Crocuses in December - 2008

[mark smyth]

This reminds me of my first Crocus korolkowii that came from a Dutch supplier a few years ago. The corms were huge, flowered badly, broke down to small corms and have never flowered again.

[Boyed]

Mark,

This case is very familiar to me. It is a commercial trick. Most of the Dutch bulbs are applied with growth retardants. This is especially done for commercial purposes. The bulbs retain their commercial appearance for a longer period and can be kept longer in shop shelves, as they sprout later. They also bloom around 10-12 days later than ordinary bulbs. Besides, big bulbs often split into smaller ones and additional 2 years are necessary to grow them to the blooming size. So people buy again and again and sellers have a good profit out of it.

In USA there is a ridiculous term circling around bulb growers - perennial tulips. This tulips are supposed to come back readily and bloom successfully from year to year. But it is nonsense. Every tulip is a good perennial bloomer if taken a good care. People just don't know that the bulbs are applied with different chemicals. So it's a good trick to make a good profit.

[Armin]

...The last my mistake was done in autumn 2007 when I felt under temptation to buy 100 corms of Crocus kotschyanus Albus. Got huge corms but only 1 bloomed in first autumn as C. speciosus. This autumn most gave those famous malformed 3-4 petalled blue flowers. Under this beautiful name appeared this famous Dutch grown kotschyanus stock which makes huge corms but never blooms - virus or genetic problem. All were dug out and went to fireplace. NO ONE DUTCH BULB IN MY GARDEN MORE!!! Sorry.
Janis

Janis,
I'm too a victim of this famous Dutch grown kotschyanus stock.
That makes a bad reputation...

[Lesley Cox]

All this information above is very interesting and important, lessons to be learned by us all.

It is true that the rogue sellers probably make huge profits at our expense but eventually we all get the message and refuse to buy any more so they do themselves damage. But I suppose the new buyers coming along fill any gaps that the several-times-bitten buyers leave in their margins. Such sellers are dishonest and hateful. I've sometimes wondered what was wrong with my crocus corms from the garden as they're always about a third the size of newly purchased (imported) corms. But mine flower freely every year while the big ones turn out to be rubbish.

[Gerry Webster]

All this makes depressing reading but also makes me think I have been fortunate. During the last 3 years I've replaced a number of plants lost during a period of illness. Many of these have been Dutch imports. As far as I can tell none of the crocus has been virused. One was wrongly named & two large (& expensive) corms rotted immediately after flowering - something I have never experienced before. Dwarf Narcissus are a different matter along with Garden Centre Sternbergia lutea. A number of these  have been very obviously virused.

[Boyed]

Lesley,

It's true, such sellers make a bad reputation. But from the other point of vew, many buyers, especially young gardeners or those who are not very deep in horticulture, when having bad experience with low quality bulbs, think it's their fault and they did something wrong.

[Janis Ruksans]

This reminds me of my first Crocus korolkowii that came from a Dutch supplier a few years ago. The corms were huge, flowered badly, broke down to small corms and have never flowered again.

In early eighties of last century I visited for the first time Holland and illegally (at that time of course) brought with me several cultivars of Crocus korolkowii raised by me. I gave them to a grower for checking and possible registering. To home I brought several of his chrysanthus/biflorus hybrids (then still unnamed) and for comparing Dutch grown C. korolkowii. It turned very week grower and flowered poorly, it was sterile and didn't give seeds, so after 2 years I destroyed stock. I  got letter that my varieties are "nothing special" and not worth to grow. At start of Millennium I bought from him again few C. korolkowii as I wanted to compare flowers of Dutch and my stocks. I was very surprised when at spring it turned identical with my variety 'Dark Throat'. In ninety's I gave few corms of my crocus cultivars to Jan Pennings (Holland) and some of them now are grown in large quantities as "very special", between them C. korolkowii 'Lucky Number', too. Cv. of C. korolkowii 'Varzob' I think got some award from AGS.
Janis

[Maggi Young]

Crocus korolkowii 'Varzob', shown by Alan M. Edwards, from corms via Janis, was awarded a certificate of Preliminary Commendation by the RHS Rock Garden Plant Committee on 18th February 1997 at Vincent Square, London . See page 413, AGS Bulletin Volume 65 No. 4, December 1997.

[Jim McKenney]

The last my mistake was done in autumn 2007 when I felt under temptation to buy 100 corms of Crocus kotschyanus Albus. Got huge corms but only 1 bloomed in first autumn as C. speciosus. This autumn most gave those famous malformed 3-4 petalled blue flowers. Under this beautiful name appeared this famous Dutch grown kotschyanus stock which makes huge corms but never blooms - virus or genetic problem. All were dug out and went to fireplace. Janis
[/quote]

I would be ashamed to tell you how many times I have fallen for this one, too. In fact, I have never seen live Crocus kotschyanus 'Albus' and often wonder if there really is such a thing. This year I noticed that the bags on sale in local shops under this name contained annulate corms - that made me wonder if perhaps Crocus speciosus in a white-flowered form might have been substituted. But I kept my money and let them keep their crocuses.

Janis, when those crocus corms went to the fireplace, did you eat them after roasting them? Maybe that clone was bred to be a vegetable and not for flowering. Aren't some crocuses said to taste like chestnuts? 

[HClase]

Janis, when those crocus corms went to the fireplace, did you eat them after roasting them? Maybe that clone was bred to be a vegetable and not for flowering

We went through a similar experience with "C. kotchyanus" many years ago - and we did try roasting and eating some of them, but they didn't taste of , not like chestnuts.   Somewhere in one of my books it says that Greek shepherds roast and eat C. cancellatus corms like chestnuts - but if you read it carefully it says nothing about tasting like chestnuts!

I did have a very late C goulimyi try to flower in December, but the weather defeated it - not that cold, but vast amounts of rain.  What worries me is that a lot of the spring bulbs in my frame and even outside are showing leaves much earlier than usual - maybe because of the mild fall here.  Crocus abantensis, corsicus and baytopiorum in the frame and one of Janis' Tulips - T. humilis - all have tufts of leaves already.

[Gerry Webster]

Crocus laevigatus 'Fontenayi'

The last of the autumn crocus here.

[Maggi Young]

Perfect, Gerry, rich colour and great markings 

[art600]

Gerry

Another beautiful Crocus well taken.

[Gerry Webster]

Maggi & Art - Thanks for your kind comments. I hope I can improve my photography in the New Year.

[art600]

Gerry

Just to show how good your photos are, I am posting some shots of crocus michelsonii taken in the bulb house in not very good light conditions.  First time of flowering and very early.