Description
This is a species which we have not offered for many years. We discontinued it prior to 1995, when it became obvious that the Dutch horticultural stocks available at the time were invariably virused. It has since largely vanished from the mass market, certainly in the healthy state.
We are actively propagating a few selected accessions ourselves which were obtained from a German grower and these are grown here under controlled conditions from closed-pollinated seed and by vegetative increase of the original few corms. We also have available this more accessible stock, which is also seed-raised, healthy and disease-free. It is however cheaper though it is not clonal and not attributable to any one locality or indeed even to a country.
One of the latest spring species to flower here with naturally small blooms which are honey-scented. The flowers are 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.
