Crocus
 Crocus are a very welcome sight for gardeners from late winter to early spring. I love seening crocus poke their heads through the winter snow. It's a beautiful site. The spring-blooming crocus are the most familiar and popular. However, there is a fall-blooming crocus, Colchicum, that is quite lovely. Both bulb varieties grow from corms and produce grassy leaves that appear with or just after the flowers.
Spring-blooming crocus come in shades of yellow, white, purple, and lavender and also bicolored blooms. Fall-blooming crocus come in shades of rose-purple, purple, and violet.
Spring-blooming crocus bulbs should be planted in the fall. They will tolerate light shade under deciduous trees. Plant the bulbs 3 to 4 inches deep. Crocus come in a variety of species and cultivars. So, for longer color, plant a variety of species and cultivars.
Fall-blooming crocus should be planted as soon as they are available, which is typically late summer or very early fall.
Crocus can be naturalized into the lawn. If your lawn is sparse and you want to add some early spring color, give it a try. Make sure not to mow your lawn until after the foliage has turned yellow. Crocus can be propagated by separating the offsets just as the leaves turn yellow and the corms go dormant in early summer. If you plant crocus bulbs in a well-drained soil that does not have too much clay, they will self-sow and produce offsets. |
