Crocus chrysanthus ‘Snow Bunting’ (Snow Crocus)

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Snow Bunting’ is still considered one of the best spring flowering crocuses. Winner of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit in 1993, it is as white as its name suggests and displays ivory flowers with a rich golden heart and a light lilac feathering at the base. This crocus emits a sweet scent and spreads to make decent clumps.

• Blooming occurs from late winter to early spring. The calyx-shaped flowers open only when the sun shines or when there is a lot of light; they close up in rainy weather and at night. Did you know that crocus bulbs remaining in the ground will always bloom a bit earlier than the ones planted the previous year?
• Growing up to 3-4 inches tall (7-10 cm), this beauty naturalizes easily and will come back year after year!
• Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun or light shade.
• Stunning in beds, lawns, under trees, rock gardens, in front of shrubs, along walkways. Spectacular in large sweeping drifts. For optimal effect, 100 to 150 corms should be planted. If used in lawns, however, the grass may not be mowed until six weeks after the crocuses have bloomed. If mowed earlier than this, the newly forming cormlets (developing on top of the mother corm) will not become large enough to flower next year.
• To be planted in fall.
• Crocus chrysanthus is native from Greece to Bulgaria and Turkey.

Very few early-flowering bulbous, tuberous and cormous plants are so massively planted as the Crocus. Together with tulips, hyacinths and narcissi, these plants are the most commonly found ‘bulb’ plants in gardens and parks. More than 100 species are known, but only thirty have been cultivated. Some crocuses flower in the fall, but these are fairly rare. Crocuses are lovely in lawns as well as in the perennial border where they join the other very early perennials in ringing in the flowering season.