February 10th, 2002
Crocus tomasinianus ‘Whitewell Purple’
Crocus tomasinianus.
First flowers of the year opened on the Tommie crocuses today. These are the tiny crocuses with the huge name. They are tiny, even smaller than the Crocus chrysanthus ‘Blue Pearl’. I think that you must have to have a thousand of them before you’d even notice them.
Scott Ogden says that Tommie crocuses will bloom from mid-January to mid-March and that they are the one crocus to multiply in the southern garden.
The Winter Garden has a photograph of Tommie crocuses right on the cover. According to the authors, Peter Loewer and Larry Mellichamp (both of North Carolina), the Tommie crocuses are good for naturalizing because they seed freely.
I’ve created a new plant profile page for Crocus tomasinianus, which has more information and references.
Garden History
2000-12-28.
Plant 90 Crocus tomasinianus ‘Whitewell Purple’ (from my last garden.com order), in the mulch under the redbud tree.
2002-01-19.
Some of the Tommie crocuses are coming up.
2002-02-10.
First flower for 2002.
2003-01-08.
Spot the first Tommie crocuses nosing up.
by M Sinclair Stevens