Crocus- A Plant Review

The Crocus has to be the most under appreciated bulb in the garden. To be honest if I had not been starting a bulb bed on a budget I probably would not have chosen to plant these. I came across a box of about 50 of them in a grocery store that were for sale for under five dollars so I snapped them up.

To be honest I wasn't expecting much from these humble little bulbs but when they broke through the ground very early in the spring they won a special place in my heart. I found them to cheer up the yard and I only wished I had planted more of them. Mine sprouted white, yellow (more gold) and this blue you see in the photo. I was surprised by how much I liked their leaves too, they're reminiscent of blades of grass but with a white or cream color running down their center.

Crocus bulbs can be grown in pots or forced inside during the winter and are hardy enough to be planted under sod where they will push through and create a blanket of flowers. They're in the Iridaceae Family and are native to southern Europe, North Africa along with the Middle East. They also span across Central Asia and Western China.

According to Diana Wells, author of 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names, the first spring Crocuses were sent to England from France by Jean Robin, curator of the Jardin du Roi Paris and brough to the Americas by settlers. And I for one am glad they were.