If we are referring to the time when our first garden flowers bloom, for most of us that means crocus. So are the crocus really late this spring?
Yes, they are pretty darn late, by at least 3 weeks! Longtime observers of our local weather patterns know that this winter was unusual. I've been taking photos of my fist snow crocus here in Delaware County for almost 2 decades. With the exception of one or two years, they have bloomed like clockwork in my garden by the middle of March. This year March has come and gone, and they are still covered with snow.
There are generally two sorts of spring-blooming crocus found in Catskills gardens. The best known and most common is the giant Dutch crocus (pictured above), whose varieties were all bred from the species Crocus vernus (purple to white) and C.flavus (yellow).
The other sort of crocus commercially available are called species crocus or snow crocus. Crocus have about 90 Old World species, whose ranges are centered around the Mediterranean and Black Seas, but some species are found in Central Asia as well, with the easternmost species found in the western deserts of China. Several of these species of crocus have become commercially available over the last 2 decades. A few are rodent-resistant. Many self-sow readily and will spread over time. The blooming time of these species consistently precedes by a week to ten days the blooming time of Dutch crocus. They are more varied in color, with cream and bicolored varieties available, and they are more petite in habit (flower and habit illustrated below).
For more interesting info and more pictures of crocus, check out Root's website root2shootny.com!