Crocuses… croci? Whatever the plural of these lovely early spring beauties, ours have suddenly started to spring up in places I can’t remember putting them: borders, middle of the grass and in pots. Some I think I did plant in late 2012, when I was trying for my second child along with clusters of snowdrops from Tom’s mum that originally came from her parents’ final forever home in the Isle of Man.
These crocuses are the purple and yellow ones that are mainly clustered in and around the back lawn. Back then the spring garden game was pretty strong out back, with daffodils around all the trees, recently planted hellebores from Beth Chatto’s Garden bushing up nicely and a sea of forget-me-nots under the tree.
Having planted a few donated New Zealand wind grass (Anemanthele lessoniana; synonyms Oryzopsis lessoniana
Stipa arundinacea) around 2014, most of the borders are now taken up with this frothy number. It self-seeds like mad and as a semi-evergreen with beautiful light-catching autumn colour, we’ve been happy to let it get on with its thing while time for garden management has been low.
Now, however, it’s time to reassess. The grasses work under the magnolia tree (although I’ll always remember the forget me not days) but a swathe of now understory snowdrops, ferns and hellebores could certainly be moved to the front where snowdrop arrival (from bulbs planted last year) seems a bit slow. The crocuses, however, don’t work so well in the lawn anymore as there’s quite a lot of foot fall there so they will get moved out to the borders.
I also planted a new crocus last autumn called Crocus crysanthus ‘Prins Claus’ (I know not what the others are called as they were planted from a mixed bag), which has white petals with a dark blue-purple outer-face and a yellow-orange heart. The idea being that these would team nicely with the gorgeous Iris reticulata ‘Katharine Hodgkin’, a pale blue dwarf bulbous iris that blooms in late winter, with darker blue veins and a yellow base on the outer petals. Still hoping these come through in the next few weeks, mainly at the front.
The other name for this type of crocus, and I believe, the earlier ones I planted is snow crocus, derived from its exceptionally early flowering period, blooming two weeks before the giant crocus (Crocus vernus). Their timing certainly rang true this year in terms of the weather.
The flowerheads of Crocus crysanthus are smaller than C. vernus and the leaves are dark green with a silver vein, the native types named for their golden yellow petals (the specific epithet ‘crysanthus‘ meaning golden-flowered). However, various cultivars and hybrids (of Crocus biflorus and Crocus aerius) bring colour combinations combining white, blue, purple, lavender, violet, lemon and bronze as well.
Next year, I might give ‘Blue Pearl’ a whirl – a pale lavender, white and golden centred number – but for now I’m going to cross my fingers for more croci blossomings to come and enjoy the burgeoning show.