Flowers. Photo from C. Foord.

Foliage. Photo from C. Foord.

Click on photos from Wikipedia

Form. Photo from C. Foord.

See photos and text from Paghat

Plant Name

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Crocus chrysanthus 'Snow Bunting'

(Crocus chrysanthus is Syn. Crocus annulatus var. chrysanthus, Crocus croceus, Crocus skorpilii)

Crocus is a Chaldean name meaning "saffron". In the wild, the plants are found over much of Europe, especially around the Mediterranean, in North Africa, and in Western Asia.

'Snow Bunting' is the only cultivar raised by E A Bowles to be still available commercially.

Common Name

Saffron

Soil

Sand, Chalk

Sun Aspect

Full Sun and Part Shade (Full Sun for 4 hours a day)

Soil Moisture

Moist. 'Many species of crocuses like to be permitted to remain dry in summer, but this is not the case with varieties of C. sieberi or C. chrysanthus, which even during summer dormancy multiply best in well-watered locations.' from Paghat.

Plant Type

Perennial Corm

Height x Spread in feet

3 inches x 15 inches

Foliage

The 10 inch long Dark Green leaves are produced with the flowers.

Flower Colour in Month(s). Seed

White inside, outer petals Creamy with dark Lilac feathering, blooms in February-March with the leaves.

Comment

This corm is "a wonderful large flowered hybrid. White flowers with pale yellow bases. Running down the outside of the petals are several plum coloured stripes." from R.V. Roger.

The 2 natural divisions of Crocus are:-

• 1. Autumn-flowering species and hybrids and
• 2. Winter- and Spring-flowering species

and the relevant division is added to the Plant Description Page Title.

Plant 2 inches deep in average well-drained, moisture-retentive soil and 3 inches apart in September-November. If planting in clay soil, remove soil to 8 inches deep, work very sharp sand or gravel into the bottom of the area, and mix a little with the clay soil to bring the depth up to 3-4 inches, before placing the bulbs in position and refilling with 50% soil 50% sharp sand.
Plant at the edges of paths, drives and small beds towards the front of borders. They can also be planted 4 inches deep in 10 inch pots with 50% sharp sand and 50% Multipurpose Compost mixture.
Plant under turf on sandy or chalk soil. The grass should be mown short a month before flowers appear and all mowing stopped whilst the crocus are in flower and leaf. The winter-flowering crocuses will have made their leaf growth and the foliage will have died down by the time in the spring when the grass needs cutting.
The larger-sized corms of particular varieties can be rested in the neck of a crocus vase so that the bottom of the corm is just above the water level, then place on a window-cill in the kitchen to give you the flowers before planting out in the garden when in leaf.

Available from Autumn Bulb Catalogue of R. V. Roger and Gee Tee Bulb Company with Bulbmeister in USA