They’re tiny, but they make the garden pop-up with colors. This is the first year that I planted Crocus. I often prefer planting cut flowers but I made an exception for Crocus. I love how they brighten up the space wherever they bloom, I love the vibrant variety of colors, I love how easy it is to grow them.

Because Crocus is quite small and not suitable for cut flowers, I decided to plant them in a container. I have a huge container where I planted perineal flowering plant and I thought I could probably squeeze in these tiny Crocuses to give the container an early bloom. I planted this last Oct along with the Tulips. I bought the assorted bag as always so I get to appreciate different colors.

I left the container in my patio all Winter. Because we have a very wet Winter, I did not even bother to water the container until I started seeing blooms coming out. I also did not use any fertilizer. They came out on time, beautiful as expected. I love flowers like this. Very low key and low maintenance and the best thing, they are perineal which means they come back year after year. That’s savings right there!

Crocus Flowers

From snow crocuses (the first to bloom) to giant Dutch crocuses, all just 2 to 4 inches tall, these blooms offer a variety of colors (pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, purples, blues, and more) that stand out against the bleak late-winter landscape. Many have strong perfumes that lure bees out of their hives in February or March, too, providing the pollinators with an important early-spring food source.

Crocuses not only provide winter garden color, but they naturalize, meaning that they spread and come back year after year—with minimum care—for an ever-larger display. As a bonus, deer, squirrels, and rabbits rarely bother early little crocus corms.

When to Plant Crocuses

• Crocuses need to experience an extended period of cold weather in order to bloom, so plant them in the fall to get spring blooms.
• Before the ground freezes in the fall, crocus corms can be planted most anywhere, except in the dense shade on the north side of buildings or under thickets.
• Ideally, plant crocus corms 6 to 8 weeks before a hard frost is expected in the fall and when the soil temperature is below 60°F (16°C). This is usually during September or October in the northern U.S. and Canada, and October or November in the southern United States.

How to Plant Crocuses

• Plant crocus corms 3 to 4 inches deep (with the pointy end up). After planting, water well.
• Plant bulbs in groups or clusters rather than spacing them in a single line along a walkway or border. Single flowers get lost in the landscape. Plant a few inches apart, and plant in groups of 10 or more.
• Consider planting crocuses in lawns and meadows where they can form carpets, or mass them in the front of flower beds along the edge.
• Plant taller spring-flowering bulbs and shrubs behind the early bulbs for color contrast.

Growing Crocuses

• Apply a balanced fertilizer in early autumn if your spring is short and the days heat up fast; or, apply fertilizer after bulbs flower in late winter if your spring is long and temperate. The crocuses  will have a chance to use the extra nutrients to produce bigger carbohydrate stores.
• Through the autumn, keep crocus beds watered if weather gets dry, but do not waterlog the soil. Cover the beds with mulch before the winter.
• In late February, remove heavy mulches from snowdrops and crocuses so that the shoots can come through. Leave a light layer of leaves to provide late-season protection from frost.
• In February and March, keep plastic milk jugs or other coverings on hand to protect the flowers of crocuses and other early bloomers against the return of severe weather.
• If you have crocuses growing in your lawn in mid-spring, don’t mow until their leaves have died down.

Source: Almanac.com

Thanks for stopping bye. Until the next bloom! Bye 💐🌺🌸🌼.

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