Description
(also grown as SA.11.15 but this now appears to be an accession date and not a collection number)
This is a species which we have not offered for many years. We discontinued it prior to 1995, when it became obvious that the horticultural stocks available at the time were invariably virused. It has since largely vanished from the mass market, certainly in the healthy state.
We have now propagated a few selected accessions ourselves. These were obtained from a German grower and are grown here under controlled conditions from closed-pollinated seed and by vegetative increase of the original few corms.
This is one of the latest spring species to flower here. As the name implies it has naturally small blooms which are honey-scented in shades of light to deep violet. The inners are paler than the outers and are un-feathered, the outers have a buff or cream exterior, marked with deeper violet-purple stripes and feathering.
Cultivation is not difficult, in a well-drained, loam based compost under cold glass or in a sunny, well drained site in the garden, bearing in mind to site it with regard to its diminutive size.
SA.11.15 is our darkest and most richly coloured form but it is NOT clonal and accordingly, there are paler forms here too. Originally found near the ski-resorts centred around Nuoro on the slopes of Monte Ortobene, in Sardinia. Documented material from Sardinia is very scarce and it would be interesting to see more as the colouring of this form is intense. I would venture to say that the best form of this are even more richly coloured than the justifiably esteemed and deeply-coloured form introduced from the Col de Bavella in Corsica. I also stress and res-tress, lest you are disappointed, that this is a variable stock and not all forms are dark, as our pictures show. The style is deep orange-red. The progeny, from closed-pollinated seed, largely preserve the intense colouring of the parent plants.
