I see that Bulbmeister.com is putting on sale a half-dozen Autumn crocuses because the bulbs are all sprouted. I've read in the past that planting well-sprouted autumn crocuses can be like planting narcissus bulbs that were forced during the winter -- they are depleted & may never fully "recharge" to naturalize properly. But I find myself thinking that they wouldn't recharge until bloom was completed & only grass remained, so what would be the problem with buying heavily discounted autumn bloomers even if they won't look like much until NEXT autumn.
Anyway, I wondered if anyone had ever planted autumn-bloom crocuses when they were already well-sprouted? Did they perennialize & naturalize as well as those that were put into the ground in a more timely manner? I'm buying some of these discounted bulbs either way, but would like to know if I should expect any disappointment.
I planted already well, sprouted crocus and in two years had a nice stand. They didn't produce much more than foliage for the two falls after planting, but I'd bet they are still in the ground and naturalizing up on Long Island.
Are they true autumn crocus (Crocus sativus) or Colchicums? the Crocus sativus is a member of the iris family and has residual foliage to "recharge" the corms. But I've heard that the bloom the first year is the best and they should be divided every year, so maybe it would be like planting iris corms and it wouldn't make any difference that they have already sprouted. The Chochicums are actually in the lily family (bulbs) and the foliage appears in spring, then dies back before they actually bloom (also called 'naked ladies'). I would there would be a chance that these bulbs would be depleted, with no foliage to help them "recharge." But then I'm just guessing. sed5555
would be the problem with buying heavily discounted autumn bloomers even
? Did they perennialize & naturalize as
We'll both know the answer in a couple of years. Yours probably have a better chance than mine, but at that price I'll try a few marginal bulbs--maybe put a lot inside in a kingsize pot and have crocus in November. I do seem to remember the Saffron variety sprouting out of the fieldstone walls at AUB in Beirut late in fall...
They are Crocus species not Colchicums. The Colchicums weren't on sale & are fancy ones that cost a great deal so I couldn't afford any of those. Crocus sativus wasn't among the autumn crocuses offered, though they're a favorite of mine. I planted C. sativus previously. those are now all up with short spindly grass patches & bright buds -- should look way cool in another week or so. Crocus speciosus was included among those on sale at bulbmeister because sprouted, but I already have those up the wazoo, two kinds in three patches, so didn't order those. The ones I ordered were Crocus kotschyanus, Crocus pulchellus & Crocus cartwrightianus, this last supposedly able to produce up to ten autumn flowers out of each single bulb, which I'll be happy to see if that really happens. Some people think C. cartwrightianus is the "parent" of C. sativas, a triploid form that appeared spontaneously perhaps on Crete then was carted around the world by traders because saffron was a sacred dye & spice worth more than jewels
-- it wouldn't've spread of Crete otherwise because of the triploid's sterility.
Last year the C. speciosus were semi-failures. They bloomed well but I didn't know how extremely floppy they would be. They MUST be planted in a groundcover that'll hold them up yet not out-compete them in the soil. This year they're poking out of the evergreen form of Oregon oxyalis, evergreen ornamental strawberries, & a ground-hugging variegated oregano, so look much better, though one patch I put amidst semi-evergreen society garlic & Kent Beauty creeping oregano, neither of which were sufficient to hold up the crocus blooms, so that patch is a bit of a failure again, the blooms falling over in all directions just not cool. But this month I added bulbs of some unusual autumn-grassing muscaris so NEXT year even that messy patch of C. speciosus should be okay.
I also have a winter crocus, C. laevigatus var fontenayi, & of course many of the snow-crocuses supposedly "early spring" actually start at the end of winter, so there are crocuses blooming from September to May. When I was a kid crocuses were treated like transient things for pre-spring in the lawn, gone in a trice, but with forethought they can be everywhere for months on end, & at times when much of the gardens are otherwise dormant. They're so rewarding I just want to keep adding more species & other cultivars of those I already have. The ones for autumn & winter being a bit scarcer have some priority. I do also want Colchicums but once again find myself putting them off because I just can't afford to buy everything I want in this world, & some of the really fascinating new offerings in this genus are still priced in the five to twenty-five dollar PER BULB range! Hopefully a couple of them will come down to normal price ranges in a couple more years.
Like the tulips of Tulipmania. I forget what the top prices for bulbs were in modern terms, but they were way, way worse than $25 a bulb. Appalling--yet rather heartening: that people would literally bankrupt themselves for beauty. zemedelec
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