Crocus November 2011

[hadacekf]

In my garden only the autumn crocus are in flower.

Crocus pulchellus
Crocus-tournefortii
Crocus goulimyi
Crocus longiflorus

[Kees Jan]

Hello everyone, just back from a second trip to SE Turkey this autumn . Here is something that few people seem to have photographed in nature, since I have not seen any pics of this plant in the wild in books or on the internet. This is Crocus kotschyanus ssp. hakkariensis. This is named after Hakkari Province in SE Turkey, which borders Iraq and Iran. It is quite variable in the wild and according to Janis recent book it seems to be very rare in cultivation. This area of Turkey has great mountains and flowers, but understandably not many people go there since is not quite stable/ not entirely safe. I'm glad I'm safely back, suffice it to say thay not all people in the SE seem to be used to see plant enthusiasts lying on the ground in the mountains taking pictures of rare plants. Such behaviour is apparently regarded as rather suspicious by some people, perhaps quite understandably.

All pictures from an earlier trip to SE Turkey (September 2011) are indexed and published on my website at http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/Asia/Eastern-Turkey-September-2011/

[Maggi Young]

Our friends in the Dutch RGC, the NRV, are holding a "Turkish Day" on the 19th November by Utrecht... Ger van den Beuken and Rinus Bode on NE-Turkey and  Kees Jan van Zwienen on autumn flowering bulbs from Turkey.
I think this will be an interesting day.... the IRG articles on Turkey are very popular and this day will "hit the spot", I think!
The event will be held at the Community Centre:
                           Wijkgebouw "De Schakel"
                           Soestdijkseweg Zuid 49 b
                           3732 HD De Bilt


map to venue:


http://www.rotsplantenvereniging.net/agenda.html  

http://www.rotsplantenvereniging.net/agenda.html#bookmark1 more info how to get there etc.

  

[Janis Ruksans]

Returning to variability of Crocus mathewii I want to show some pictures from nature. As you can see - night and morning were with rain and so flowers are mostly closed or waterdamaged. As earlier I had mostly only pure white forms, I gave more attention to bluish, although in nature white ones are more common.
Janis

[tonyg]

One recent picture of Crocus laevigatus raised from open pollinated seed of the 'gold back' white form.  Quite a variation.  I will have to try and self pollinate this next year to see if the results breed closer to the seed parent.

[Hans A.]

Beautiful crocus Poul, Franz, Kees and Tony!

Thanks a lot for the pictures of C. mathewii Janis - I always enjoy pictures of the species in their natural habitat. Especially like this species as it belongs to the easier Crocus here - easier than the native C. cambessedesii for example which seems to have sometimes problems with excessive drought in summer in my garden.

[Janis Ruksans]

Two days ago it was possible to make some pictures in greenhouse due few hours of sunshine. Now I had time to show those shuts on Forum. Several plants were shown before, too, but those are pictures are just 2 days old.
But as first are again some pictures from Crocus hyemalis and autumn vitellinus. Now I brought those pots for crosspollination inside and flowers nicely opened. A week ago I got mail from friend that unintentionally I was misleaded about parentage of very nice hybrid. I started crossing between caspius and vitellinus, although wondered from where hybrid got black anthers. Now I got new mail that really it was hybrid between vitellinus and hyemalis. This is much more likely as both grow together, chromosome number is more similar (although not identical) and it explains black in anthers of hybrids. Fortunately still there were some pollens and I tried to re-pollinate them in both dirrections. C. hyemalis from Rik only started blooming. Now must to keep fingers crossed.
Crocus melantherus was shown before, too,
but this unusually late robertianus only now started blooming
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

In this entry few new pictures of various Crocus laevigatus and some more of Crocus pallasii from Chios (hope those were not pictured before).
Janis

[Maggi Young]

So many beautiful photos.... I am in croco-heaven 

[David Stephens]

Thanks for the note about the gold-backed laevigatus Gerry. Mine came from Marcus Harvey in Tasmania, from whom all my special and rare forms have come. He has great contacts, including Alan Edwards. It was from Marcus, ex Alan that Bowles' 'Chocolate Soldier' came my way and some other precious things. So also impeccable lineage. (Ex Harvey, ex Edwards, ex Warburg, ex Bowles). I count myself not only very lucky in this respect but also very privileged.

Look after the 'Chocolate Soldier' Lesley, it came very close to extinction. Alan Edwards and I were visiting Primrose Warburg when we noticed it growing in her garden, she grew everything in the open ground, no pots at all. There were only two corms surviving from some that had been planted many years before by her husband 'Heff'. Primrose dug the two up and gave one to Alan, the other one went back in the ground. We looked for it after Primrose died but could not find it. So from that one corm given to Alan has come any that are now in cultivation. Marcus was one of the first to receive a 'spare corm' after being on our waiting list for that and Crocus longiflorus 'Primrose Warburg'. For your interest, forms of Crocus laevigatus such as CRO1012 grown by Ray Cobb (still going strong at 89 years old) were selections of naturalised seedlings from his garden.

[Gerdk]

All pictures from an earlier trip to SE Turkey (September 2011) are indexed and published on my website at http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/Asia/Eastern-Turkey-September-2011/

Hi Kees Jan,
Thank you so much for this fantastic report - enjoyed it a lot!

Gerd

[Janis Ruksans]

Thanks for the note about the gold-backed laevigatus Gerry. Mine came from Marcus Harvey in Tasmania, from whom all my special and rare forms have come. He has great contacts, including Alan Edwards. It was from Marcus, ex Alan that Bowles' 'Chocolate Soldier' came my way and some other precious things. So also impeccable lineage. (Ex Harvey, ex Edwards, ex Warburg, ex Bowles). I count myself not only very lucky in this respect but also very privileged.

Look after the 'Chocolate Soldier' Lesley, it came very close to extinction. Alan Edwards and I were visiting Primrose Warburg when we noticed it growing in her garden, she grew everything in the open ground, no pots at all. There were only two corms surviving from some that had been planted many years before by her husband 'Heff'. Primrose dug the two up and gave one to Alan, the other one went back in the ground. We looked for it after Primrose died but could not find it. So from that one corm given to Alan has come any that are now in cultivation. Marcus was one of the first to receive a 'spare corm' after being on our waiting list for that and Crocus longiflorus 'Primrose Warburg'. For your interest, forms of Crocus laevigatus such as CRO1012 grown by Ray Cobb (still going strong at 89 years old) were selections of naturalised seedlings from his garden.

Thanks, David, for information. 'Chocolate Soldier' is growing in Latvia, too - I got it from Marcus - so it came back to Northern hemisphere from Australia.
Janis

[Maggi Young]

All pictures from an earlier trip to SE Turkey (September 2011) are indexed and published on my website at http://keesjan.smugmug.com/Botanical-trips/Asia/Eastern-Turkey-September-2011/

Hi Kees Jan,
Thank you so much for this fantastic report - enjoyed it a lot!

Gerd

Kees Jan is speaking at the NRV lecture day on the 19th November.... see here for details: http://www.vrvforum.be/forum/index.php?topic=554.0 .... ironically, the best details are found on the VRV forum!  

Some here : http://www.rotsplantenvereniging.net/agenda.html

[David Stephens]

That's a very striking Crocus mathewii Oron.  It looks healthy from what we can see, despite the unusual markings.  I grow a form/hybrid of Crocus tommasinianus called 'Wandering Minstrel' which has very similar patterns on the outer petals.  Found in a garden (his?) by John Grimshaw, it is vigorous, appears healthy and shows no sign of virus infection.  John explained to me once how the markings are a stable genetic 'aberration', not virus.

Hi Tony, 'Wandering Minstrel', 'Pieta', 'Jericho' and other forms of Crocus vernus/tommasinianus selections/crosses named by John Grimshaw came from a church graveyard in the Jericho district of Oxford UK where there is a large naturalised mixed population.

[David Stephens]

Thanks for the note about the gold-backed laevigatus Gerry. Mine came from Marcus Harvey in Tasmania, from whom all my special and rare forms have come. He has great contacts, including Alan Edwards. It was from Marcus, ex Alan that Bowles' 'Chocolate Soldier' came my way and some other precious things. So also impeccable lineage. (Ex Harvey, ex Edwards, ex Warburg, ex Bowles). I count myself not only very lucky in this respect but also very privileged.

Look after the 'Chocolate Soldier' Lesley, it came very close to extinction. Alan Edwards and I were visiting Primrose Warburg when we noticed it growing in her garden, she grew everything in the open ground, no pots at all. There were only two corms surviving from some that had been planted many years before by her husband 'Heff'. Primrose dug the two up and gave one to Alan, the other one went back in the ground. We looked for it after Primrose died but could not find it. So from that one corm given to Alan has come any that are now in cultivation. Marcus was one of the first to receive a 'spare corm' after being on our waiting list for that and Crocus longiflorus 'Primrose Warburg'. For your interest, forms of Crocus laevigatus such as CRO1012 grown by Ray Cobb (still going strong at 89 years old) were selections of naturalised seedlings from his garden.

Thanks, David, for information. 'Chocolate Soldier' is growing in Latvia, too - I got it from Marcus - so it came back to Northern hemisphere from Australia.
Janis

Janis, that's great. Now I know it is safe from extinction. Bulk it up and sell it on. David