fall crocus
Antennaria@aol.com (Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:39:43 PDT)

Sorry folks for joining in on the discussion rather late. I can second John
Lonsdale's comments on the suitability of fall crocus. John is about 350
miles south of me, with the advantage of approximately 1-1/2 USDA weather zones
milder than my northern Massachusetts location (within 2 miles of the New
Hampshire border). Even so, I am delighted and inspired by the good results trying
fall crocus for these last 4 years.

In the past few years I have had reliable yearly bloom on C. niveus,
speciosus forms, goulimyi, serotinus forms, pallasii, and a few others. My favorite
by far is C. tournefortii. For photos galleries of C. tournefortii and
goulimyi, check out the following link on my web page:
http://plantbuzz.com/Alpine-L/ATOW/…
...or go to http://www.plantbuzz.com/
and click on the What's the Buzz > "Favorite Plants of 2003" link.

If winter-like weather comes on too early, and we don't get the blessing of
our so-called "indian summer" (late autumn mild temperatures), then the autumn
crocus can take a beating. But that's ok, because the bulbs have a strong
capacity to produce a succession of flowers... the glorious C. niveus
particularly strong in this department, and invariably some flowers will appear to grace
the day, even in the worst of years.

The latest blooming species for me is C. pallasii ssp. pallasii. It's one of
the few crocus that keeps it's flowers open, even on dim cloudy days. The
flowers are deliciously fragrant. There is a photo of C. pallasii accessible
from the link shown above, as part of the photo gallery for Crocus tournefortii.

By the way, the last two winters experienced some record breaking cold, after
nearly a decade of relatively moderate (for this area) winters.

As for why some of these crocus appear hardy in a very cold place, compared
to a milder climate like Oregon, I don't really have an answer for Jane
McGary... except to say, that when I lived in the Seattle Washington area, I lost a
good number of plants that were rock solid hardy in New England, but died in
winter in the much milder Pacific Northwest. I might have to do with hardening
off, or with bulbs, getting that deep drying and warmth in summer, or here in
northern New England once frozen in winter, the ground typically staying
frozen until we reach the most risky time of year... late winter and early spring
when alternate freezing and thawing becomes the greatest risk.

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!