Crocus September 2017

[Maggi Young]

Hagen Engelman showed this lovely pale  lilac colour variant of Crocus banaticus on Facebook :
Crocus banaticus 'SILBERLING'



 edit to add another photo  from Hagen

[Janis Ruksans]

Similarly here Janis, where our native black bees are more feisty but better adapted to the climate.  Usually I can work them without gloves but rarely without a suit - except when approaching a swarm    

Crocus banaticus

I'm never using gloves, nor working with plants, nor with bees. Facemask - yes, but in most cases with open net, sometimes I use complete suit, but mostly only facemask. Maximum pricks what I got in one occasion was slightly less than 200 (yes, 2 hundreds), but it was in youth (I think in 1967). Had no problems. Was approaching thunderstorm, my face mask's net was with holes, fume stopped work; all pricks were between shoes and pants, in palms and in neck. Bee family had problems and became very aggressive.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wonderful Crocusses people !

They are waking up here also :

Crocus xantholaimos (speciosus) popped up through the Gypsophila repens I planted it under, to give it some support.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Crocus hadriaticus ssp. parnassicus from seed ex Marcus Harvey



Crocus karduchorum from Bitlis, Turkey

[Yann]

whouah all those colors, they're joy of autumn! Crocus karduchorum is 

[sokol]

Afraid that it is some seedling of commercial cultivars of "C. speciosus". Crocus zubovii in type forms must to have striped cataphylls, although not always. I haven't picture of zubovii cataphylls, but they are similar to those of hellenicus (attached here) although in zubovii stripes are not so impressive. Unfortunately not always cataphylls are striped. C. zubovii never was offered commercially and up to now is grown only in few collections of travellers who visited its locality and collected there few corms.

I have looked at the cataphylls this morning and one of the two pots has plants with stripes.

[sokol]

Let's stay at this difficult group. A friend of mine has sent me pictures of two Crocusses today, that he had collected at Kefalonia this year, probably at Enos. I am not sure whether this is Crocus hellenicus or not.

[Janis Ruksans]

Let's stay at this difficult group. A friend of mine has sent me pictures of two Crocuses today, that he had collected at Kefalonia this year, probably at Enos. I am not sure whether this is Crocus hellenicus or not.

If it belongs to "speciosus" group it is new locality for Greece. On attached map by red dot is marked locus classicus, by brown - another locality from where I have plants but didn't see them in wild, although were there at least 3-4 times, my plants came from Gothenburg BG and from UK,
Yellow mark shows the third locality from where it is recorded, but where I didn't found it and didn't see any plant from there, only C. mazziaricus.
Green mark used for probably locality on Kefalonia.

[pehe]

Variations in Crocus nudiflorus:

Blue with yellow stigma
Blue with white stigma, a seedling from the above
White with yellow stigma

Has anyone seen a white with white stigma?

Poul

[sokol]

Nice variations of Crocus longiflorus Poul. I prefer the one with the white stigma.

[sokol]

If it belongs to "speciosus" group it is new locality for Greece. On attached map by red dot is marked locus classicus, by brown - another locality from where I have plants but didn't see them in wild, although were there at least 3-4 times, my plants came from Gothenburg BG and from UK,
Yellow mark shows the third locality from where it is recorded, but where I didn't found it and didn't see any plant from there, only C. mazziaricus.
Green mark used for probably locality on Kefalonia.

Thanks Janis

[sokol]

Some more Crocus from yesterday.

Crocus dispataceus


Crocus pallasii ex Chios


2x Crocus pallasii ex Samos



Crocus turcicus ex Osmaniye

[sokol]

Next pictures are from Crocus puringii and a comparison with my big flowered Crocus speciosus that flowers everywhere in the garden.

[Janis Ruksans]

Thanks Janis

When those pictures are maid? I suppose that not this autumn ?

[sokol]

And here are the last ones.

Crocus banaticus Albus


Crocus caspius


Crocus kotschyanus


Crocus asumaniae


Crocus zubovii and Crocus speciosus with big flowers