Crocus speciosus selections

The pink and white checkerboard Colchicums of early autumn have begun to give way to the Crocus species now with the deep hued purples and blues, and sometimes lovely striations, along with glowing stigmas and styles perfumed with the rich spice of saffron. Among my favorites in the bulb world, as the weather turns cool and damp, and the days grow shorter by minutes. The fall blooming Crocus offer a wonderful rebuttal to the grey of a Northwest fall day, the colors taking on a more saturated tone amongst the somber hues of autumn. In this group of wide ranging floral spectacles it’s hard to beat Crocus speciosus and its cultivars.

Brian Mathew in his revision on the genus writes “The speciosus of commerce is a large-flowered variant of a mid lilac-blue colour, speckled darker on the outside with a very prominent much branched orange style. This most closely resembles the Caucasian and Iranian forms of subs. speciosus and in fact it seems probable that most, if not all the named cultivars are selections from Russian material since this is where the species reaches it’s zenith in terms of general vigour and flower size. “

The speciosus cultivars I have are such a delight in this autumn season, I figured I should share them with you. Easy and adaptable selections for naturalizing in the landscape, I enjoy a few pots of them in the greenhouse since they can be grown to perfection given a bit of protection from the occasionally ill tempered autumn weather here which brings wind and rain and the proliferation of slugs that have been hiding through summers heat, and now begin to dine unabashedly with the overcast grey.

Crocus speciosus
Errata: I posted this as C. speciosus ‘Oxonian’ but a knowledgeable bulb grower pointed out that true ‘Oxonian’ has a purple perianth tube, so this is like clonal stock of C. speciosus being erroneously distributed as ‘Oxonian’ from a well known, large bulb supplier.

It is a rare gardener indeed that wouldn’t welcome a profusion of blooms in October. The Crocus speciosus selections here have genetic roots in the war torn crimea, with a range from Southern Russia, through the Caucausus into Turkey and Iran. Given the basic accommodations of a sunny spot, with a dry summer rest, these are not picky about soil pH but as with most crocus a well drained yet fertile soil will reward the gardener with a stunning autumn show.

Crocus specious ‘Blue River’ as the flowers age the white striations on the petals become more prominent.

Soon the bulk of the saffron types will be in full bloom and I’ll post another little blurb about those wonderful species and selections. The weather is starting to cool down noticeably now although we did have a wonderful mid October day with 70 degrees and sunshine. Things have finally slowed down enough that I was able to get out on the river to fish for an afternoon, and that was spectacular. The Willamette has a record return of Coho salmon coming upstream now, some 48,000 have crossed above the falls at Oregon City so far. The low temps are dipping into the upper 30’s and it won’t be long now I bet before a frost touches the pumpkins.

You will see a lot of sold outs in the availability now, I have a few talks coming up that I’ll be bringing plants too and we still have an awesome selection of rarities and treasures in our Alpine/Rock Garden box collections, click here to shop those if you are looking to get some fall planting done.

If you are in the Eugene area on November 12th, you will want to be at the Willamette Valley Hardy Plant Group meeting, I will be giving a talk on “Wildflower Adventures around Oregon and SW Washington’ featuring photo’s and tips from 2 decades of exploring Oregons Mountains and Valley’s in search of unique and rare botanical treasures. I will have plants for sale at this event as well so don’t miss out! Click here for more details

Cheers,

Mark

Happy Halloween

Fall in the illahe