NOTES ON CROCUSES

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 11050, 31 August 1896, Page 2

NOTES ON CROCUSES

j (Gardening.) ; Surely there is no race of plants that will I give more pleasure than the Crocus family. : From the early days in September to the i middle of April they may be had in flower - , j in less variety as the days shorten, and I increasing in wealth of colours and kinds as the days become longer and brighter. The first to flower is C. speciosus, a wellknown kind, whose rich blue flowers with their distinct orange-scarlet anthers emit a i most delicate perfume. A very fine variety {of this is C. speciosus Aitehisoni. These | two are closely followed by C. autumnalis, I dark purple-blue, C. sativus, medius, and j a form of sativus called Pallasi, which has 1 pale lilac flowers, and produces long, fine I grassy foliage in early winter. C. Eoryi is I a jbeautiful white-flowered kind. 0. nudi- | floras has blue flowers, and mention must be ! made of its pretty white-flowered variety. I : have also seen a form of nudiflorus with | flowers of a most unique shade of fleshpink. A charming kind is C. iridiflorus with its var. major, colour, rich blue. C. eancellatus var. cilicicus is a rare form with large flowers of a delicate lilac-blue. These, I may say, close the list of the autumn-flower-ing kinds, but there is no break in the season, for the winter varieties begin when the others leave off, C. Longifiorus, lilac-blue, is the first, closely followed by C. hymenalis, white, with intense black feathering on the outside of the segments; C. tingitanus, pale lilac; and C. Fleischeri, a creamywhite with dark feathering. C. vitellinus, which throws up quite a bunch of rich golden flowers, is a true midwinter species. C. chrysanthus and. its form fuscotinctus are also yellow. C. Sieberi has flowers of a distinct shade of blue and is extremely pretty; it has a purple var. C. Obesi has a large flower of intense whiteness, with most distinct orangescarlet anthers. Crocus Imperati comes after the dark winter days. Its quaint colouring of lilac-buff and almost black feathering is very beautiful, and the flowers are delicately sweet, but it is surpassed by a variety called C. Imperati longifiorus, in which the flowers are larger and the colouring much darker. A lovely form is C. Imperati albus. 0. Kctschyanus of a delicate shade of pale lilac, outside white; C. Aucheri, rich golden-yellow ; C. vallicola, a most delicate flower, the colour scarcely definable ; C. Mmsiacus, C. aureus and its vars., ochroleucus, ausianus, sulphurous, are all of various shades of yellow. C. Weldeni has whitish flowers with a delicate shading of blue on outside, also C. Dalmaticus violescens, though dalmaticus niveus is pure white C. bifloras and C. biflorus argenteus bear masses of flowers of silvery whiteness with dark feathering. C. terms is a pretty little kind with deep blue flowers which change to lilac. C. carpetanus, C. Cartwrightianus albus, C. Danfordite, C. neapolitanus, C. odorous melittensis, C. peloponnesiacus, C. Tourneforti, C. yeluchensis, and C. versicolour var. obscurus, are scarcer kinds, all with a charm of their own. I need not mention the usefulness of the ordinary Dutch kinds, forms of C. vernus, as they are too well known to need comment. All these beautiful and interesting kinds of crocus are of very easy culture, growing well in any ordinary garden soil, but it is well when planting to surround the bulbs with some fine sand. They are specially adapted for little warm nooks, narrow sunny borders, or just inside the edges of herbaceous borders. It is not necessary to lift them every year ; they may be left for three or more seasons until the chimps become too crowded, but care must be taken, as mice are extremely partial to them. Some of the more plentiful binds, such as speciosus, imperati, biflorus, and versicolor, are exoailrtat for naturalising in grass,