100 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 19 13 



position of the bulbs is lost. This antipa- 

 thy to the yellow florists' crocus, which, let 

 me add, does not extend in my case to the 

 yellow of the species crocus, may be the 

 prejudice of ignorance, for of varieties 

 other than Cloth of Gold and Large Yellow 

 I know nothing. In these the yellow is the 

 crude yellow of the dandelion (a flower I hate 

 with all my might)! Mr. E. A. Bowles, 

 of Waltham Cross,. England, tells us that 

 the more delicate and subtle tones of yellow 

 are to be found in several varieties of crocus 

 species; it is to these that I plan to turn my 

 attention with great ardor another season. 



Few of these species crocus do I already 

 know in my own borders — only half a 

 dozen — and as I believe readers will re- 

 joice as I have done in some of Mr. Bowles' 

 enthusiastic comments on or descriptions of 

 these flowers, I offer no apology for quoting 

 from him, as I mention the flowers of 

 which he knows so much through years of 

 collecting, growing, and study. 



Now, in spite of my aversion to the large 

 yellow florists' crocus, I do like Crocus 

 Susianus, which is one of the bright yellows 

 before-mentioned (Color chart, cad- 

 mium yellow, No. i). 

 But Crocus Susianus 

 blooming as early as 

 April 9th, planted very 

 thickly, gave in my 

 border the interesting 

 impression of a large- 

 flowering yellow Phlox 

 subulata — practically 

 no green leaf visible 

 below the masses of 

 bloom. Five to seven 

 flowers appear in small 



tight bunches from one bulb; and back of 

 and among this flowering mass of yellow I 

 had colonies of the white crocus Mont 

 Blanc. Let me commend this very simple 

 and unstudied arrangement. C. Susianus 

 is much dwarfer than Mont Blanc, therefore 

 have it mainly to the front. 



Crocus Sieberi I call a warm pinkish 

 lavender (Color chart, Violet mauve, No. 

 1). Six to eight flowers come from a bulb, 

 and the bright orange stigmata within give 

 a glowing centre to the little flower. This 

 is very small and low. Mr. Bowles calls it 

 a "crocus for every garden" and adds that 

 it "seeds freely and soon spreads in any 

 sunny border." 



"Crocus Korolkowi," to quote Mr. 

 Bowles again, "from the Far East, has two 

 good points — it flowers early and is of a 

 peculiarly brilliant form of yellow.' ' 

 This little crocus I have grown for a few 

 years myself and it always surprises me by 

 appearing practically with the snowdrop. 



Crocus biflorus, the "Scotch crocus," 

 is white, with pencillings of grayish mauve 

 on its three outer petals. The markings 

 are exquisite and the early blooming of 



this crocus marks it as a specially necessary 

 one. 



My prime favorite among all these 

 species crocus is Crocus Tommasinianus. 

 It is tall, slender, delicate, with narrow 

 pointed petals, of a lovely lavender, slight- 

 ly bluer than Sieberi. An orange pistil 

 within it is like a vivid star. It has great 

 height of stem, and tapering form of flower. 

 It is the one which most delights me as a 

 novice in crocus collecting; and last 

 autumn, in a limited space where the 

 ground runs up into a rather steepish slope 

 for a few feet, which slope is covered by a 

 thick group of the little tree known as the 

 garland thorn, there beneath the small tree- 

 stems I hope to see next spring hundreds 

 of little candles, lavender candles of Crocus 

 Tommasinianus running up the tiny hill- 

 side, and racing along beside them a 

 company of Galanihus Elwesii, their com- 

 panions in time of bloom. "I have found" 

 writes Mr. Bowles, "C. Tommasinianus so 

 far to prove the most satisfactory ' of the 

 wild species for spreading and ^holding its 

 own when planted in grass." 



Several beautiful new seedling crocuses 

 have come within a few 

 years from Holland — 

 May and Dorothea — the 

 latter a "soft, pale lav- 

 ender mauve," May "a 

 beautiful white of fine 

 form." These two I 

 have; not, however, 

 Kathleen Parlow, said to 

 be an extra fine white, 

 with wonderful orange 

 anthers, nor Distinction 

 the nearest approach to 

 a pink color in crocus 



When the snow Is still on the ground the colors of the crocus flowers often brighten the 

 garden. Giant Yellow; photographed April 11 



Grape hyacinth (Mus- 

 cari) is a good companion 

 for the crocus. True blue 

 in some varieties 





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Crocus Mont Blanc is excellent for planting on the lawn or where light color is wanted 



The Siberian squill has 

 bright blue flowers, quite' 

 effective with daffodils 



