Crocus November 2011

[Gerry Webster]

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.

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.

David - Some years ago Alan gave me  corms of C. laevigatus under the number CRO1012 which he said came from Ray. Last year (I think) I posted a pic of this & Tony Willis spoke to Ray about it who said the number should be cr1012 (his catalogue number, not a collection number) & that he (Ray) had it from Ronald Ginns. All very pedantic I know. A very vigorous plant; seedlings from it are extremely variable but all attractive.

[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.

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.

David - Some years ago Alan gave me  corms of C. laevigatus under the number CRO1012 which he said came from Ray. Last year (I think) I posted a pic of this & Tony Willis spoke to Ray about it who said the number should be cr1012 (his catalogue number, not a collection number) & that he (Ray) had it from Ronald Ginns. All very pedantic I know. A very vigorous plant; seedlings from it are extremely variable but all attractive.

Gerry, Alan got his corms from me and I got them from Ray. There were two selections, CRO1011 (white) and CRO1012 (blue). CRO is the prefix to Ray's accession numbers so these were the 1011th and1012th Crocuses Ray had accessioned since he started his recording system. I got the impression that these had come from selections from the garden but if Tony has asked Ray recently and he said they came from Ginn's, then so be it. David

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks David for your information. I think a plant is always more interesting when it has some history attached. Marcus gave me a single corm the summer before last (Feb 09) and when I planted it in a trough last summer there were three flowering size and 3 babies. There were 8 flowers this spring. Looking at the leaves now I'd say there are a couple more flowering size and half a dozen babies. I too have a waiting list.

[WimB]

Wonderful Crocuses everyone. LOVE the Chocolate soldier...

Flowering out in the garden here now is Crocus laevigatus.

[Janis Ruksans]

Just recently Ian Young in his Bulb log wrote how important is to take off old crocus flowers, which looks insignificant in dry weather, bet when start cloudy and moist period they got mould which easy can reach even corm and it could die.
I want to add that for some species not only flowers but even cataphylls are better to remove. I'm doing it with Crocus speciosus and robertianus obligatory, but looking for other species, too. Sometimes (pallasii) green leaves are tightly enclosed by cataphylls. Then I'm taking in fingers tips of leaves and spread them breaking tube of cataphylls. Cataphylls I try to pluck off. In winter I'm checking periodically all pots looking for some mould, penicillium, botrytis, fusarium nivale. It is very important for autumn Colchicum, too.
Janis

[udo]

Wim, nice Cr.laevigatus.
Here my last Crocus outside for this autumn,
Cr.kotschyanus ssp.kotschyanus from Ziyaret Tepe in lower altitude,
higher grows ssp.cappadocius

a early seedpot from Cr.suworowianus

rainprotection for pots in my garden

[krisderaeymaeker]

rainprotection for pots in my garden

Is it easy to take of this plates to water them Dirk ? Or do you leave them without watering in wintertime ?

[udo]

rainprotection for pots in my garden

Is it easy to take of this plates to water them Dirk ? Or do you leave them without watering in wintertime ?

There was the last time of waters in October and the surface of the substrate could still dry up well. There is the next water in spring, 2012.

[Hans A.]

A few crocus, first two picture are taken at the weekend, last one yesterday evening - doubt I will see the open flower...

[Janis Ruksans]

Today again is full sunshine (after several foggy and cloudy days). So it was possible to check some flowers in greenhouse. Of course – very few left but my greatest joy is for blooming of Crocus moabiticus. It is the first time when this rare and difficult to grow species blooms with me. I got it from Arnis as an unidentified species under number 0465, collected in Jordan. Today it got name.
On my entry about Peloponnesus trip this autumn I wrote that I saw only two specimens of Crocus laevigatus blooming. I collected one of them due quite expressed golden colour on petals backside. Unfortunately pictures of flowers taken in wild failed, but today I saw that collected corm produced new bud, even more yellow than I noted in Greece (PELOG-006). Still several stocks of laevigatus (autumn blooming) didn’t start blooming. From those late comers now flowers stock received from Erich Pasche.
My Turkish friend who presented me corm of Crocus speciosus just asked me about its identity. I supposed that I missed it’s blooming or it didn’t flower at all as all speciosus finished blooming long ago. Checking pots great was my surprise seeing just this one blooming now. It turned very late blooming form of speciosus subsp. xantholaimos.
From plants collected in Greece this autumn, new flower in pot was produced by Crocus niveus, too (PELOG-007).
Still some Crocus caspius stocks are blooming. This species is famous by its very long blooming, producing new and new flowers. Here – white and lilac forms of this beautiful species.

Not many species still are in flowers. In addition to list I can add hyemalis, aleppicus, melantherus.  Just Crocus laevigatus and melantherus still here are really beautiful.
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

  SPRING STARTED HERE!!!

Last night we had real frost here - may be the first so hard this autumn - temperature dropped till minus 7 C at sunset. When sun came up I went to greenhouse to routine check for died flowers etc. Accidentally my eye was stopped by something strange on spring crocus bed. There was first flower coming out. You can see it on first picture. Of course I took it in to force opening on my bathrooms windowsill. It turned Crocus hittiticus, collected something North from Silifke in S Turkey. I went there to check where just reticulatus changes to hittiticus, but my visit was too late for this season and all early crocuses finished blooming, only last spring bloomers were (vitellinus) still in flower. This one corm was collected between dense shrubs on terraces abandoned long ago quite far to South from localities of hittiticus known to me and judging by corm tunics on field I labeled it as "cancellatus?". Our stop was accidental - simply to look around and there were collected Fritillaria elwesii, Corydalis tauricola and 2 crocuses - this one and vitellinus. It is the first blooming with me.
Janis

[WimB]

Janis, glad to see spring started in the Baltics already, we shouldn't be far behind then 

Love the "golden" C. laevigatus and the C. moabiticus especially!

[Janis Ruksans]

Checking pictures of last autumn and adding names, I liked this one C. tournefortii with "fountain-like" stigma 
Janis

[johnw]

A Crocus longiflorus medius that came from Howard Clase (maybe) is just in flower here.  After such a wet & cool summer the only Crocus to flower this autumn was a single nudiflorus.

johnw - +4c and very windy at times

[Martin Baxendale]

A Crocus longiflorus that came from Howard Clase is just in flower here.  After such a wet & cool summer the only Crocus to flower this autumn was a single nudiflorus.

johnw - +4c and very windy at times

John, are you sure that's longiflorus? Looks more like medius to me.