Crocus January - 2009

[Gerry Webster]

Thanks Mark.  Since I can't get decent photos of pure white Narcissus cantabricus I'll try playing around. By the way, your crocus pic with the altered levels looks the most lifelike. 

[mark smyth]

Gerry, very pale grey card should do the job. You can buy 18% grey card from a craft shop. I just Googled grey card and found many expensive sources c£18 a sheet. 

[David Shaw]

At last the sun stayed out long enough to open up the crocus. Here is
Crocus sierberi nivalis - from seed in 2002 and this is its second flowering
Crocus korolkowii - with a darker throat than the one on Crocus Pages
Crocus imperati De Jagers - I prefer to see this one when it is not fully open and I can see the feathering on the outside of the petals. Does anyone know who de Jagers was?

[Lvandelft]

Does anyone know who de Jagers was?

P. de Jager & Sons

[David Shaw]

So, Luit, does this mean that De Jager (sorry no 's') is a man made hybrid? Nothing wrong with that, I am just interested.

[Jim McKenney]

The posting of pictures of Crocus imperati 'de Jager' gives me a chance to get some long accumulated questions about Crocus imperati off my chest.

Is Crocus imperati 'de Jager' the same plant described by Bowles as var. monophyllus? I’ve always assumed so, but I’ve never seen it in writing so-to-speak.

And is Crocus imperati fragrant? Synge described the fragrance of Crocus imperati (he treated C. imperati and C. suaveolens as distinct species) as acrid. On the other hand,  its name suggests that Crocus suaveolens should be sweetly fragrant.

Crocus imperati 'de Jager' is sweetly fragrant, another reason to ascribe it to (the now subspecies) suaveolens.

But is the fragrance of typical Crocus imperati (Crocus imperati subsp.  imperati) acrid? Is this purported difference in fragrance useful in distinguishing the subspecies imperati and suaveolens? 

[Lvandelft]

So, Luit, does this mean that De Jager (sorry no 's') is a man made hybrid? Nothing wrong with that, I am just interested.

Yes David, I think so.
Here is an overview of other Crocus they did register:

         Genus   Cultivar      Registrant           Date Registration

         Crocus   'Blue Princess'       P. de Jager & Sons   31-12-1973
         Crocus   'Dandy'                P. de Jager   31-12-1960   
         Crocus   'De Jager'             P. de Jager & Sons
         Crocus   'Frost Bound'       P. de Jager & Sons   31-12-1973   
         Crocus   'Magic'               P. de Jager & Sons   31-12-1973   
         Crocus   'Mystic'                P. de Jager   31-12-1973   
         Crocus   'Plaisir'                P. de Jager   31-12-1973   
         Crocus   'Romance'         P. de Jager & Sons   31-12-1973   
         Crocus   'Ruby Gown'      P. de Jager & Sons   31-12-1973

I think most of them are no longer in culture.

[Lesley Cox]

I may be wrong but I think C. imperati 'de Jager' is a selection rather than a hybrid. Are the other names on your list Luit, hybs of C. chrysanthus?

[Jim McKenney]

I may be wrong but I think C. imperati 'de Jager' is a selection rather than a hybrid.

Isn't it an infraspecific hybrid (i.e. Crocus i. imperati x C. imperati suaveolens)? In other words, if not clonally identical to Bowles' monophyllus, perhaps of the same purported origin.

[Lvandelft]

I may be wrong but I think C. imperati 'de Jager' is a selection rather than a hybrid. Are the other names on your list Luit, hybs of C. chrysanthus?

Lesley,
Yes!
Yes!

Isn't it an infraspecific hybrid (i.e. Crocus i. imperati x C. imperati suaveolens)? In other words, if not clonally identical to Bowles' monophyllus, perhaps of the same purported origin.

Jim,
Registrated as:
Species  imperati ssp imperati

with subspecies etc.

[BULBISSIME]

Crocus baytopiorum ( From janis ) is flowering and increasing,




as well as Crocus versicolor, from south of France :

[Tony Willis]

Its been a lovely warm sunny day which brought out the crocus

Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor/ chrsanthus natural hybrid
Crocus biflorus ssp alexandri
Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor white inside of flower
Crocus chrysanthus
Crocus cyprius
Crocus oliveri
Crocus sieberi, this one was growing in an area which had been devasted by fire over several square miles  the year before.

[Jim McKenney]

Wow, Fred, that's a stunning photo of Crocus baytopiorum!

[tonyg]

Its been a lovely warm sunny day which brought out the crocus

You lucky blighter - rain ALL day here.  Serves me right for a recent post when I told the world we get more sun here than you do 
I do have some crocus to show if the sun and I can arrange to be here at the same time this week.

[Tony Willis]

Its been a lovely warm sunny day which brought out the crocus

You lucky blighter - rain ALL day here.  Serves me right for a recent post when I told the world we get more sun here than you do 
I do have some crocus to show if the sun and I can arrange to be here at the same time this week.

And I understand the same tomorrow,do not be jealous that's probably it for months and I do have to row to the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden after the rain of the last few days