Buyer Beware -Part 2
Jane McGary (Thu, 11 Sep 2003 10:05:09 PDT)
Rodger Whitlock wrote,
Probably Crocus kotschyanus (syn. C. zonatus), which is actually
rather pretty, a pale lavender/mauve with some yellow in the throat.
This species is notorious because the clone usually sold is nearly
non-flowering. I've had a few of those and the petals were distorted,
suggesting a viral infection. (Whatever happened to phytosanitary
certification? Isn't a virus a disease?)
Crocuses can be virus-infected. A few years ago Antoine Hoog visited here
and showed me how to spot some outward symptoms (streaking, distortion,
mottling), and I got rid of a couple of affected populations. As usual, the
solution is to grow your own from seed, which is available from Jim and
Jenny Archibald's brand-new list; they are promising a website by the end
of this year, hurrah!
I have two clones of Crocus kotschyanus that flower reliably. One,
appropriately called 'Reliant', comes from Antoine Hoog in Holland and
seems very healthy; the other, which carries a "JRJK" collector's number,
comes from Janis Ruksans and is even more vigorous and floriferous. I've
also grown several groups of this species from wild-collected seed and get
flowers from them -- as will the people who ordered the one I have on this
year's list, because the unsold corms are about to flower in the bag, and I
have to get them in the ground today.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon