The Casper Journal :: Casper's Community Newspaper

Fall is a wonderful time of the year, and after a hot summer, there is a renewed energy as we get into the next phase of the gardening season.

While many plants are finishing their performance for the year, other plants are just getting started.

Some of the most overlooked plants include the fall blooming bulbs -- in particular, the fall blooming crocus.

While walking in my neighborhood recently, I happened upon a most extraordinary sight: a bed of blooming lavender crocus. I immediately thought they were ordinary crocus with their time machines broken, but no, they were fall blooming crocus, and they were absolutely beautiful.

I wanted to know more, so I started investigating.

We are all familiar with the spring blooming crocus. What many of us are unaware of is that there are many crocuses that will bloom in the fall blooming in September to October. While they often resemble their spring blooming cousins, autumn flowering crocuses add an unexpected touch to our fall gardens. These crocuses are planted in the spring, some are hardy in zone 4, but some are not.

There are fall blooming crocuses that can spread themselves over your garden with drifts of violet blue at this most unexpected time of the year.

There are others that will thrive in hot spots with very well drained, alkaline soils and spread to form large colonies, and then others, such as the saffron crocus, which has been harvested and dried to be used to flavor and color food.

Like other crop plants that have been cultivated for thousands of year, the saffron crocus was most likely native to Greece and Asia Minor, but does not grow in the wild anymore. Plant historians believe that the saffron crocus originated as a naturally occurring hybrid, and was selected and maintained over the centuries for its extra-long stigmas. The plant is unable to set viable seed and must be propagated vegetatively.

Fall blooming crocuses are wonderful flowers that can give the fall garden a last farewell before winter. They pep up the color of the late garden and are a wonderful surprise for visitors and gardeners alike.

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