Crocus dor, Crocus chrysanthus : planter, cultiver, multiplier

Crocus chrysanthus, called golden crocus is a so-called ‘bulbous’ plant of winter or early spring flowering, which belongs to the family of Iridaceae. Crocus chrysanthus is native to Mediterranean Europe, present in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and Albania. It grows in a mountain environment in low prairie or in light woods.

The golden crocus is a species closely related to Crocus biflorus (white and purple). They have been hybridized with each other to give adorable spring bulbs of various colors. Crocus chrysanthus is a rockery crocus easy, durable and very attractive. These crocuses and their horticultural varieties are among the first to flower and do not require any care.

Description of Crocus chrysanthus

The golden crocus produces a small, stocky pear-shaped corm with a diameter of 1 cm, covered with a thick leather-look tunic. The leaves of this crocus are starting to come out of the ground towards the end of autumn. They are linear leaves, 2 mm wide, marked with a silvery longitudinal line. The snow crocus blooms between February and March. Each bulb is multiflore and produces 3 to 5 golden yellow flowers, sometimes speckled with brown, quite variable in color. The fleur peaks at 10 cm and is often very pleasantly scented. Its leaves end their cycle around April / May.

Crocus chrysanthus often shows itself as dense and very floriferous mass. Not only are the bulbs multi-flowered, they also tend to produce 3/4 thread bulbs per year. They are shimmering with an often different flower color between the inside and the outside of the perianth.

Some varieties of Crocus chrysanthus

• Crocus chrysanthus ‘Advance’, moonlight yellow inside and reddish outside
• Crocus chrysanthus ‘Blue Pearl’, light blue
• Crocus chrysanthus ‘Boucle d’or’, golden yellow with dark lines on the outside, a fairly old selection, but excellent and still very popular.
• Crocus chrysanthus ‘Prince Claus’ is remarkable with its perianth with well rounded white tepals, speckled with dark purple on the outside. These flowers are attractive as well closed in gray weather as they bloom under the rays of the sun. Their scent is sweet and spicy at the same time.
• Crocus chrysanthus ‘Goldmine’ is a semi-double yellow form.

How to grow and use the golden crocus?

Crocus chrysanthus and its varieties are easy to grow and do not require no special care. If they are planted in draining soil that is moist in winter and dries up in summer. This golden crocus grows admirably in rockery, on an embankment, in a dry lawn, in a trough or in a pot.

L’exposition will be chosen sunny during the leaf phase ; it does not matter then during the rest season.

Small bulbs or rather corms are planted during their rest season and until October. They are buried at a depth of 5 to 8 cm of the ground.

They can be left in place for 10 years and flower faithfully, more and more closely together.

When found too tight, they can be reshuffled when their leaves turn yellow in April, so you know exactly where to dig, but also throughout their resting season.

Crocus chrysanthus love them poor to moderately rich soils. He doesn’t really need tofertilizer, but in a pot or a trough, its soil can be renewed to bring in new nutrients.

Comment multiplier crocus chrysanthus ?

It spreads by division of bulbils during the rest season.

Species and varieties of Crocus

100 species, of which only about 30 are cultivated

• Crocus vernus, spring crocus,
• Large-flowered crocus, Holland crocus,
• Crocus flavus, suitable for rockery
• Crocus angustifolius,
• Crocus tommasinianus, thomas crocus
• Crocus ancyrensis, Crocus d’Ankara
• Crocus sieberi, Crocus de Sieber
• Crocus biflorus, the Scottish crocus, a rare species
• Crocus sativus, saffron
• Crocus nudiflorus, our Pyrenean crocus
• Crocus batanicus, superb rare species with a different floral structure

Plants of the same genus