Yellow-flowered crocus: the best varieties

Crocus olivieri ssp olivieri

The Crocus olivierii ssp olivieri is a botanical subspecies whose flowers are of a uniform colour, a very bright yellow-orange, inside and out. Its yellow style at the centre of the flower is characterised by a division into six branches. It originates from Turkey and the Balkans where it grows in woods and scrub. Depending on the climate, its flowering can appear as early as February, or in March and April. Its cup-shaped flowers open into star-shaped blooms. Its lanceolate, rather slender foliage is a dark, glossy green, crossed by a central white-silvery band.

Plant it in well-drained soil, even very dry in summer, to see it flower abundantly in late winter and colonise a scree garden, a rock garden or the front of a border or a bed. In full sun, in a perfectly drained rock garden, add the Iris reticulata ‘Alida’, blue and slightly maculate with yellow, the forget-me-nots and the Muscari macrocarpum ‘Golden Fragrance’, with sulphur-yellow and violet flowers, fragrant.

Crocus chrysanthus Fuscotinctus

The Crocus chrysanthus var. fuscotinctus kindly offers fragrant flowers, a golden-yellow colour nicely brown-striate. It also originates from the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey. Its flowering takes place from February to March, depending on the climate. Its warm, dazzling colour after winter is adorned on the reverse of the petals with a bronze-to-brown shade that is very flattering. The stamens, grouped into tubes, are a vivid orange-yellow. The whole is enhanced by its fine, medium-green, glossy foliage.

Why not planting it in a pot, at nose height, on a windowsill or on an elevated pot, to fully enjoy its fragrance. When paired with other early-flowering crocuses, mauves or whites, it makes an elegant container planting. Alternatively, stagger the flowering with other spring bulbs such as snowdrops, tulips and daffodils.

Crocus gargaricus

Another plant species, rare in cultivation, the Crocus garganicus is also known as Gargano crocus. It is also rare in the wild, as it is found only on Mount Ida in Turkey. It earns the crown for the most intense colour among crocuses. Its large, elongated, cup-shaped flowers, 4 to 7 cm long, are intensely bright and uniform yellow-orange, dazzling. They appear before the development of the foliage. It flowers from February to April depending on the climate.

This species prefers humus-bearing and cool, acidic soils that do not dry out too much in summer. Its natural habitat consists of humid meadows located between 1,300 and 2,000 m above sea level. In other words, it is habitat-specific as it is not found elsewhere. Therefore, its delicate cultivation is limited to this type of environment: montane meadows that are slightly humid. Rare-bulb enthusiasts may attempt to acclimatise it in the garden, in an alpine rock garden, or naturalise it in a damp lawn until June, as the bulb stores its reserves.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Cream Beauty'

Of a distinctly different colour, the Crocus chrysanthus ‘Cream Beauty’ is among the first crocuses to bloom, from February, alongside the aptly named snowdrops. Its small cup-shaped flower displays a soft beige-creamy shade on the outside, maculated with bronze at the base, possibly touched with purple reflections. The throat is a brighter yellow, punctuated by very bright orange stamens on the inside, in contrast.

Plant it, for example, in an edging border at the edge of a bed, in bright partial shade, with hellebores, purple heucheras and orange-flowered Epimedium, such as Epimedium pubigerum ‘Orangekönigin’, whose foliage is bronzed. Thus you create echoes of colour and bold, yet gentle, contrasts.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Gipsy Girl'