More fall crocuses
Jane McGary (Sat, 08 Nov 2003 15:14:10 PST)

I have just posted two images on the wiki of crocuses in flower today,
November 7:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…

The pot of Crocus moabiticus may not look like a medal-winner but I am very
proud of it, having grown these from seed in the early 1990s (SBL 171) and
maintained them since. There is now another pot in the frame of small
offsets, not yet flowering (it rarely makes offsets) and two pots of
seedlings of different ages, and seed and corms have gone to other growers.
It is one of the rarest crocus species and deserves to be kept going. Its
habitat in Jordan is under severe pressure from development and
overgrazing. These plants are kept quite dry in summer. Not apparent in the
photo is the persistent dry (marcescent) foliage, which I removed when
repotting them this summer.

This form of Crocus cartwrightianus ("wild saffron") has the number CEH613
and is very vividly colored in comparison to other forms of the species,
which is easily cultivated in mild climates.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon