Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Friday, February 08, 2008
Next Crocus
Crocus ancyrensis (meaning of or from Ankara) 'Golden Bunch'. The flowers are on the small side, but the gold color is intense. Here's another picture of them in their native habitat, where they apparently bloom in March, or did in 2006 anyway. Those flowers look larger than mine, but it's hard to compare. There's an acorn cap in my photo (and we don't have any humongous acorns) so you can get an idea of the flower size. They may be smaller than they could be, owing to the fact they're planted right next to that oak tree in an area where the birds like to scratch and feed. Squirrels too. One of the problems I have with this crocus is that the squirrels like to chew off the flowers.
I noticed in the Turkish photo some interesting seed pod remnants, looking something like Lunaria, but much smaller. Wonder what those are....
The crocuses I showed you earlier are finally doing their bunching thing after our absurdly warm weather this week. Prior to that they were only opening one or two flowers each day.
And lastly, the Galanthus nivalis snowdrops are starting to bloom. These were newly planted a couple of years ago and they seem happy in this spot. Keeping my fingers crossed on that.
6 Comments:
I wonder if those seedpods are from Muscari? Seeing how small the Crocus is, that seed head must be tiny, like Muscari.
The yellow is so cheerful. I planted equal number of the lavender and yellow and have 90% lavender now. Do you think the squirrels have a preference? That photo from Turkey is amazing, the color is so rich. I agree with MMD, looks like muscari, if they grow there.
Frances at Faire Garden
I love your snowdrops - they look like pearls. The gold colour of the Crocus is really beautiful. I want some of those!!!
Mr. McGregor's Daughter: At first, I thought the seed stalks belonged to the tiny rosettes of leaves in front of the crocus, but taking another look, they might belong to the grassy foliage behind it. They look to me like some kind of crucifer, but maybe not?
Frances: That yellow is waaaay bright. Every spring I wish I had more of them and every fall I forget to plant them.
Interesting question about whether the squirrels prefer yellow. Most of my purple ones are in front of the house where the squirrels don't hang out as much. The yellow ones are in back on their territory. I've read that squirrels don't bother the C. tommasinianus varieties.
Kate: I got my crocuses from Brent & Becky's Bulbs. Don't know if they ship to Canada, but they're great people to to business with.
I like your new Blogger image! I need to change mine - she's getting on my nerves.
Hello fellow Virginian :-)
Your pics are lovely, I just came across your blog and love it.
I was so surprised to see my miniature irises blooming before my crocuses this year! You can see a pic here if you want: http://jewelfaerie.com/2008/02/07/fabulous-gardening--whoever-blooms-first-wins.aspx
Take care, stay well and don't catch that flu going around :-)
Crystal www.jewelfaerie.com
Crystal: Thanks for stopping by! I love your dark purple iris.
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