Software
Houzz Logo Print
sierra_z2b

Crocus problem?

20 years ago

Last fall I planted two bags of crocus....one bag was snow crocus and the other was the larger type. This spring some of them have appeared with crinkled leaves and no flowers. Anyone know what caused this? I think they might be the snow crocus because they should have appeared first and I haven't seen any of the large type flower where I planted the new ones.

Wondering if I should pull out these crinkled leaf ones and toss them?

Sierra

Comments (3)

  • 20 years ago

    No, just leave them! I've had this happen with some plants some years, and I doubt very much that it indicates any sort of disease, or anything at all to be worried about.
    Actually, I think it may...possibly....and this is a guess on my part... result from variations in the weather (warm-cold-warm...), causing the leaves to "pause" in the leaf sheaths, rather than to just push out in one prolonged "go", thus resulting in crinkled leaves. Sound far-fetched? Well, I don't know if that really explains it, but at any rate, I've seen it cause no ill effects here at all.
    And I suspect the reason for no blooms this year may... again, speculation..be some mishandling of your bulbs along the way, which has somehow sapped their strength, so to speak (i.e. excessive drying out, damage to embryo by too hot or too cold storage, dug at inappropriate time? ) I also have some non-bloomers this year in a new bed, planted very late last fall... bought locally, and possibly mishandled (stored in too warm conditions for too long, I suspect... no evidence to prove this, but just a suspicion). Let them be - they'll photosynthesize this year, and store energy, and be fine next year. (By the way, don't cut off their foliage - leave it until it's yellow and dry, and it will pull out easily then. It'll get very long and grassy in the meantime.)

    Were these bargain bulbs, by any chance? The same sort of mishandling may also explain the failure-to-show of your large-flowered ones... it they don't show, they're goners. Or maybe some hungry squirrels got them. I am loathe to malign squirrels (as they are the only "wildlife" around this dismal city wasteland) but they do favor crocus above all other bulbs (even so, our losses over the years are hardly worth mentioning). The secret is to plant a WHOLE LOT more bulbs, so that the losses, if that's the case, have no effect on the whole. There is absolutely no point in fighting nature, or "nature" (given that grey squirrels are an introduced species), such as it is, but it is possible to find ways to live with it.

  • 20 years ago

    These bags of bulbs were bought at Costco last fall. So it is possible that they were in very cold cold storage. Who knows about being mistreated, could be...no way of telling.

    I like the weather therory the best....we did have really warm weather, then cold then warm.....so that is also a possiblity as well.

    We have little brown squirrels around here....but they haven't ever gone after any of my bulbs. Not ever and I have lived here for 10 years.

    I will just leave them and see what happens. The daffodils and tulips in these beds are also just barely poking up out of the ground....so there is still hope for the larger crocus to appear. Keeping fingers crossed anyway.

    I'll leave the crinkled ones and see what happens. Thanks for the info Lori.

    Sierra

  • 20 years ago

    My smaller bulbs come up over the span of a couple of months, depending on where they are situated in the yard, so if the large crocuses are in a significantly colder area, then it may not be too late for them? (But normally they'd be up before the tulips and daffodils.)
    If that's not likely, then I'll add that I consider there to be a very significant element of risk in buying bulbs from Costco or hardware stores, or for that matter, even in buying bulk or no-name, cheapo bags from garden centers (and I don't do it). Bulbs bought under those circumstances are the only ones that have ever failed for me, and I'd rather not risk time and effort on planting questionable bulbs. So, lacking any other information, I'd lay the blame for the non-bloomers and possible no-shows on that.
    I've never seen the native red squirrels here to be a problem either.

Sponsored
Mary Shipley Interiors
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars34 Reviews
Columbus OH Premier Interior Designer 10x Best of Houzz