Crocus chrysanthus Zenith

Crocus chrysanthus 'Zenith' produces delicate flowers in a beautiful gradient of soft blue and deeper blue-violet, enhanced by a yellow heart and yellow-orange stamens. Its small bulbs bloom very early in the season, just after snowdrops. Easy to grow, floriferous, and reliable, it naturalises easily in borders or rockeries, as long as it receives enough sunlight and is planted in well-drained soil.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Zenith' belongs to the Iridaceae family. Its ancestor, the golden crocus, originates from Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula. This prolific variety quickly forms significant colonies in 12cm (5in) tall upright clumps. Flowering occurs from February to March, depending on the climate. The plants have cup-shaped flowers that open in a star shape, composed of light blue petals surrounded by darker blue sepals. The flower's centre is filled with bright orange-yellow stamens grouped in a 'tube'. The flowers close at night and in bad weather, then open wide in the sun and even in partial shade. The foliage is deciduous, drying up and disappearing some time after flowering, while the bulb enters dormancy to escape the hot season. It consists of thin, thick linear leaves, which are single and alternate. They are bright green with a white-silver central stripe. The 'bulbs' here are corms. A corm is, in plant morphology, an underground storage organ that looks like a bulb but is formed by a swollen stem surrounded by scales.

Botanical crocuses are the first heralds of spring. Crocus chrysanthus 'Zenith' is perfect in rockeries, borders, and along pathways. It will also thrive in the edge of a light woodland with Anemones blanda, along a hedge, planted en masse at the base of deciduous trees with hellebores and Cyclamen coum, or in the middle of a lawn with winter aconites, snowdrops, or a carpet of violets. It can also be planted with other early-flowering crocuses. This crocus is well-suited for planting in outdoor pots.

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