Crocus speciosus Aitchisonii

Crocus speciosus 'Aitchisonii' is an autumn-flowering crocus that is just as easy to grow as spring crocuses. This selection is characterised by large, lavender-purple flowers revealing a bright orange pistil. This small bulbous plant blooms at the beginning of autumn, just like colchicums, adding colour to sunny lawns and rockeries. It faithfully blooms every year, spreading rapidly in large colonies.

Crocus speciosus 'Aitchisonii' belongs, like all crocuses, to the Iridaceae family. Its wild ancestor is native to northern and central Turkey, the Caucasus, northern Iran, and Crimea. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a corm, which is sometimes called a bulb. In this crocus, the flowers emerge from the ground before the foliage, usually in October, sometimes as early as September, with the return of the rains. The flowers are cup-shaped and 5cm (2in) long. They open in a star shape, revealing mauve petals finely veined with violet. The reverse side of the petals is almost white. The golden yellow heart of the flower is adorned with stamens of the same yellow and a bright orange feathery style. The flowers close at night and in bad weather to open again in the sun. The foliage emerges from the ground after flowering and disappears with the first frost. It forms a small tuft 10 to 12cm (4 to 5in) tall, composed of 5 to 7 thin, slender, dark green leaves, crossed by a white median line. The 'bulbs' here are corms. A corm is an underground storage organ that looks like a bulb but is formed by a swollen stem surrounded by scales.

Crocus speciosus 'Aitchisonii' brings spring back in autumn, creating a beautiful surprise in the garden. Its beautiful, bright flowers animate lawns, flower beds, or rockeries. It will also thrive on the edge of a light woodland, along a hedge, on the sunny side, in the company of colchicums and Naples cyclamens, for example. In the middle of the lawn, plant it with snowdrops or violets, and of course mixed with other autumn-flowering crocuses.

Crocus roots can contract like a spring, allowing the plant to settle at its ideal depth.

Plant your bulbs upon receipt. Grow them in pots near your front door so they will greet you every day. Once the leaves have withered, they can be planted in the garden, where they will bloom again next year.