Pollinators in slow motion
Jane McGary (Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:52:58 PST)

Rick wrote,
today I pollinated C. niveus x C. reticulatus,

You could not have cross-pollinated anything today with Crocus
niveus, because it is fall-blooming. You must have another big white
crocus misidentified (C. malyi?).

Also, I don't know that C. baytopiorum would cross with 'Blue Pearl'
(which is not C. chrysanthus, but either a selection of C. biflorus
or a hybrid of that with C. chrysanthus) as they are in different
sections and have different chromosome numbers. And if you have
enough C. baytopiorum to work with, you should just self it, because
it is precious.

Before embarking on a crocus hybridizing project, one should try to
obtain the out-of-print (and ridiculously expensive, if you ever find
it) "The Crocus" by Brian Mathew, which will help one verify the
identity of one's plants in the first place, and understand their
relationships. It is quite startling how many different chromosome
numbers can be found in this genus. Brian Mathew told me he didn't
think crocuses hybridized much, but other experts have told me they
feel that hybrids are somewhat likely in a large collection. I think
I have had volunteer hybrids in Section Crocus, with C.
cartwrightianus as the seed parent.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA