A very unusual crocus

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:50:35 PDT
After a good meeting of our local rock garden group (and later on I’ll post
something of interest from that meeting) I got home to find the garden
basking in the warmish sun. Things are popping right and left. If you’re
still waiting for piles of dirty snow to melt or are shivering in the cold
under cloudy skies, let me point out that my cheery description hides a
little problem. Yes, things are quickly coming into bloom right and left.
But yes, things are going over just as fast. 

Several years ago a friend handed me a tiny bag of crocus corms: he
described them as from the “little purple one you see in lawns”. Around
here, the little purple ones you see in lawns is Crocus tommasinisnus. This
particular group was in full bloom earlier this week, but by now most of the
blooms are pretty ragged. While looking at them this morning, I spotted on
which had very narrow tepals. The tepals of some crocuses do roll that way
before they finally collapse. But then I took a closer look: what’s this?
This crocus had six anthers! 

Of course it was not a crocus, it was a Colchicum of the Merendera sort. The
size and color of the flower matched those of the little tommies so well
that I’m surprised I even noticed it. Which one is it? It was growing right
up through one of my labels. The label said Colchicum ‘Lilac Bedder’.
Hmmmmm……  

I have the vague recollection that Colchicum trigynum was planted nearby
once. Maybe…

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7, where trilliums are suddenly up and unfurling their leaves. 
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/
 
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