Sometimes in gardening it's hard to decide if what we observe is the norm or an exception to the norm. I've grown Crocus laevigatus for years, yet this year I think I'm beginning to understand something about it which I did not previously realize. My original stock of this plant is now many years old, and it generally blooms in mid-winter; in the typical crocus line up it blooms after Crocus imperati and before C. korolkowii. A plant from Jane McGary bloomed last year for the first time with a small, misshapen flower in late autumn. I assumed that the misshapen flower was due to what I took to be an abnormal flowering season (a full month before my established plants). This year that same plant produced a lovely flower weeks ago - again very early. The long established plants on the other hand are in full bloom now. Until this evening I attributed this disparity in bloom time to chance. But I got an email from another local gardener who, in commenting on the flowering of his Crocus laevigatus now, called it an autumn-blooming species. I had never thought of it as an autumn-flowering species, but the plant from Jane McGary seems to be just that. It seems that there are autumnal-blooming forms and mid-winter-blooming form of this species, and apparently I now have both Or is this species better described as an opportunistic bloomer - a plant which blooms when the weather seems propitious? For the record, all of my plants came under the name Crocus laevigatus 'fontenayi'. When does Crocus laevigatus bloom for others? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/