Dear Roger; Is it just me or is there a dumbing down of other cutlivars? Your note egged me to look at Mathew's 'The Crocus' * with these cvs 'Alba' Aitchisonii (Lg Pale lilac) Artabir ( Lg pale lilac with veins) Cassiope (Lg Blue-lavender w/ yellow throat) Globosus (Smaller bluer) Pollux (Lg pale blue violet w/silver exterior) Oxonian Deep purple-blue) Trotter (Lg White) and Bowles 'Crocus and Colchicumn' * C. speciosus cvs Artibir Cassiope Pollux All from Van Tubergen Pacific Rim Native Plant Nursery lists 'Aino' as an improved sort of 'Oxonian'. I have seen 'Oxonian' listed, and heard of a few of these names, but does anyone offer even half of these and are they true to name? Have these been lost to mass marketers or just ignored due to lack of interest? Can we blame the proverbial Dutch mass growers? Add to this the seedlings that appear and you are headed for trouble. This got me to looking at C. banaticus my favorite fall crocus and I was sort of shocked to find these cvs: Alba Ruby (Reddish Purple) President (Lg Deep Purple) Rosamund (Pale Lilac) Bowles mentions these too. Never even heard of any except the first which I have been trying to get for years without much luck. I have two forms - one slightly pale and the other slightly darker. Noticable, but not name worthy. Are these too minor to be of interest to bulb growers? Where are the mom-n-pop specialist growers? Help? Best Jim W. * I recommend both books to 'Crocu-nuts' (Thanks to John Grimshaw for this name) out there. Unfortunately the Mathew book is OOP and exorbitantly high priced from sellers. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +