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