Crocus reticulatus

My starter corm of Crocus reticulatus arrived in the late summer of 2005. It must have bloomed at least once since then, but there are no photos to prove it. And when it started to bloom this year, I had the unmistakable feeling that I was looking at something I had never seen before. Plenty of unusual crocuses are making the rounds now, and since I've never seen a crocus I didn't like, quite a few have been invited into the garden over the years.

If you are just getting started with crocuses, save your money and stick with the readily available named ones. Many of the less commonly grown ones are less commonly grown for a reason: they really are not that exciting. That's not to say that there are not some rare and very beautiful crocus out there; but most of what the genus has to offer in terms of beauty can be experienced in a carefully chosen collection of standard named cultivars of the misleadingly named chrysanthus hybrids. If you can, grow at least some of them in pots so you can easily pick them up and examine them at close range - or enjoy the pleasant companionship and fragrance they lend to a reading or bedside table.