Rodger wrote,Finally, Crocus kotschyanus comes close to pink. The Dutch, in their >usual imaginative way, show it in a deep pink on the color cards >provided with the boxes of bulbs in the fall, but that's a blatant >falsification. C.k. in its better forms is a pale mauve that >approaches pink under some lighting. If you don't grow this crocus >and want to, be aware that (a) it is a thug-in-training and will >self-seed with abandon if it likes your conditions and (b) the >commercial stock is badly infected with viruses; the flowers are >both undersized and malformed. Grow it from seed or buy it from a >specialist dealer. Don't waste your money on commercial bulbs. I've grown several forms this species and have never seen one that I would call "pink." The only crocus that approaches pink, in my sight, is C. tommasinianus 'Roseus'. Rodger is right, however, about the poor performance of the common commercial C. kotschyanus. It is a clone that offsets very freely but does not flower much. I don't know if it's always virus-infected. The two kotschyanus that I grow, 'Reliant' and a Ruksans selection that I have as JRJK, are both good bloomers that don't offset freely, nor have I noticed them seeding. Both are more blue than pink, certainly. Since I can't grow such things as Lycoris, Nerine, and Amaryllis here (nights too cool for flowering), I suppose my favorite pink bulbs are colchicums. Most of them are close to true pink rather than lavender. I think the finest color is in C. umbrosum. Most pink forms of normally blue flowers look muddy or washed-out to me. However, pink forms of typically white flowers can be pretty, such as Acis (Leucojum) trichophylla 'Rosea'. A native plant here that has a little tuber, Trientalis borealis (there is an Old World species, T. europaea), has cute pink flowers. I have not been able to figure out how to handle it as a dormant bulb, but it tends to come up where fir bark is spread as a mulch. There are several fairly pink Calochortus, the best of which is C. simulans, and some of the myriad color forms of C. venustus appear pink, though actually they are red stippled on white. And let's not forget Alstroemeria, not exactly a bulb but certainly a geophyte, and much given to pinks of all shades. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA >-- >Rodger Whitlock >Victoria, British Columbia, Canada >"To co-work is human, >to cow-ork, bovine." >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php