Crocus Planting Guide

Crocuses flower to perfection in cold Winter districts, but are incredibly hardy, and do well across the country. They do well in shady, and damp areas of the garden.

Their dainty wee blooms are the first herald of Spring.

The smaller of the Crocuses (the Specie Crocus) flower around 7-9cm in height, whilst their slightly larger cousin, the Giant Crocus, flower up to 14cm.

The effect of crocuses is especially beautiful when they are planted in large numbers. For a mass planting effect, 100 to 150 corms should be planted. One important growing condition is that crocuses must have a well-drained soil. Crocus corms remaining in the ground will always bloom a bit earlier than the ones planted the previous year.

The calyx-shaped flowers open only when the sun shines or when there is a lot of light; they close up in rainy weather and at night.

Crocuses are lovely in lawns as well as in the perennial border where they join the other very early perennials in ringing in the flowering season. Crocuses have narrow leaves with a silver-gray stripe down the middle.

Crocus planting guide…

• Crocus will thrive in Full Sun to Part shade - they are fantastic under trees, providing they still get some dappled sun.
• Crocuses will tolerate damp conditions, but we still need a relatively free draining soil.
• Loosen the soil to a depth of around 15cm, and mix in some Bulb Food.
• Plant your Crocus Bulbs with the point facing upwards, to a depth of 5-8cm.
• Give them a good dousing of water to get them started, and keep them moist throughout their growth period.
• You’ll see their dainty wee blooms popping out early Spring.
• Crocuses love to Naturalize, so we recommend leaving them undisturbed for years to come.

Planting in the lawn...

One familiar use for crocuses is to let them naturalize in the lawn. Here, you should try to achieve as natural-looking effect as possible.

This can be done not by grouping the corms together but by scattering them about and then planting them where they fall.

Use larger numbers for a stunning effect: 75-100 corms to every square metre. Although it is possible to use all colours of crocuses for this purpose, the blue and purple ones are the least conspicuous.

Planting crocuses in lawns, however, will require some adjustments to the mowing regime. To be assured of a profuse flowering next year, the lawn should not be cut until six weeks following the crocus’ flowering period.

Layered plantings...

Because of their lack of foliage mass and early flowering, crocuses are very suitable for planting on top of other Spring Bulbs. Bulb varieties such as hyacinths, tulips and daffodils can easily take over the flowering duties from the early-flowering crocuses. The layering ‘Lasagne’ method is simple. First, plant the larger bulbs and cover them with soil up to the level of their noses. Then plant the crocuses on top, being sure to plant a generous amount of them. This will produce a lovely effect and can be applied both in the garden soil as well as in containers.