In spite of the poor August and September weather the monthly table show had plenty of attractive flowers. Next month's table show includes an extra class for Autumn Foliage/Berries, so please bring any autumnal material you have for our display. Vases provided if necessary.
Tony Goode, a keen member of the Alpine Garden Society, gave us an excellent powerpoint talk on Crocuses. He holds the national collection and grows many from seed. A large number of the more tender ones he grows in greenhouses and cold frames. There are many more species than the usual spring yellows and purples we tend to buy, and which grace Earlham cemetery and Earlham Road verges every year.
Most come from Turkey and Greece originally and there are 70 species, but these contain many subspecies. They all grow from corms made of solid starch, generally with fibrous coatings. The roots are very long. The new corms grow above the old one which shrivels away, so roots and leaves are very important for building up the new corms. Leaves should not be removed until they are dying. The white stripe down the centre of the leaves is an area without green chloroplasts, so it cannot collect energy. Instead it acts as a window to catch extra sunlight. Flowers have 3 outer and 3 inner petals and come in shades of purple, blue, yellow and white. Many have attractive darker markings on the outside of the outer petals - stripes, feathering, hatching, stippling or blodges. The centre has three divided male anthers bearing pollen, often a bright yellow or orange. The female style has 3 branches, some very long and highly branched. The 'stem' of the flower is in fact a petal tube and the ovary is underground, so the fertilising pollen has to travel a long way down the style to the ovary. This elongates and produces a pod of seeds which have a sugary part to attract ants to carry them away and bury them.
Autumn flowering crocuses that are good in gardens include Crocus speciosus, C pulchellus, C nudiflorus, C. serotinus. Other bulbs that bloom at this time include the snowflakes Leucojum, Nerine, Scilla lingulata, Cyclamen hederifolia, Sternbergia lutea and Colchicum (also confusingly known as autumn crocus)
Spring crocus include C biflorus with attractive yellow throats, C. imperati, C. chrysanthus, C. tomasinianus and C sieberi - 'Tricolor' is a particularly attractive cultivar of this last species. Other spring bulbs that grow well with crocuses are snowdrops, Cyclamen coum, the smaller narcissi (petticoat type), Fritillaria and smaller species tulips.
Tony's beautiful and detailed pictures encouraged us to take a long look at this lovely family of plants and to grow some of the more unusual species ourselves.
On Saturday October 4th we have booked a table in Cringleford Church Hall between 10 and 12 noon for the Church's Fund Raising Event. We shall sell plants and profits will go to our Society funds. Please bring any labelled and well potted plants you may have at 9am.
Our October meeting is on 14th when members of the society will entertain us all.