Crocus sieberi Hubert Edelstein

Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelstein' is an extremely attractive form of the Sieber crocus, a small, hardy, and early flowering bulb. Its small cup-shaped flowers are highly colourful. Its white petals are washed with lilac on the inside, and are an intense violet streaked with white on the outside. They open into a star shape with a yellow-orange heart. This early crocus blooms from late winter, before the Dutch hybrid crocuses, heralding the return of spring. It is a very easy plant to grow, often naturalising in lawns, flower beds, and rockeries. It also makes lovely temporary potted displays. It can be planted in full sun or partial shade, in any well-drained, poor soil that is dry in summer.

Crocus sieberi belongs to the Iridaceae family. It originates from Greece, Crete, and the Balkans, and is often found at high altitudes, near the last snowfalls. The 'Hubert Edelstein' variety is an astonishing selection from this prolific crocus. It forms significant colonies in upright clumps measuring 12cm (5in) in height. It has a rapid growth rate. It flowers from February to March. The plants produce cup-shaped flowers with contrasting colours. The flowers close at night and in bad weather, then open wide in the sun and even in partial shade. The foliage is deciduous and dries up after flowering. It is composed of fine, thick linear leaves, which are single and alternate with a shiny medium green colour. The 'bulbs' here are corms. A corm is an underground storage organ in plant morphology that resembles a bulb but is formed by a swollen stem surrounded by a fibrous tunic that forms a kind of grid.

Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelstein' looks stunning in rockeries, when its flowering emerges from sun-bleached stones, especially as it enlivens the garden at a time when flowers are scarce. It will also thrive on the edge of a clear understory, along a hedge, planted en masse at the base of deciduous trees (lilacs, mock orange, viburnums) with Anemone blanda and Cyclamen coum, or in the middle of a lawn alongside snowdrops or a carpet of violets, and of course, combined with other early-flowering crocuses. This crocus is also suitable for outdoor pot planting.

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