opening and closing of crocus; was: fall crocus
Jane McGary (Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:33:25 PDT)
Rodger Whitlock wrote,
What I like about C. tournefortii is the color. It's very close to a
true sky blue with a white center. Perhaps "pale powder blue" is
slightly more accurate, for some values of both "powder blue" and
"accurate." Or to try to be technical, it's a pale true blue, but not
very saturated.
Not much trace of the purple tone that most "blue" crocuses have in
them.
There must be various clones around. The two "populations" that I have,
both grown from seed, are not "true blue" but light lavender. They are,
however, quite pretty, and since they're under cover, I can enjoy the
always-open flowers without worrying about rain on them.
To my eye, the crocuses closest to true blue are C. baytopiorum, which is
very pale sky blue; C. leichtlinii, which also has feathering of darker
blue on the outside; and C. abantensis, which I have a lot of trouble
maintaining. All flower in late winter. The closest thing to blue in fall,
here, is seen in certain clones of C. speciosus.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA