Products › Autumn planted bulbs to flower in the Spring › Crocus › Crocus tommasinianus Whitewell Purple

Crocus tommasinianus Whitewell Purple

The paler of the named clones we offer with pale silvery mauve coloured petals over silver lined leaves. C. tommasinianus was named after M.G.S. de Tommasini, (1794-1879) a magistrate and botanist of Trieste.  It is native to Southern Hungary, NW Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it is found in deciduous woods. It seeds easily and will naturalise readily. These were originally made commercially available from a collection from the Rev. Joseph Jacob. The flowers of the species may not come true from seed if other tommasinianus varieties are in the vicinity but they will still be a pleasure, and the cormlets do come true.  Even when closed the sturdy stems hold the flower heads up above their leaves.  It will flower early in spring, and is attractive to insects, so long as they have become active. Silvery mauve-pink colours in February/ March 3"-4" (7-10cm) tall.

Planting instructions

While needing a well-drained position and loving the sun, it is happy in more shade than most crocuses. Somewhat difficult to plant in grass due to its small size they will nevertheless seed freely into late mown grass. Its capacity for spreading means it may not be a wise choice for a rock garden, but otherwise it will establish itself wherever it is put.  Plant 7cm (3") deep and in small groups of 3/5 only 2" apart and repeated at bigger intervals in lighter soil or thin grass in some shade. Do not mow the grass too tight or too early.