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sieberi ssp. sublimis 'Tricolor' - lilac-blue flowers with a white edged golden yellow heart; eye-catching, amazing colors.
Six petaled, cup- shaped flowers with grass-like foliage that come in a myriad of colors; early blooming and great for rock gardens, forcing and for designs in the late winter or early spring lawns; zones 3-8; 3"-6"; bulb size 6/7 cm unless otherwise noted.
Entries and Updates
Jul 29, 2006
off website-
will spread this in the grass to (hopefully) naturalize
interesting site- the link above is specific to Crocus sieberi
Jan 14, 2007
Crocuses are indispensable for each and every garden. They join snowdrops, winter aconites and glory-of-the-snow as the very first heralds of spring. The bright yellow ones so often seen bring the first bit of ’warmth’ to the new year.
One familiar use for crocuses is in the lawn. Here, one should try to achieve as natural-looking effect as possible. This can be done, not by grouping the corms together, but by scattering them about and then planting them where they fall. Use larger numbers for a massive effect: 125-150 corms to every square metre. Although it is possible to use all colours of crocuses for this purpose, the blue and purple ones are the least conspicuous. Yellow is extremely popular, but mixing crocuses is also frequently done. Good proportions to use for a mix of large-flowering varieties are: 50% blue and purple, 25% yellow, 15% white and 10% striped. C. chrysanthus cultivars are also planted in lawns, and C. tommasinianus is another natural choice for planting in the grass. Planting crocuses in lawns, however, will require some adjustments to the mowing regime. To be assured of a profuse flowering next year, the lawn should not be cut until six weeks following the crocus’ flowering period.
Any and all crocuses make a pretty sight in the perennial plant border. Far before any of the vast majority of the perennial plants, the crocuses will be busy cheering up the garden. The smaller crocuses can be combined with many early perennial plants such as Pulmonaria (Lungwort), Helleborus (Christmas rose), Hepatica , Primula (Primrose) and Pulsatilla (Pasque flower).
Species with few leaves and small flowers such as Crocus minimus are appropriate for the rock garden. Crocuses can naturalise easily under shrubs and in areas where trees are not densely planted. Planting beds of them is a bit outdated but a very good effect can be achieved when combining them with early narcissi or small-flowered tulips.
Because of their lack of foliage mass and early flowering, crocuses are very suitable for planting on top of other bulbous plants. Afterward, such bulbous plants as hyacinths, tulips and narcissi can easily take over the flowering duties from the early-flowering crocuses. The layering method is simple. First plant the larger bulbs and cover them with soil up to the level of their noses. Then plant the crocuses on top, being sure to plant a generous amount of them. This will produce a lovely effect and can be applied both in the garden soil as well as in containers.
The winter hardiness of most crocuses make their use in containers quite possible. The large yellow crocus, however, is somewhat susceptible to frost damage. One drawback, of course, is that crocuses fade quickly. This means that a container filled with crocuses alone will not remain attractive long. Planting crocuses with other bulbous plants, especially those that flower somewhat later, is a better solution (also see question 21). A lovely combination can be made by using crocuses with late-flowering cultivars of Erica carnea, e.g., ’Myretoun Ruby’ (wine-red), ’Vivellii’ (purple-red), ’Snow Queen’ (white), and ’King George’ (purple-pink).
Mar 28, 2007
WHOOOOOT!
I've got 2...so far.
just bloomed today, and I didn't even see any sign of them yesterday
