Crocus

Garden Plans for Crocus

Crocus Care Must-Knows

Crocus bulbs, like most spring bulbs, should be planted in fall as soon as the soil cools. Choose a location with well-drained soil where they’ll get full sun or light shade. Plant bulbs 2 to 4 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart with their pointed tips facing the soil surface. Water them well after planting. Plan to ramp up spring color slowly by adding bulbs every year to the initial mass planting. Understand some bulbs will be lost to site conditions and animals over time; replace them with new ones each fall.

After crocus blooms, allow the foliage to remain in the garden or lawn until it turns completely yellow. This allows the foliage to produce nutrients that sustain the bulb for the next growing season. Crocus bulbs grow best in dry soil, so don’t water plants after they bloom.

Use This Spring Gardening Checklist for a Pretty Landscape All Year

Naturalizing Bulbs

Some crocus varieties thrive in the midst of a lawn, creating a carpet of color in early spring. Don’t shy away from planting the bulbs (also known as corms) under deciduous trees, beneath shrubs, or around the bases of perennial plants. The crocus will complete its life cycle before larger plants leaf out and limit its sunlight. Plus, trees offer growing conditions favorable to this plant beneath their canopies: drier soil and less grass than found in open areas of lawn. Crocus thrives in dry soil and areas with limited competition from grass. Delay mowing a lawn embedded with crocus until the plant’s foliage turns fully yellow. In some areas, this means delaying the first lawn mowing until mid- to late June.

More Varieties of Crocus

‘Bowles White’ crocus

This variety of Crocus sieberi bears snowy, chalice-shaped flowers with deep yellow throats appear in early spring. It grows 2–3 inches tall. Zones 3–8

Fall crocus

Crocus speciosus lives up to its name, producing blue flowers in October. It grows 4–6 inches tall. Zones 3–8

‘Firefly’ crocus

Lilac blooms that sport yellow throats and appear abundantly in late winter and early spring make this variety of Crocus sieberi unique. The plant grows 2 to 3 inches tall. Zones 3–8

‘Flower Record’ crocus

Crocus vernus ‘Flower Record’ produces large goblet-shaped pale violet blooms that open above grasslike foliage. It grows 4 to 5 inches tall. Zones 3–8

‘Golden Yellow’ crocus

This variety of Crocus x luteus produces grasslike leaves and cup-like yellow to yellow-orange flowers with olive-green striping on the outside. Zones 3–8

‘Goldilocks’ crocus

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Goldilocks’ is an early-blooming variety that has bright golden-yellow flowers. It grows 2–3 inches tall. Zones 3–8

‘Jeanne d’Arc’ crocus

Also known as spring crocus, Crocus vernus ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ has cup-like white flowers with small purple bases and bright orange pistils. Zones 3–8

‘Lilac Beauty’ crocus

Crocus tommasinianus ‘Lilac Beauty’ offers lilac-blue flowers that gradually open to reveal showy, divided gold stamens. Flowers abundantly in early spring on plants that grow 2 inches tall. Zones 3–8

‘Pickwick’ crocus

This large-flower variety of Crocus vernus ‘Pickwick’ has silvery lilac-striped blooms that appear abundantly in early spring. It grows 4 inches tall. Zones 3–9

‘Tricolor’ crocus

Crocus sieberi ‘Tricolor’ has fragrant lilac-blue flowers illuminated at the base by broad yellow and white bands. Zones 4–8

‘Yellow Mammoth’ crocus

Crocus vernus ‘Yellow Mammoth’ offers gigantic golden-yellow blooms that pop up in early spring and spread easily to spread a layer of sunshine under bare trees and shrubs. It grows 5 inches tall. Zones 3–8