson, Henrik Zetterlund, Christopher Greenwell and Simon Silcock, Dimitry Zubov and  Zhirair Basmajyan are among those thanked by Janis in the  published by the AGS paper


We are fortunate here to have Janis Rucksans share with us his thoughts
on many plants as well as  great tales and photos of his many travels to research
crocus in the wild. This means we are able to see and discuss
many "new" species as they are found and learn a great deal about their individual features.
For instance, Janis first showed us the plant now named as C. macedonicus
in the forum as C. pallasii:
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9820.msg261807#msg261807   

SRGC member Ibrahim Sözen, who often accompanies Janis in the field,has a terrific website with details of all these new crocus, plus a wide range of super photos of them - photos from Ibrahim himself, Janis and Kees Jan van Zwienen - I commend it  to you '
http://crocusmania.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Crocus

[Janis Ruksans]

Thank you, Maggi, for nice words. I will try to comment at end of my report. Here is horribly hot, today we had hottest day of year and in greenhouse temperature reached +39 C. I all the day harvested fritillarias, hope to finish tomorrow, but I tired horribly, so today anly short "story"+ few pictures.

Still we have three days. As we found everything and even more than hoped, we don’t need more to go to Vevčani Lake. We decide the first of them to use for Crocus cvijicii locality visited by Henrik in 1985. It is not far from Struga - via Ohrid city to very South of Macedonia in Galičica National Park to tops at Magara mountain just at border with Albania.
Road nicely guides us by side of Ohrid lake. Landscapes are very beautiful but weather is very hot. I hate Coca, Pepsi and similar drinks, but I become sleepy, so I’m forced to buy first bottle of Coca in may be last ten years. It is cold from roadside shop’s freezer and gives some refreshing. Then road turns to left up to mountain ridge by long serpentine. Something before pass we made short stop where Henrik and Kurt want to check and picture alpines, I’m joking that mountains without crocuses are useless. Henrik replies - you came here to find them. Really place looks as quite typical crocus habitat. And some fifty meters higher I stop with open mouth - collecting some seedpods of Muscari neglectum, I spot Crocus sp. leaves and half-open ripe seedpods between them. Checking corm it turns belonging to annulate crocuses. Old tunic is exceptionally hard. May be they are the hardiest of tunics seen by me. Most likely it is some member of Crocus chrysanthus family. Of course I collect few corms for myself and for Erich Pasche + some seedpods. On pictures - corms, leaves, habitat and lanscape of this spot.
Next stop we are making in some distance from pass where road starts its way down through wide meadows on gentle slopes both sides of road. At parking spot where is map of foot-passes we stop our car and start ascent to Magara peak. Henrik think that it is just the point visited by him almost 30 years ago. Then he collected there some crocus corms out of flowers which in Gothenburg  turned C. cvijicii, but of unusual creamy, pale yellow or even white flower colour. Now we hope to find them in flowers.

[krisderaeymaeker]

Thanks for your reports Janis . We are back from FYR of Macedonie since yesterday evening. Yesterday it was 36 degrees in Ohrid  ..........We had temperatures above 30 degrees al days of  the week .We have been there from 16 until the 23 th of  june .
The snow was melting very quick now. We did see Crocus veluchensis , scardicus en cvijicii in ful flower .
We are very close to jablanicensis to, but we failed .......It was to late in the afternoon and the temperatures are to hot for long walkings ....As I told , it was 36 degrees !!!.....

For me exceptionaly interesting to hear your story Janis ........

I hope you don't mind that I add some pictures from our trip .My favorite ..........Crocus scardicus , sometimes in company with veluchensis .

[Gerry Webster]

........ He found Fritillaria macedonica and not a single one but many and between them the gem of day - pink flowering specimen. After picturing I turn to some flat grassland a little lower and it turns almost covered by F. mecedonica - mostly they finished bloomintg, there are many non-flowwering specimens, but some still are blooming - you can see how abundant it is here by density of leaves.............

    01 Fritillaria macedonica -2
    02 Fritillaria macedonica -1
    03 Fritillaria macedonica -3
    04 Fritillaria macedonica -4
    05 Albanian border trespasser

Interesting to see F. macedonica in the wild. I had a bulb many years ago (from Czechoslovakia if  I remember)  but lost it before it flowered. A fairly common experience with me, alas.

[Janis Ruksans]

Our walking starts on quite good driveable road which pass through forests and small meadows. On left side we pass abandoned ambulance of Red Cross. Windows are closed and roof damaged. Driveable road ends near weather-station and follows quite steep ascending through beach forest. At some spots it is really very steep. Where forest ends I spot first crocus leaves. It looks as Crocus cvijicii (by leaves). Now pass is very steep but some snow blotch is visible in distance. And, yes, there it is - the first flower of Crocus cvijicii. Of quite unusual pale yellow colour. Higher are some more flowers and population looks extremely variable - flower colour from pure white to light yellow in all possible shades but no one is of this usually in gardens observed bright yellow colour so well known from Greek populations. It was Alan Edwards, who in AGS Bulletin many years ago (vol. 66 no. 3) wrote how they many hours walked through meadows covered by bright yellow C. cvijicii searching for some albino and found only 3 specimens. Here mostly are whites and pale yellows. Blooming population is small - only around snow-blotch, so I can judge only by plants seen. Higher in mountains even at snow we didn’t find any flowering specimen, only leaves in abundance. Stigma colour and its position is variable - from white to creamy and yellow, and position relating to anthers vary, too. There specimens where stigma ends at tip of anthers and specimens where it overtop anthers. I don’t know how those to separate from C. jablanicensis. Only corm tunics looks slightly different, but not easy to decide. If there wouldn’t be research on DNA level confirming different status for C. jablanicensis, I would regard it only as albino of cvijicii. Now I will compare them in cultivation. Oh this variability of crocuses…  On following entries pictures from road to Magaro peak.

[Janis Ruksans]

Some more pictures of Crocus cvijicii from Magaro mountain, at first different albino forms.

[Janis Ruksans]

At this moment I got everything planed for this trip but we still have two days ahead. Distances in Macedonia are very short and during our trip we only twice refuelled our car. Next day we decide to go check habitat of Tulipa scardica. There are two gatherings of this species from Macedonia in Gothenburg’s Botanical garden. Next day will be longest driving - to east up to Konecka Planina and after that back to Skopje near which is second locality of this tulip and I offer for the last day revisiting of Shar Planina, weather much improved, even becomes too hot, so flowers of Crocus scardicus must be opened, and some better pictures can be maid.
In nice canyon after Prilep Kurt notes Lilium candidum blooming on roadside but canyon there is very narrow and I must to drive some distance before find good place for parking and it turns that just there is plenty of Lilium candidum growing just on very old road (from period when asphalt was not used for road covering). Lilium candidum is long-time dream plant of my wife. Before 2nd World War it was widely distributed in Latvian gardens and had nickname - church lily. People often asked about it’s availability when visited her nursery. Now I can collect few for her. Most of flowers are gone, but deeper in shade we found one perfectly looking plant waiting for attention of our cameras. Bulbs lay very shallow - almost at top of soil, but they didn’t look perfect - seems that they has some fusarium like damage. So I’m taking away few layers of outer scales and in home we treat bulbs with fungicides.
On first entry still few pictures from Magaro - Crocus cvijicii & Scilla bifolia, Doronicum blooming in shade of Fagus forest side and then Lilium candidum - locality, flower and best plant seen.

[Janis Ruksans]

Tulipa scardica earlier was collected under dwarf oaks shortly before pass over Konečka planina. By road to pass we maid two stops but found nothing. It is very hot and really very late for tulip at comparatively low altitudes. At first moment I misidentified as tulip some specimen of Muscari comosum with aborted flower spike, but seeing in short distance another specimen with few remnants of flowers I understood my mistake. But something I collected there - it was few plants of Paeonia peregrina for my stepdaughter’s Paeonia collection, so present for her is found.
On way to Skopje we are visiting ruins of ancient city Stobi. It is quite large with several nice objects, so worth to visit. Here I’m attaching few pictures from there.
After that we drive straight to Skopje and around it to Dervenska Kluišura - another locality where Tulipa scardica was seen by Henrik almost 30 years ago. Road there is good but very narrow with small islands where to change with front coming car. Henrik well remember where was tulip locality and really he and Kurt found it (I was staying in car) but only as wind broken stems even without seeds in long ago open seed pods and far from point where they grew up. Yes it is far too late. So we return back to our hotel, take shower and went to very good restaurant for excellent meal. We are using same hotel, only other apartments - with two bedrooms, two toilets, bathroom, large party-room and kitchen and it cost is only 40,- Euro per night - so only 13+ Euro per person. Very cheap.

[Janis Ruksans]

The last day we return to our first day’s locality - Shar Planina. I select another road and drive up much higher than at first visit there - up to point where really it becomes dangerous to drive further. Of course Ibrahim would be driving further, too, but it isn’t for me. My both passengers long ago even stopped to pray, I think they closed their eyes…  All spots where we saw crocuses only a weak ago now are without flowers. So for making of some pictures we are walking much higher. Some we really found and pictures looks quite good but I didn’t find any spot with many flowers to make some good locality picture (such was found by Henrik who went farther than I and Kurt). But pictures attached here show some variability of Crocus scardicus. Few good flowers of Crocus veluchensis were found, too. I pictured a pair of “weeds” - Anemone vitifolia and Draba. On more distant snow tongue we spotted a pair of wild goats, rare and not often seen in wild. Due resizing of picture you can see them only as small dark spots on snow.
We use the same restaurant in mountains as on the first day. Meal is so good, that we don’t need dinner. We are passing evening in our hotel at bottle of wine and ordering our papers and baggage. We must awake very early - at three o’clock in night to get airport at four. Then flight to Beograd, some hours in airport and then to Stockholm. From there Henrik is going to Gothenburg but I and Kurt are flying to Riga - Kurt will visit me and my nursery. In Latvia is same hot as in Macedonia and only some American bulbs are still blooming. The last pictures on three entries.

[Janis Ruksans]

Some more

[Janis Ruksans]

Crocuses and others

[Janis Ruksans]

The last pictures

 Anemone narcissiflora
   

Dryas



  Bye-bye Shar Planina
 

[Janis Ruksans]

Yesterday almost finished harvesting of bulbs. It means large stocks for catalogue. Some plants disappointed me - especially few stocks of Corydalis were completely eaten by rodents, same fate had some Erythronium - fortunately only one from listed in catalogue, many tulips and a lot of outside grown crocuses were eaten completely.

Now I started repotting crocus collection. Yesterday finished with pallasii and cancellatus group + some pots with species from Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. Most grew excellently only ochroleucus was poor. I hope to start despatching of orders next week.

Started blooming of Colchicum parnassicum repotted two weeks ago and Colchicum kotschyi blooms now in boxes. Those two impossible to despatch without flowers, may be it is reason why those beauties are so rarely offered by nurseries. Now you can watch my nursery from top - friends of my son in law bring here haxacopter who recorded from top my house, bee garden, buckweet field (for bees) and spots in garden covered by black plastic film for new plantings, although we more and more tend to replace growing to conteiners for protection against rodents.

To see my nursery from top You can follow this link:

[Lvandelft]

 Anemone vitifolia
 

Searching for some Anemone on the net I found myself back on these SRGC Forum pages with a wrong named picture.
I'm sure it is not A. vitifolia but probably A. narcissiflora. Tell me if I am wrong 
Obviously only croconuts look here and they are not to blame not seeing this little "slip of the pen"?

[Janis Ruksans]

Searching for some Anemone on the net I found myself back on these SRGC Forum pages with a wrong named picture.
I'm sure it is not A. vitifolia but probably A. narcissiflora. Tell me if I am wrong 
Obviously only croconuts look here and they are not to blame not seeing this little "slip of the pen"?

Of course, you are right. I don't understand how this mistake happens. I well know that it is A. narcissiflora. May be I was too tired...