Description
(Crocus sieberi sublimis)
The old subspecies of Crocus sieberi have now been revised and elevated to species rank, thus as well as C. sieberi (found only on the high mountains of Crete) we now have Crocus atticus, Crocus nivalis and Crocus sublimis as valid species. The naming of various species is however still in flux with new species (of which this could be one) being added each year as populations are studied.
An excellent large-flowered stock of this sublime, pale lilac-blue, lemon-throated plant. now raised to species rank. This is sometimes tinted purple on the petal tips and in some forms, such as this one, the lemon of the throat can be so pale as to be almost white, though other plants in this stock are more typical. All have the characteristic throat of sublimis however.
In cultivation it is very hardy and floriferous, in the garden or potted and grown under alpine glass where it makes a spectacular display and this is a particularly easy and bright seed-strain well suited to outdoor cultivation. Having now been brought through several generations of seed, in cultivation, this grows well outside in the garden but is very tolerant making bunches of superb, large, violet flowers with the deep yellow throat, characteristic of atticus (sublimis usually has a white throat though yellow markings at the petal base can make it look like it has a yellow throat).
This is raised from seed of the population of this plant (growing with C. veluchensis), found many years ago (28th May 1994) by the late Vladimir Vasak (ex VV.GB.285 ). Our plants were selected from the seedlings and their identity confirmed independently. It was originally found, in what was then Yugoslavia, within the district of Resen on Mount Galicica,, between Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid, alt. 1400-1700m. This mountain, the home of so many superb bulbs, (a lovely dwarf form of Fritillaria nigra, Crocus cvijicii and Colchicum hungaricum), alpines and upland plants, forms the barrier here between the two lakes and straddles the border between North Macedonia and Albania.
The species itself is largely a Greek, snowline plant though it spreads to parts of adjacent Albania, Macedonia and reaches Bulgaria also. Further recent changes in naming within this complex of species mean that this stock may end up with an entirely new species name.
Introduced to our lists April 2020
