Crocus November 2016

[ruben]

Welcome to the forum Ray!
Hope to see post/pictures of the crocusses you grow 

3x laevigatus

Crocus laevigatus dark form
Crocus laevigatus yellow back
Crocus laevigatus pumilus

[YT]

Nice laevigatus trio, Ruben
Is "yellow back" an albino form? I cannot see any anthocyanin pigment on the plants.

[YT]

Crocus laevigatus, JJA 347.402

[Janis Ruksans]

The work on my new books layout is almost finished. I just counted - the 235 species are included (one new described in the book) and they are illustrated with 1693 colour pictures and 232 distribution maps.

Still left to select pictures for the first part - general information - and to make page layouts for general part, keys and appendixes.

Almost every one to whom I turned asking for permitting to use their pictures or to supply me with some, replied with - yes (with only one exception) so almost all species are well illustrated. Only those species which I never saw in nature and never grew by myself or which was not even seen by my friends, left without pictures. Such are not many.

I just made agreement with printing house that they will start to work with printing 2nd of January, 2017. I decided to start this a little later to avoid pre-Christmas chaos when every printing house is extremely occupied with New Year's calendars, greeting cards etc. The January is the most quiet month, so all attention will go to my book.

I apologise to those who hoped to receive it as Christmas gift, sorry. But I preferred top quality without rush. So I hope to post book at end of January.

[Janis Ruksans]

(Attachment Link)

 Is this the one you mean, Ray?

I just returned from Crete where I searched for two things - C. cartwrightianus var. creticus and looked for habitat picture of C. oreocreticus for my book. On Crete still was summer - they day temperatures reached +28 C and didn't fall below +20. So it was far too early for those two crocuses, although I checked all localities known to me.
But our small group used occasion to swim in sea every day. Unnecessarily to tell - that I and my 2 friends were single one on beeches in so "cold" weather, so we enjoyed occasion to swim without dress.
From crocuses we found two (3?) species - everywhere C. pumilus. Measured plants in some 10 populations and even largest of them were below measurements of pumilus in cultivation, and only slightly over half-size of C. laevigatus.
Started blooming C. tournefortii and some looked as C. boryi, few resembled hybrids between both.
On Pellopones was cooler, but we used occasion to swim twice. Flowers of goulimyi was almost gone, the same with niveus, but we saw a lot of boryi and many melantherus. We didn't look for mazziaricus this case.

[kris]

I have a question for Tatsuo.
How do you grow these bulb plants beautifully? what is the composition of the soil in the pot? 

[YT]

Hello Kris
Thank you for asking and I'm hoping you find something from a quote below

I grow my plants on outside bench without any protections as I said before.
The average air humidity during winter here is 50 - 60%, but it can usually be dropped down to less than 20% during windy and sunny daytime. From November to March, we have more than 20 sunny days per month...
The major contents of pot soil are AKADAMA, KANUMA and PUMICE. This is very basic and popular soil formula for alpine plants in Japan. I add crushed dolomite and charcoal to the mixture a little. The soil pH is 6.0 - 6.5.

[Matt T]

The work on my new books layout is almost finished. I just counted - the 235 species are included (one new described in the book) and they are illustrated with 1693 colour pictures and 232 distribution maps.

Still left to select pictures for the first part - general information - and to make page layouts for general part, keys and appendixes.

Almost every one to whom I turned asking for permitting to use their pictures or to supply me with some, replied with - yes (with only one exception) so almost all species are well illustrated. Only those species which I never saw in nature and never grew by myself or which was not even seen by my friends, left without pictures. Such are not many.

I just made agreement with printing house that they will start to work with printing 2nd of January, 2017. I decided to start this a little later to avoid pre-Christmas chaos when every printing house is extremely occupied with New Year's calendars, greeting cards etc. The January is the most quiet month, so all attention will go to my book.

I apologise to those who hoped to receive it as Christmas gift, sorry. But I preferred top quality without rush. So I hope to post book at end of January.

Fantastic new, Janis. This is some amount of work you've undertaken and we look forward to seeing the results whenever it is ready. Congratulations.

[Yann]

some sunshine during this gloomy day: Crocus hyemalis

[Luc Gilgemyn]

some sunshine during this gloomy day: Crocus hyemalis

Very nice, Yann !

[ruben]

Well done Janis! Really looking forward to receive the book. But can really follow you 200% if you said you choice quality before a rush!

Some of the last 'autumn'flowering crocus

Crocus biflorus ssp. melantherus
Crocus wattiorum - i'm not succesfull to get 5 different clones in to flower in cold frame but one i neglected at all in flowering now. In summer it very dry and extreme hot on that place under a Buxus hedge. Even weed don't grow there!
Crocus laevigatus

[Janis Ruksans]

TODAY LAST PAGES AND PICTURES WENT TO BOOK'S DESIGNER!
Still left rereading of proofs what for almost 600 pages is not easy task.

But using some sunny hours I went to greenhouse to check my new macro-lens. During Iranian trip this spring my macro lens (f-50) suddenly stopped to work. As there were some symptoms before I had with me another macro lens with F-100, but is heavy, less sharp and not so good in colours, but at least I had something.
After returning to home I found that such lenses are not more produced and it is problematic to find spare parts, too. An then my children presented to me as present for my 70th Anniversary a new macro lens EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. I got it only a pair of weeks ago and checked only recently. WOW! What a colours! Sharpness, easy to work - fantastic lens for my old Canon EOS 60D!

The first was spring blooming C. hittiticus! In last years I more and more tend to replace it from spring blooming crocus chapter to late autumn bloomers. I even included it in my coming book's crocus identification key between autumn bloomers, too.

Others are more traditional autumn bloomers - Crocus laevigatus and C. melantherus.

Janis

[Ray Cobb]

(Attachment Link)

 Is this the one you mean, Ray?

. Yes thank yo