Crocus kotschyanunus ssp. kotschyanus 'Reliance'
Jane McGary (Sat, 15 Oct 2005 15:31:03 PDT)

Mark McDonough wrote,

The name of this clone is 'Reliant'; it originated in the garden of the
great bulb grower Frank Waley. It is indeed a good one. An even better one
is that which I have under the collectors' initials "JRJK" (I think JR is
Janis Ruksans), which flowers at the same time, just as profusely, and is a
bit more substantial and has brighter markings in the throat. Both clones
persist well in the open garden here, suggesting that they have some trick
of deterring rodent predation -- perhaps they pull their corms down quite deep.

Close on its heels here are C. cartwrightianus and C. serotinus. In the
bulb frame, the lovely C. karduchorum (the real one, not the poor form of
C. kotschyanus often distributed under that
name) and C. boryi are in flower.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA