Fall has brought some gloomy, rainy, grey weather. Imagine my delight when I walked outside on the first sunny day in a while and found a second round of flowers from the Crocus speciosus.
I already posted some pictures of these flowers here, but was so delighted with their rebloom that I had to do an encore post.
Fresh crocus flowers in fall are a delight anyway, but a double set of blooms from each bulb might push C. speciosus to the top of my favorite bulbs list. Of course there are plenty of showier flowers in spring, but these lavender beauties seem to shine even brighter since there's nothing else blooming in the garden right now.
I pulled out graph paper to draw a rough map of where the current clumps are located so I can plant more next fall in just the right places. Can you ever have enough fall crocus? I can imagine planting a few more each fall for years to come.
The bulbs pictured came from White Flower Farm at $8.95 for 25 plus shipping, but they were also offered by K. van Bourgondien at $9.50 for 25 bulbs and High Country Gardens at $13.49 for 24 bulbs.
WFF says C. speciosus is "the easiest to naturalize, most floriferous, and least expensive of the fall crocus." They're hardy from zones 4-8, and their diminutive foliage won't make the whole garden look shabby as it grows and dies back next spring. If these bulbs aren't already on your wish list for next fall, add them now. Just don't buy so many that they're out of stock when I try to order, ha!
Hi VW,
ReplyDeleteLovely, must be such a delight to have these elegant little flowers in bloom right now!
I love the contrast of orange, yellow & purple. Your photographs are lovely. I hope you get a lot of pleasure out of these little guys. It is wonderful to have fall blooming crocuses in the garden!
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely! It is frustrating when the least expensive are out of stock! I discovered that this past month when buying camassias! gail
ReplyDeleteOh dear, was going to head over to White Flower Farm, then I saw Gail's comment. Well...plan B.
ReplyDeleteYour closeup photos are outstanding! I think an encore bloom deserves an encore post!
These are really pretty looking flowers, and your photos show how fresh they look in the fall garden. I like the colour, and the idea of having flowers when most other plants are dying back is very appealing. Two rounds of flowers so late in the season is a bonus. You've convinced me to have a look around for some, but I may have to wait until next year.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos - so sharp! Do you use a macro lens? I love close-ups of flowers. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, especially the closeups with the shadows. Also, it was your post a few weeks ago that made me realize that the crocus I had sprouting in the bag were fall crocus, not spring crocus that I'd waited too long to plant. What a relief.
ReplyDeleteLove the light and dancing shadows on those blooms. Enchanting!
ReplyDeleteNorthern Shade - you will have to wait until next year, as C. speciosus is shipped in September while dormant and needs to get planted quickly so it can bloom before winter. Mine were all planted in September and bloomed twice! Can't wait for next year.
ReplyDeleteHelen - I use a Canon Rebel XS camera, which is the bottom level dslr. I splurged on a great lens, Canon's EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM standard zoom lens, and that's why the photos come out sharp. Plus I use the 'Clarity' slider in Photoshop Element's RAW editor, which sharpens. I reduce the photo size in Photoshop, then use the sharpen slider in Picasa before uploading them to the web.
Very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThe garden for the love of pretty plants is also called as crocus spacious encore. I already posted many pictures you like.
ReplyDelete