On 30 Jan 2013, at 10:45, Bulborum Botanicum wrote: > I just phoned some suppliers in Holland It seems there is only one grower of > Crocus isauricus Spring Beauty they will try to sort out what happened No need to phone. The Dutch bulb trade has earned, quite justifiably, a very bad reputation for silent substitutions of cultivars. Plant a supposed blue flamed crocus (C. isauricus 'Spring Beauty') and you will ge a blue flamed crocus of some sort, but it may very well be some other cultivar or species with the right general look. C. minimus, for example, in this case. I've seen this happen so many times over so many years that it isn't due to accidents. I suspect it's because the demand for many forms is considerably greater than the supply, so the wholesalers, loath to let a sale go by for lack of stock, do the substitution quite knowingly. If you look into the pages of the AGS bulletin from abt. 1950 when the Dutch bulb trade was getting back on its feet after the War, you will find vociferous complaints of exactly the same tenor. Nothing has changed in 63 years. As I say, not an accident. And this substitution is NOT due to careless customers "mixing the bulbs". Almost all dry bulbs sold in late summer and early autumn come pre-packaged now and no substitution is possible at the consumer level. One might as well buy the very cheap mixed bulbs of various categories from Walmart. At least you won't be overly surprised when they come up. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Z. 7-8, cool Mediterranean climate