Crocus purpurea botanical planting and care. Crocus: description, propagation, care, planting, use in the garden, photos, varieties and types

Iris family (Iridaceae). Early spring and autumn corm ephemeroids. In the most common species and varieties, the corm shells are shiny, light brown, with thin parallel fibers, but in the species of crocuses they are varied: there are those similar to a coarse mesh sponge, membranous, etc.

They bloom in late April - early May (spring flowering) or in September - October (autumn flowering). Leaves grow in April-May and die off by mid-June. Narrow-linear, with a white longitudinal stripe along the midrib, at the base wrapped in transparent scale-like leaves. Each corm produces one or more flowers, similar to a glass on a thin stem.

The perianth rises to a height of 10-15 cm and consists of 6 leaflets, of which the 3 outer ones are somewhat larger than the 3 inner ones and often differ in color from them. In some species of crocuses, the “glass” opens as it blooms, and the flower takes on a star-shaped shape.

From the thin part of the perianth - the tube - a thread-like column rises, divided at the end into 3 whole or dissected branches - stigmas, colored yellow, orange or red. 3 stamens with large yellow or orange anthers are beautifully located inside the flower.

The set fruit, an oblong capsule, sits underground for a long time, but as it ripens, it is brought to the surface on a short stalk.

Grow in a sunny area. Light loam is preferred, but heavy clay is also suitable for large-flowered Dutch Hybrids.

Responsive to fertility. Poor soil is improved by adding well-rotted manure, leaf soil and sand; the soil reaction should be close to neutral.

They are especially sensitive to waterlogging and grow better on high ridges:

• Alatava crocuses,
• crocus biflora,
• crocus Sieber,
• crocus Korolkova,
• crocus Kochi,
• crocus Pallas,
• angustifolia crocus.

Crocus propagation

Children. By seeds (sowing in autumn). Shoots appear the following spring and bloom in the 4th-5th year.

Application in the garden

In flower beds under large perennials, shrubs and trees in natural gardens and landscape parks. On the roller coaster.

Crocuses of the Dutch Hybrids group allow you to create bright mixed groups on lawns and lawns. Early flowering species and varieties are used for forcing.

Types and varieties of crocus

Groups of varieties of spring-flowering crocuses:

Group of Dutch Hybrids, or Large-flowered. Created on the basis of the spring crocus species. There are about 30 varieties. These are very prolific, unpretentious plants, which are decorated with really large goblet-shaped flowers: on average, two times larger than those of their wild ancestors.

Many hybrids differ in minor details of color or size, which becomes noticeable only when grown together; flowering times for different varieties can vary by 3-7 days. All this allows you to create a variety of color combinations with long flowering.

White varieties

• Albiflorus’ (Albiflorus’) - the outside of the tepals is painted with light lilac shading, which becomes dark purple on the tube.
• ‘Albion’ - flowers of approximately the same color, but smaller.
• ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ is one of the most popular and large varieties, characterized by a lavender tube and narrow purple streaks in the center of each outer leaflet.
• ‘Kathleen Parlow’ - the flowers are pure white, only the tube is darkened with creamy strokes.
• ‘Peter Pan’ - with completely white and very large flowers.
• ‘Snowstorm’ - stands out with bright purple stripes at the base of the flower.

Lilac varieties

• ‘Agnes’ – has a small light lilac “glass” with a silver edge.
• ‘Glory of Sassenheim’ has a darker greyish hue, the outside of the tepals are covered with reddish-purple stripes, and the tube is purple.
• ‘Grand Lila’ and ‘Striped Beauty’ - flowers are light lilac, like ‘Agnes’, but larger and the flowers have dark stripes on the outside and a dark purple tube.
• ‘Jubilee’ - distinguished by a bluish-silver tint combined with a dark purple tube.
• ‘King of Striped’ is perhaps the largest-flowered in this group; the flowers are very light, almost white, but with purple shading on the outside.
• ‘Pallas’ is basically similar to Tlori of Sasenheim, but somewhat smaller.
• ‘Pickwick’ is even smaller and blooms 4-5 days later than them.
• ‘Purpureus Grandiflorus’ is notable for its large flower size, the color of the “glass” is lilac-blue, which becomes darker on the tube.
• ‘Grand Maitre’ - flowers are somewhat smaller.
• ‘Vanguard’ has pale lilac flowers with dark stripes on the outside, and the tube is white, but has stripes from the tepals.

Purple varieties

• ‘Early Perfection’ - the flowers are pure purple, with the color thickening towards the bottom and a white center visible inside.
• ‘Flower Record’ – small but bright purple, the three outer tepals have a light edge, the tube is dark purple.
• ‘Little Dorrit’ lilac-violet background is varied by dark stripes.
• ‘Negro Boy’ (‘Negro Boy’) - with flowers of a very dark, rich color, and the tube is even darker.
• ‘Paulus Potter’ - the dark purple “glass” has a reddish tint - a true dark purple color.
• ‘Queen of the Blues’ - shade blue, the outside of the flower is matte with a light edge, the tube is purple.
• ‘Re-membrance’ (‘Remembrance’) - has a grandiose shiny “glass”, with dark purple “scorching”.
• 'Rubi Giant' is similar to 'Paulus Potter', but smaller.
• There is only one yellow variety in this group, but it has many names:
• ‘Mammoth Yellow’,
• ‘Dutch Yellow’,
• ‘Yellow Giant’,
• ‘Largest Yellow’.

It comes from Crocus angustifolia and Crocus yellow, from which it received its bright golden color and the ability to bloom earlier than other “Dutch” plants by a whole week.

Group Hybrids Chrysanthus. Hybrids bred on the basis of Crocus aureus, different natural forms of Crocus biflorus and their hybrid (C. chrysanthus x C. biflorus).

They are not as large as the “Dutch” ones, but complement their lilac-violet palette with a variety of yellow and bluish shades. They, like species of crocuses, are often sold under the name “botanical”.

Alatavi crocus (C. alatavicus). Spring-blooming. Corm in a soft, parallel-fibrous shell. The flowers are white on the inside, with a yellowish throat, on the outside with a light purple or yellowish-brown tint, less often - simply white. Stigmas are whole and orange. Inhabitant of mountain meadows and foothills of Central Asia.

Banat crocus (C. banaticus). Autumn-blooming. It has a delicate pinkish-lilac perianth, and a very characteristic structure: 3 inner tepals are almost 2 times shorter than the outer ones and lighter. The stigmas are lilac, finely dissected. Corm in a thin shell with parallel fibers and a weak network. It grows in mountain meadows and forests of Romania and Yugoslavia, and is also found in the Carpathians.

Spring crocus (C. vermis). Spring-blooming. The flowers are pure lilac, with purple “scorching” on the outside at the base, sometimes with a network of purple veins. There is a white-flowered form that grows worse. The stigmas are dissected. Corm in a thin shell with parallel fibers, slightly reticulate. In nature, it is found in mountain meadows and light forests in the Alps and Pyrenees.

Crocus biflorus (C. biflorus). Spring-blooming. It has membranous corm shells that fall apart in circles. The stigmas are entire. It has multi-colored natural forms, among which are pure white; lilac-blue, and with brownish spots on the outside; white with brownish-purple stripes on the outside, white on the inside and brownish-purple on the outside, bluish with darker outer tepals, and various variations on these themes.

Crocus yellow (C. flavus = C. aureus = C. luteus). Spring-blooming. The corm has a membranous shell that splits at the bottom into parallel fibers.

Crocus Sieber (C. sieberi). Spring-blooming. A small Greek crocus with a thin mesh corm shell and varying color: there are forms of a delicate pinkish-lilac color with a yellow middle, there are white with purple stripes on the outside, there are simply purple with a yellow-white stripe at the transition to the tube.

• ‘Firefly’, ‘Bowles White’, ‘Tricolor’ - correspond to the above forms.
• 'Hubert Edelsten' has pinkish flowers with a striped base, like 'Tricolor'.

Crocus Korolkowii (C. korolkowii). Spring-blooming. The corm shells are filmy and split at the bottom into parallel fibers. The perianth is yellow-orange inside, brownish-violet outside, the stigmas are entire. Found in Central Asia on gravelly slopes.

Crocus Kochi, or zonatus (C. kotschyanus = C. zona-tus). Autumn-blooming. The corm is noticeably flattened, in thin shells. The flowers are lilac, up to 4.5 cm long. Homeland - the Middle East.

Crocus beautiful (C speciosus). The best among the species of autumn crocuses. With large flowers reaching a diameter of 7 cm. The flowers are painted in lilac tones with a network of purple veins, and are white in the throat. The stigmas are bright orange, thinly dissected. The corm has thin, light-colored shells that easily fall apart into rings. It grows on the edges of mountain forests in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and the Balkans.

• ‘Cassiope’ is a large plant with bright pinkish-purple flowers.
• ‘Aitchesoni’ - with very long flowers, with pointed, pale lilac tepals.
• ‘Oxonian’ – with dark, blue-violet flowers.
• ‘Albus’ (‘Albus’) - with white flowers.

Crimean crocus (C. tauricus). Spring-blooming. The inside flowers are usually light purple, almost white, sometimes almost purple, with a yellow throat; the outside is dull with dark purple stripes. There is a form with a light edge.

Crocus (Crocus) or saffron is a herbaceous corm plant of the Iris family. The aquatic habitat is steppes, forests, meadows of Southern, Northern, Central Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia Minor and Central Asia.

The word “crocus” translated from Greek means “fiber, thread”, and translated from Arabic “saffron” means “yellow” (the stigmas of the flower are colored yellow). The crocus was first mentioned in Egyptian papyri.

In floriculture, crocus is known as a spring primrose, but there are also species that bloom in autumn.

Botanical description

Crocus is a low-growing herbaceous plant about 10 cm high. Underground part: a flattened round bulb with a diameter of about 3 cm, shrouded in scales, a bunch of fibrous roots is attached to the bulb. There is no stem.

The leaves are linear, narrow, appear before or after flowering. A single goblet-shaped corolla with a diameter of 2-5 cm appears on a leafless peduncle. They can be painted white, cream, blue, lilac, purple, yellow, orange; there are bicolor ones, decorated with spots and stripes. In general, the flowering period lasts 2-3 weeks.

How to plant crocuses in the garden

• Spring crocuses are planted in open ground in the fall, and autumn-blooming crocuses are planted in the summer.
• Choose a sunny area; they will grow normally in partial shade or shade.
• The soil needs to be nutritious, loose, light.
• When digging the area, add rotted manure, compost or peat with lime. Add ash to clay soil.

• Plant the bulb to a depth of 2 times its size; if the soil is heavy, a depth of 1 size is sufficient.
• Maintain a distance of 7-10 cm between plants. Do not thicken the plantings, since crocuses can grow in one place for 3-5 years, forming many “children” - the area will turn into a continuous carpet of flowers.
• Water well after planting and mulch the soil with fine organic matter or humus.

You can plant crocuses for forcing. Forcing is a way to force a plant to bloom indoors out of season. Dutch large-flowered varieties are best suited.

• Take bulbs of approximately the same size, plant 5-10 pieces in a shallow bowl.
• The soil must be loose, water-, breathable, and neutral.

• Plant the bulbs evenly, slightly pressing them into the soil and leaving almost no space between them, sprinkle with soil to the level of the growth point of the above-ground part, and water moderately.
• Keep in this form in a cool place for 3-4 months at a temperature of +0 to +10°C.
• In advance, a week or two before the desired flowering date, remove the crocuses and place them in a warm, bright place, open and water.
• Soon shoots will appear and the plants will bloom.

• After forcing the bulbs, do not throw them away: continue to water them and feed them with complex mineral fertilizers. When the leaves begin to turn yellow, gradually reduce watering until it stops completely. After the leaves dry out, remove the bulbs, clean them of soil, wrap them in a napkin, place them in a cardboard box, and store them in a dry, dark place until planting in open ground.

Caring for crocuses in the garden

Caring for crocuses is very easy.

Watering

If the winter was snowless and the spring without rain, a need arises. In general, crocuses are drought-resistant. Periodically loosen the soil and remove weeds.

Feeding

• During active growth, apply complex mineral fertilizers; applying fresh organic matter is not recommended.
• Add more potassium and phosphorus; an excess of nitrogen (especially in damp weather) is fraught with fungal diseases.
• Apply the first fertilizing before flowering (30-40 g of fertilizer per 1 m²), the second during flowering.

After flowering

When the spring crocuses fade and their leaves turn yellow, you can forget about them until the next season. Care for fall-blooming crocuses in the same way.

After flowering, faded inflorescences should be cut off. Green leaves will decorate the garden for a long time. When they dry out, dig up the bulbs as necessary.

Mulch the remaining crocuses over the winter with peat or dry leaves.

When to dig up crocus bulbs?

The need for digging arises after 3-4 years. During this time, the mother bulb will acquire many daughter bulbs, which will interfere with each other, and the flowers will become small. You can dig up, replant, divide the bulbs more often.

You can dig up spring-blooming crocuses from July to September, and autumn-blooming ones from June to August.

Dig up the bulbs, clear the soil, remove dead scales, and place them in a single layer in a box or cardboard box. Ideal storage: until August, keep the air temperature at 22 ºC, from August lower it to 20 ºC, and from the middle of the month lower it to 15 ºC. Such conditions are provided in specialized farms. At home, you can store at room temperature in a dark, dry place with good ventilation until planting in open ground.

Propagation of crocuses by bulbs

Reproduction is carried out by separating daughter bulbs. Carry out planting following the agricultural techniques described earlier. Flowering will occur in the 3rd or 4th year of life, depending on the variety and species.

Growing crocuses from seeds

Spring-blooming crocuses can be propagated. Flowering of crocuses grown from seeds will occur approximately 4-5 years after planting in open ground, so this method of propagation is not very popular.

• You can sow before winter (autumn) or grow seedlings in spring (sow in mid-March to early April).
• In both cases, the seeds must first be soaked in a growth stimulator for 30-40 minutes, then kept in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
• To sow seedlings, the seeds also need to be stratified.
• Sow the seeds sparsely in a bowl with damp sand; do not bury them in the soil, but simply spread them over the surface. Then cover with film and place in the vegetable section of the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks or dig in the garden and cover with spunbond.
• Then take out the bowl and place it in a warm, lit place.

• When the seedlings appear, carry out the first watering using a fine spray.
• Grown plants are planted in separate pots or in a permanent place in the garden.

Diseases and pests of crocuses

Penicillium, sclerotyl, gray rot, fusarium are diseases that affect crocuses. Warm, damp weather contributes to this. If you see flattened crocus flowers covered with gray spots, this is a sign of a viral disease. Affected plants must be dug up and destroyed.

Treat the soil with a fungicide. To avoid such problems, inspect the bulbs for damage before planting. If any damage is found, sprinkle the area with ash or treat it with a fungicide and dry it.

Bulbs can be damaged by wireworms (click beetle larvae). They are yellow in color and hard to the touch. At the end of April-beginning of May, spread last year's unripe grass, hay or straw around the area, moisten it and cover it with boards. This works like a trap. Burn them at the stake along with the larvae.

Collect slugs by hand.

Field mice can eat succulent crocus bulbs. To prevent this from happening, it is better to use different planting zones (several groups in different areas). In case of invasion, use ultrasonic repellent.

Types and varieties of crocus with photos and names

Crocuses are classified into 15 groups. The first is autumn-flowering, the rest are spring-flowering. Dutch hybrids, the Chrysanthus group, are the most popular varieties in commerce.

Let's consider spring-flowering ones.

Reaches a height of 17 cm. It has become the basis for breeding many species and varieties. Leaves are standard. The funnel-shaped flowers are white or purple. It blooms for about a month.

Crocus biflorus Crocus biflorus

The corolla can be pure white, white with brown-violet stripes, white inside and brown-violet outside, lilac-blue with external spots of brown.

Golden crocus Crocus chrysanthus

Reaches a height of 20 cm. Golden-yellow flowers have an orange throat.

Varieties:

• Blue Bonnet - has large (3 cm in diameter) flowers of a soft blue color.
• Nanette - yellow-cream corollas decorated with purple stripes along the outside.
• I. G. Bowels - a large corolla is bright yellow inside, brownish outside.

Crocus tommasinianus Crocus tommasinianus

The perianths are pink-lilac, with a white border along the edge. The opened corolla takes the shape of a star. 1-3 peduncles appear from one bulb.

Popular varieties:

• Lilek Beauty - the corollas are about 3 cm in diameter. The petals are oblong, the color is lilac: darker on the outside and lighter on the inside.
• Whitewell Purple - the opened flowers look almost flat, their diameter is 4 cm. The color is lilac-violet.

Autumn-blooming crocuses

Beautiful crocus Crocus speciosus

The oblong leaves extend 30 cm. Large flowers with a diameter of up to 7 cm are painted in a lilac-violet hue, with longitudinal veins of a purple hue. There are forms with white, blue, dark blue, lilac, light purple colors.

The best varieties are:

• Albus - snow-white flowers.
• Artabir - has flowers of a delicate blue hue with dark veins.
• Oksinan - has violet-blue flowers.

Crocus pulchellus

The height is 7-10 cm. Light purple corollas with stripes of a darker shade reach a diameter of 6-8 cm.

Banat crocus Crocus banaticus

The leaves are silver-gray in color and stretch 15 cm in length. The flowers are light lilac and large.

Among the autumn-flowering crocuses, it should be noted: Sharoyan, Pallas, Gulimi, holoflowered, medium, trellised, yellow-white, Kardukhor, Kochi, Cartwright.

Dutch crocus hybrids

Crocus white photo

Spring-blooming crocuses with large flowers. There are more than 50 of them. Based on color, they are divided into groups:

1. Pure or white, with a spot of various shades at the base.
2. Purple, lilac, lilac flowers.
3. They have a striped, lattice-like color.

Their color begins in May and lasts 10-17 days.

The following varieties grow well in temperate climates:

• Albion is a white flower with a diameter of 4 cm, the length of the tube reaches 5 cm, covered with strokes of a lilac hue.
• Vanguard - has bluish-lilac flowers with spots of a darker shade.
• Jubilee - at the base of the corolla there is a clear light purple spot, the corollas are blue with a violet tint.
• Sniper Banner - light grayish-lilac petals inside are covered with a thick mesh of lilac shade.
• Kathleen Parlow - white flowers with touches of lilac.
• Chrysanthus are hybrids that bloom in spring.

The most famous varieties:

• Gypsy Girl - the corolla is light yellow on the inside and yellow-cream on the outside. The cream-colored pipe is decorated with touches of dusty purple.
• Marietta - the spot at the base of the corolla is greenish, the corollas are dark cream, there are stripes of a dark lilac shade on the outside, the tube is gray-green.
• Lady Killer: the inner lobes are white, the outer lobes are white inside, and on the outside they are dark purple, have a white border and a bluish spot at the base.
• Saturnus is a yellow-cream flower with a bright yellow throat. The outer lobes are covered with thick streaks of lilac.

It’s best to start a conversation about the crocus flower with its definition. Crocuses belong to the genus of perennial low-growing corms of the iris family. In the literature on decorative floriculture, the plant has the Latin name Crocus. It is often called saffron (see Wikipedia).

As soon as the snow begins to melt, the first harbingers of spring appear in the thawed patches - small-bulbous plants, and in the first rows are spring crocuses. The flowers bloom in early to mid-April after the snowdrops and often before the first leaves appear.

The flowers look upward, goblet-shaped with six petals. It blooms for a short time, from a week to 20 days. And how much inspiration and joy they bring to our country life, when the first and beloved ones have not yet bloomed.

Spring crocuses - description and types

If crocuses are spring-blooming, then their flowering begins from early April to May inclusive. With an understanding of what area of ​​the globe you live in. Spring saffron is a herbaceous perennial bulbous plant that reaches a height of 15 cm.

The aboveground stem does not develop. The leaves are dark green with a silvery longitudinal stripe.

Flower with a long tube, bell-shaped and funnel-shaped. The outer perianth lobes reach a length of 3.5 cm. They are larger than the inner ones.

From one corm, 1-2 flowers develop, yellow, purple or white, sometimes striped. The flower's throat is pubescent. The anthers are lemon yellow.

Types of spring crocuses

1. Alataevsky (Crokus alatavikus)

One bulb produces 1-3 flowers. The inside of the flower is white with a yellowish throat. Flower height 6-8 cm. Blooms in early April.

2. Spring (Crokus vernus)

The plant reaches a height of 17 cm. 1-2 flowers emerge from the bulb, purple or white, sometimes striped. Blooms in spring 20-25 days. The mother corm is replaced annually with a new one.

3. Golden (Crokus chrysanthus)

The flowers are golden-yellow, up to 20 cm high, sometimes with tan marks or stripes on the outside. Blooms in April for 15-20 days.

4. Narrow-leaved (Crokus angustifolius)

The plant is low-growing, 15 cm high. It blooms almost simultaneously with the golden crocus.

5. Reticulated (Crokus reticulatus)

One bulb produces 2-4 flowers 6-10 cm high. It blooms in the first half of April for 25 days.

6. Large-flowered Dutch hybrids

They grow up to 15 cm in height. Very large flowers of various colors - from white and all shades of yellow to blue and dark purple. Let's look at some of them:

• Joan of Arc (white)

• Sky Blue (blue)

• Queen of Blue (light purple)

• Striped Beauty (striped, purple and white)

Autumn crocuses and their types

When there are no more flowers around, the time for autumn crocuses to bloom comes. They bloom from early September to late October. Common types:

• Beautiful

The height of the flower reaches 20 cm. The flowers are large with longitudinal veins on goblet-shaped petals. Colors may vary, for example lilac

or white,

or purple.

• Dolinny

This is a small plant with medium-sized flowers, mostly white.

Just like the beautiful crocus, it is unpretentious to growing conditions and does not require a special approach.

If they grow in valleys, then they will feel good and cozy in their summer cottage.

How to plant and replant a crocus flower

Crocus flower is an unpretentious frost-resistant plant. The place for planting it should be dry, well lit and warm enough by the sun.

Partial shade and planting under a tree are allowed.

Landing

To plant bulbs, you need light, nutritious, well-drained soil with the addition of sand and a small amount of mature compost or old humus.

Acidic soils, wetlands and fresh manure are unacceptable. Plants tolerate mineral fertilizers well. The first feeding is done in the snow in early spring, and the second during flowering.

Crocus plants that bloom in spring should be planted and replanted in September-October, and those that bloom in autumn should be planted and replanted in July-August. The planting depth depends on the size of the bulbs: large - 8-10 cm, medium - 4-6 cm, small and children - 2-3 cm.

The distance between the bulbs is from 5 to 10 cm. Crocuses can grow in one place for more than 5 years, but it is advisable to replant them every 4 years in order to maintain the size of the flowers at the original level.

Crocuses can be planted under trees and bushes. As long as there are no leaves on these plants, the crocuses have enough light and time to bloom and form new bulbs. Then they will retire until next spring, and they will have no need for light.

Plant bulbs are planted on rocky and alpine hills, in borders, in flower pots and containers.

Spring crocuses can also be planted on the lawn. Then in early spring, instead of a black, unattractive patch, a lovely flower bed will appear in place of the lawn, which will have time to bloom by the time it is time to mow the lawn.

Along with crocuses, other early-flowering small-bulbous plants can be planted on the lawn: galanthus, chionodloxa, scilla (scylla), and pushkinia.

The growing grass will cover the leaves of the faded bulbs, and when you need to mow the lawn in mid-May, the leaves of these flowers will have already served their purpose and can be mowed.

It is better to plant them interspersed, more or less evenly throughout the entire lawn. All of these flowers, except Chionodoxa, grow quickly, and they will have to be dug out of the lawn at least once every 3-4 years and planted or partially removed.

The easiest way to do this is while the grass has not yet begun to grow, that is, at the time of flowering or immediately after it, since at this time they tolerate transplantation well.

Transfer

From each flat-round bulb several stems with one bud grow at once, and a small flowering bouquet opens.

About 10-12 days after flowering, the bulbs can be dug up, sorted and planted, although this will have to be done every 3-4 years, since they grow very quickly. Otherwise, the bulbs will begin to shrink and flowering will weaken.

Plants and bulbs are planted in sand sprinkled on fertile soil with a neutral reaction. Therefore, when planting in sand, you should add ash, about 1 teaspoon per bulb.

Do not rush to fertilize with nitrogen in spring. Although crocuses and cold-resistant plants can withstand frosts up to 6 degrees, nevertheless, feed them after flowering with a complete mineral fertilizer, for example azofoska (use 2-3 tablespoons of fertilizer per 10 liters of water per 10 square meters of planting).

When transplanting, the roots of the bulbs are slightly trimmed.

Reproduction

Corms and children need to be dug up after the leaves turn yellow in June-July.

For mass propagation, this can be done annually, since several new corms and children are formed in place of the old bulb every season.

Video on how to plant crocuses correctly in open ground

Care and control of diseases of saffron flower bulbs

Crocus (saffron) bulbs can be infected with viruses. which are carried by ticks and aphids. thrips.

Whitish spots appear on the buds, the leaves become deformed, stretching and curling at the ends. It is better to destroy a diseased plant, but viruses do not spread to seeds.

In warm and damp weather, the corm is affected by fungal diseases. White and pink spots appear under the shell of the bulb, it becomes soft and does not germinate after planting.

Such bulbs must be destroyed, and the rest need to be disinfected by any available method before planting.

Yellowing leaves indicate bulb damage, poor drainage and improper growing conditions.

Crocuses don't get sick in any particular way, but they have dangerous enemies - mice. Leave bait for them even before the crocuses bloom. Or scatter coriander (cilantro) or anise seeds among the plantings or special fertilizer<<Шторм>> or<<Форет>>. That is if you don't have cats.

If there are cats, then there should be no mice.