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James Burghardt
Iridaceae
CROCUS 'Goldilocks'
Hybrid Crocus, Spring Crocus
Providing a welcome burst of color at winter's end, this crocus opens its cheerful flowers even as the last remnants of snow linger. Introduced in the mid-twentieth century, it is one of many hybrids that trace their ancestry to Crocus chrysanthus and C. biflorus.
Growing from a small bulb-like storage organ known as a corm, this diminutive herbaceous perennial sends up one to four rounded, buttercup-yellow flowers in winter or early spring, just as the grassy, shiny, dark green leaves emerge. Held singly atop ankle-high, stalk-like floral tubes, the up-facing, goblet-shaped blooms have 6 or as many as 12 "petals" (or segments) in two whorls. The three outer segments have a flame-shaped chocolate-purple blotch on the lower half of their exteriors. In bright sun the flowers open wide to reveal yellow anthers and orange stigmas. The floral tube is dull purple. The foliage goes dormant by late spring.
Grow 'Goldilocks' in friable, well-drained soil in full sun or light shade (when it is in leaf). Plant corms at a depth of two to three times their height in late summer or early fall. Ten or more weeks of near-freezing temperatures are needed to induce flowering. Group this little beauty in rock gardens, mixed borders, alpine troughs, or turfgrass, or force it in pots to help quell winter doldrums.
8 - 1
3 - 8
1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Bulb or Corm or Tuber
Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade
3"-4" / 7.6cm - 10.2cm
2"-4" / 5.1cm - 10.2cm
Early Spring, Late Winter
Hybrid Origin
Acidic, Neutral
Well Drained
Loam, Sand
Drought
Medium
Average Water
Clump-Forming
Spring, Winter
Showy
Yellow, Purple, Chocolate
Bicolor
Green
Yes
No
Single
Fine
Glossy
Container, Lawns and Turf, Mixed Border, Rock Garden / Wall
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