Crocus flavus
Jane McGary (Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:27:33 PST)

I'm glad Jim McKenney is pleased with the Crocus flavus I sent him. I grew
them from seed purchased from the Archibalds. The wild form of C. flavus is
much smaller than 'Dutch Yellow' or 'Yellow Giant' but it makes up for that
by being earlier and increasing fast both vegetatively and by seed, which
is freely set here. It's also perfectly hardy (I grow it without protection).

Other crocuses in flower here include, in addition to the C, michelsonii I
described earlier, C. leichtlinii, C. olivieri, C. ancyrensis, C.
gargaricus, C. korolkowii, several subspecies of C. biflorus, C. sieberi
forms, and probably some others I was looking at 2 days ago when giving the
bulb frames their first spring feeding (a little early, but we're having a
dry spell when they needed watering anyway). The recent hard freeze seems
not to have damaged much of anything in the frames, and in the open garden
the arums are still looking all right; unhappily, rabbits seem to be eating
everything else that sticks a leaf above ground. A rabbit even climbed into
one of the frames and chewed on a number of plants, including some
deciduous lewisias that were just emerging.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA