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 December
2002
 Pedicularis
kanei ssp kanei
 November
2002
Crocus
tournefortii
October
2002
Cyclamen
mirabile
September
2002
Sternbergia
sicula
Colchicum
byzantinum album
August
2002
Gentiana
septemfida
July
2002
Oxytropis
shokanbetsuensis
June
2002
Silene
caroliniana
May
2002
Jeffersonia
dubia
April
2002
Tulipa
vvedenskyi
March
2002
Draba
aizoides
February
2002
Diapensia
lapponica
January
2002
Chamaecyparis
obtusa 'Nana'
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2003
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2001
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2000
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1999
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1998
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1997
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Plant
of the Month
November
2002
Crocus
tournefortii
by John Lonsdale
Whilst most
gardeners are familiar with Crocus
speciosus, the most commonly seen fall flowering
crocus, many are unaware that it is just one representative
of some twenty-plus Crocus taxa which bloom between
September and December. Like Crocus
speciosus, a good number of these make excellent
subjects for growing in the garden, generally in sunny and
very well drained areas which get on the dry side in the
summer months.
Crocus
tournefortii, November's plant of the month, is one
such crocus which makes an exceptional display outside, an
established clump flowering for over a month and well into
mid-late November in our Zone 6b Exton garden. The genus
Crocus is found within Iridaceae, the Iris family, and is
widely distributed throughout much of Europe, centering upon
the eastern Mediterranean. C.
tournefortii grows in open stony ground or dryish
scrub from sea level to 650 meters and hails from the
Cyclades Islands and Crete. It is closely related to
C. laevigatus and
C. boryi, which are also
fall-blooming. However, the flowers open out nearly flat,
unlike those of the latter two species (which tend to be
wine glass-shaped), and remain so in dull weather and even
throughout the night, overcoming one of the major
frustrations with crocus in the garden. It makes huge corms
in cultivation, ensuring a long succession of flowers to
rapidly replace any damaged by inclement weather.
The flowers
of C. tournefortii appear just
before the leaves and are relatively invariant, being of
good size and a lovely shade of lilac in most forms in
cultivation and in the wild. The lilac petals shade through
white to a yellow throat and can be delicately veined, many
clones are also delightfully scented. An especially
attractive feature is the long, much-branched and spreading
style, usually bright orange to reddish in color. In
northern Crete the flowers can be white, and, in the east of
the island, where populations of C.
boryi and C.
tournefortii overlap, putative hybrids can be found
with characteristics intermediate between the species.
 Although
the leaves are fully grown during the winter months they
stand up very well to the weather, and the plant goes
usually goes dormant in mid to late May. Corms increase
rapidly by vegetative means and a lot of seed is set in the
garden. Although relatively late flowering, there are still
enough bees around to ensure good pollination. Seed is ripe
in early summer and will germinate the same fall if sown
promptly. Flowering size corms usually take around three
years to achieve. In both pots and the garden, corms should
be planted around 3 to 4 inches deep in a sunny situation in
a well drained soil which is allowed to become dry during
the plant's dormancy. It is trouble-free in all respects and
well worth growing. Seed is regularly available from the
various exchanges, and corms are commercially available from
a number of sources.
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