Crocus November 2011

[johnw]

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.

You're right Martin.  I never received a medius from anyone according to my records (or more correctly a longiflorus!) so I had best change the label.

Follow-up  - Howard says  - "the batch I bought under that name were at least mostly medius"

johnw

[Hans A.]

Some Crocus from today:
Crocus hyemalis, from Israel, thanks
Crocus cambessedesii, flowering in the garden starts about one month later than in nature
Crocus nerimaniae, a gift of a generous friend

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Three beauties Hans !! 

[Gerry Webster]

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.

And apparently virus free - rare sight! Congratulations John.

[Maggi Young]

Hans, your C. hyemalis is stunning!

[tonyg]

Here is a link to some pics of a very nice form of Crocus laevigatus which I found while browsing PK's Prairie Break Blog.  They might be from Amorgina ... but the text is all Greek to me 

http://floraamorgina.blogspot.com/2011/10/crocus-laevigatus-forma-amorgina.html

[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.

And apparently virus free - rare sight! Congratulations John.

I was going to say it looks virus free. I also have a virus-free clone of medius that I raised from seed  many years ago. We should exchange corms so we can cross-pollinate and try for seed.

[Hans A.]

Thanks a lot for your comments Luc and Maggie, seems I am becoming a trainee croconut thanks to Ians bulblog, Janis book, this forum and some terrific friends!

[Otto Fauser]

Hans , thank you for your 3 beautyful photos -I have never seen such a darkcoloured C. cambessedesii ,
 should it set seeds please remember me and welcome to the " Croconut Society "

[Gerry Webster]

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.

And apparently virus free - rare sight! Congratulations John.

I was going to say it looks virus free. I also have a virus-free clone of medius that I raised from seed  many years ago. We should exchange corms so we can cross-pollinate and try for seed.

Martin - John's plant seems to be  the trade form of C. medius - look at the anthers - which is sterile. In my experience it will not set seed even after attempts to pollinate with a wild sourced plant.

[Martin Baxendale]

Gerry, the anthers on John's medius do look small and stunted. John, no pollen on them at all? My own medius was raised from a commercial clone many, many years ago, probably from Van Tubergen commercial stock. I got a potful of open pollinated seed from one corm which gave me a potful of seedlings, so I'm not sure if what I now have is a single strong clone that prevailed in the garden over the years or a group of seedlings - they're all identical. But more recent attempts to cross my medius with commercial medius have all been failures.

[Hans A.]

Thanks Otto - all C. cambessedesii I grow are growing  in shadow,  so in a sunny position it would not look as dark - will try to collect seeds of this one for you.

[johnw]

Gerry, the anthers on John's medius do look small and stunted. John, no pollen on them at all?

Martin  - There is a little pollen there. Not obvious & very stingy.  If I pinch the anthers I get a bit.  I can send bulbs when dormant as I have plenty.  Originally these possibly came from Broadleigh.

johnw

[Martin Baxendale]

Gerry, the anthers on John's medius do look small and stunted. John, no pollen on them at all?

Martin  - There is a little pollen there. Not obvious & very stingy.  If I pinch the anthers I get a bit.  I can send bulbs when dormant as I have plenty.  Originally these possibly came from Broadleigh.

johnw

We can do a swap during dormancy. Can't hurt to try cross-pollination, though Gerry's probably right about the lack of fertility. Mine don't produce much pollen either.

[Janis Ruksans]

Correct name for Crocus medius is C. ligusticus. Would be nice to use this one, although medius is far more common and traditional. Only few companies offers it under correct name (between them Peter Nijseen from Holland).
 It is very strange species. Must be easy and I was growing commercial form for several years outside. Not very happy it was, but alived and sometimes even bloomed up to I find that commercal stock is virus-infected. The same happens with stock named as 'Millisimo'. But I have problems with wild stocks - all got by me were more beautifull, large flowering, but disappear... Why? I can't understand. This autumn I got few new corms. One formed beautiful first flower and... rotted. Will alive others? - I don't know. When I wrote to Erich Pasche - he replied that with ligusticus he has same problems. When he grew them outside under Thymus everyrthing was OK, but in pots he allways lost this species.
Similar problem species with me is Crocus carpetanus.
Janis