Crocus February- 2017

[fermi de Sousa]

The last pictures from today
.....

Hi Janis,
while you are delighting us with these pics - we can wait for your book
cheers
fermi

[Janis Ruksans]

Today is cool, cloudy. In greenhouse (with all doors and windows closed) temperature is only + 4 C (outside just zero). All flowers are closed, but I maid few pictures to show variability of Crocus fauseri.

[Janis Ruksans]

Two other pictures - now true Crocus crewei from TULA trip
The first - Hot Chocolate (named by Ibrahim Sozen)
The second - more typical C. crewei.

[Maggi Young]

Re Crocus fauseri : And what a delightful variation there is in this fine crocus, named for the wonderful Otto Fauser, another wonderful friend of this forum. 

[sokol]

It shows perfectly how interesting the outer sides of some Crocuses are.

Here finally sun and warm temperatures and the Crocuses have opened their flowers.

    Crocus alatavicus 20170216
    Crocus laevigatus ex Eretria 20170215
    Crocus laevigatus ex Evia 20170215
    Crocus nubigena 20170216

[Rimmer de Vries]

Warm weather this weekend and already the crocus are opening.

[tonyg]

A question I have been asked: 
Dr John Marr discovered Crocus robertianus in Greece and named it after his son who had died in a tragic accident. Dr Marr made several trips collecting Crocus around Europe and into Turkey, I believe he was the first person to bring a pure white C. banaticus back to this country. He had taken brother and sister Peter and Marion Cox with him andthe Crocus should have a PAC number, as Peter Cox actually found the first one. (We have overheard this collection being attributed to Paul Christian at an AGS show).

My question is do you know of any cultivar crocus named after John Marr ? My reason for asking is that I have raised
a very nice hybrid that I wish to name after him but I cannot duplicate a name, obviously. I want to present him with it as it his 90th Birthday in a few months. It is C. tomm. x C. vernus, not that you would immediately think so.

Feel free to help - I do not have a useful answer to give but with your help ....

[Yann]

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/85734/Crocus-banaticus-John-Marr/Details

[tonyg]

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/85734/Crocus-banaticus-John-Marr/Details

Thank You :-)

[Janis Ruksans]

Weather still is cool and no sun during most of day, only in evening for short moment it shined but it was too late to open flowers. So again only buds, but sometimes they are very nice, too.
At first surprises - the third autumn blooming species raising flowers in spring - Crocus cambessedesii.
Another surprise - in pot with C. mazziaricus from Athos peninsula suddenly opened one plant of C. athous. By corm they are practically indistinguishable.
Pleasant surprise - bloomed one crocus from those collected last year in Iran - seem to be new species.
Then 2 other iranians
Crocus reinhardii and
Crocus iranicus

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry some superb Crocus gembosii clones - possibly wild hybrids with C. mawii
and as last - some seedlings of C. gembosii (?) 'Sunspot' - those with pure yellow outside in bnackground are from the same seedpod.

[Janis Ruksans]

The last two pictures today is one unidentified sample collected by Archibald, looks quite similar to C. mawii
Another is not crocus, but blooming in same time - Iris hyrcana from Talish in former soviet Azerbaijan (originally collected in 1983 by me, Arnis and Zobova. It is the single reticulata blooming so early.

Seem that night will be cold as sky clears, but may be tomorrow will be sunshine. Today watered all pots for the first time this season.

[Cfred72]

Today, in the glasshouse, the first flower of Crocus reticulatus X angustifolius

[Yann]

Crocus kosaninii, from Janis (gembosii is  )

[WimB]

A duet in yellow:

Crocus 'Midas Touch'
and Crocus 'Sunspot'