Crocus: Crocus kotschyanus

description for "Crocus: Crocus kotschyanus"

Crocus kotschyanus is an easily cultivated species whose flower petals are pale lilac with darker veins that radiate down to a soft yellow throat; the leaves follow the faded blooms. In Asia Minor, the corms are used in cooking. A good selection for damp, cooler northern gardens. Plant your corms promptly so they'll have time to sprout and bloom later in September, October and November. The colorful flowers of autumn crocus, so unexpected, always stand in sharp contrast against the browns and golds of autumn, renewing the gardener's forgotten memories of spring. --edited by dtd siegelgirl

History:

Crocus kotschyanus (formerly known as Crocus zonatus) is a somewhat weedy species usually flowering in October. It has a bad reputation not only because it is a rampant self-seeder, but also because many forms have flowers that are woefully undersized. There is a form in commerce that appears to be badly infected with a virus, as the flowers are not just small, but seriously deformed. A good form of Crocus kotschyanus with flowers of reasonable size is worth having, however. In some lights the flower color approaches a delicate pink, and one can forgive a self-seeder of such beauty. [Source: http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/FallBloomingCrocusTwo]