Top purple crocuses
1 Crocus concinnus A variable species with pale-lilac flowers and dark-purple feathering on the outer segments. Discovered in 2000 in the Antalya province of Turkey, it grows well in the garden or in pots.
2 Crocus tommasinianus ‘Yalta’ Jānis selected this hybrid from seedlings of C. tommasinianus seeds collected from Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Yalta, Crimea. He gave corms to Dutch nurseryman Jan Pennings to grow on and the cultivar is now widely available.
3 Crocus nivalis ‘Tricolor’ This easy-to-grow and widely available form, with deep-purple petals and a fried-egg centre, originates from the Peloponnese Mountains of southern Greece.
4 Crocus corsicus The long, light-violet petals of this scented bloom have dark-purple stripes. Some stock was prone to infection but now virus-free plants are available from Jim Archibald's seed-grown stock.
Top crocuses continue on page 75.
