opening and closing of crocus; was: fall crocus

Jane McGary
Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:33:25 PDT
Rodger Whitlock wrote,
What I like about C. tournefortii is the color. It's very close to a
>true sky blue with a white center. Perhaps "pale powder blue" is
>slightly more accurate, for some values of both "powder blue" and
>"accurate." Or to try to be technical, it's a pale true blue, but not
>very saturated.
>Not much trace of the purple tone that most "blue" crocuses have in

There must be various clones around. The two "populations" that I have, 
both grown from seed, are not "true blue" but light lavender. They are, 
however, quite pretty, and since they're under cover, I can enjoy the 
always-open flowers without worrying about rain on them.

To my eye, the crocuses closest to true blue are C. baytopiorum, which is 
very pale sky blue; C. leichtlinii, which also has feathering of darker 
blue on the outside; and C. abantensis, which I have a lot of trouble 
maintaining. All flower in late winter. The closest thing to blue in fall, 
here, is seen in certain clones of C. speciosus.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA

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