This year's Crocus cvijicii...

[mark smyth]

The question has to be why has s/he got away with it for so long

[Maggi Young]

Maybe I'm too patient. Do you mean the Australian orchid "seedlings"? I had to search for the Pterostylis bulb I ordered for two hours I think Oops, that seems to be complaint number four.

I think the "invisible" seedlings were  hybrid cypripediums ........ whatever, when we eventually found something that MIGHT have been a seedling, it died from fright anyway!

[Gerry Webster]

The question has to be why has s/he got away with it for so long

The answer might be: because most people are, for the most part, satisfied with what they get.

[Anthony Darby]

No sign of what I bought as cvijicii, but there is a bud showing of 'Cream of Creams', which I know to be correct.

[Jim]

Hi All,
I purchased the real plant a few years ago from Norman Stevens of Cambridge Bulbs. I bought only one and wish I had more as it doesn't seem to multiply for me although it looks great and flowers well. Unfortunately he didn't offer it last year but It has appeared on his list off and on so it might be worth checking his list this year when it comes out.
Jim

[Diane Clement]

I purchased the real plant a few years ago from Norman Stevens of Cambridge Bulbs. I bought only one and wish I had more as it doesn't seem to multiply for me although it looks great and flowers well. Unfortunately he didn't offer it last year but It has appeared on his list off and on so it might be worth checking his list this year when it comes out. Jim

Mine also came from Norman Stevens and is here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1121.195

It has only made one small offset from 3 bulbs in 3 years.  With the present weather conditions, it may be a little later flowering this year than last

[Tony Willis]

I have only seen it as individual plants in the wild and not found any with off-sets so it may be that it is not one that multiplies easily.  Cue for a picture of a clump in the wild to prove me wrong!

[Gerry Webster]

I too had it from Norman Stevens some years ago but, like so many plants, I lost it fairly quickly. In his 1995 catalogue it is described as from Jim Archibald seed & it cost £4.50 per corm - fairly pricey by Norman's standards & in fact the most expensive crocus in his list.

[Jim]

Gerry,
The price may be the reason I only purchased one. You mentioned you lost yours quickly. I keep my plant shaded in a woodland bed. It gets a little sun in the morning but thats it and stays fairly cool. C. banaticus and C. veluchensis do well here also. It always flowers nicely just doesn't increase. It looks as though seed production may be the way to go.
Jim

[Gerry Webster]

Jim - very interesting. I potted up my solitary bulb in the same 'woodsy' mix I use for C. banaticus & kept it uncovered & plunged in the same shaded conditions. C. banaticus thrived (& still does) while C. cvijicii disappeared after one flowering. Perhaps it does better planted out? I have never tried it since, partly because it is rarely offered but mainly because of the price.

[Lesley Cox]

I bought a single corm from (what was then) Potterton and Martin, back in '93 so 15 years ago. It has increased by about a dozen in that time and always flowers well but has never set any seed except when fortuitously pollinated by C. veluchensis. I probably have half a dozen now, having given away a few.

[Lesley Cox]

I meant to mention that mine have always been in 1st, a very gritty trough and 2nd, in a very gritty/gravelly raised bed.

[Maggi Young]

I was just looking at some Crocus cvijicii photos and was struck by the difference in colour there seems to be in these two shots..... different light conditions etc.........interesting because we have been considering camera reproduction of yellow/gold/orange c shaeds in another thread.... about Crocus 'Uscak Orange'
in this page...http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2860.msg68248#new


Here are the two Crocus cvijicii pix, the first from mid-February 2007 , the next from (a week later in..) 2008

[Gerry Webster]

Very impressive Maggi. I guess Aberdeen must be more like northern Greece than Brighton is. Then there is the little matter of cultivation skills......

[Maggi Young]

Very impressive Maggi. I guess Aberdeen must be more like northern Greece than Brighton is. Then there is the little matter of cultivation skills......

Mmmm...

Aberdeen  more like northern Greece than Brighton

?..... well, I havent spent any time in Northern Greece,  so it's hard to tell......but if you're offering a ticket? 

Then there is the little matter of cultivation skills......

..... and that is nothing to do with me, of course... these beauties are the province of the BD, or  beloved Despot