Crocus luteus Stellaris

Crocus x luteus 'Stellaris' is an alternate variety of uncertain origin, cultivated since 1809 in English gardens. It is rarely offered in horticultural trade although easy to grow in well-drained soil. It is probably a sterile hybrid resulting from cross-breeding between C. flavus subsp. flavus native to the mountains of Crimea and C. augustifolius from Asia Minor. Its flowers are golden-yellow and variegated with brown-violet on the reverse. Bulbs can be planted along pathways, in rockeries, at the base of deciduous bushes, or in a gravel garden where it will naturalise.

Crocus 'Stellaris' belongs to the Iridaceae family. In cultivation, the plant flowers between late February and early April, depending on the climate. Each bulb produces 1 to 2 flowers that emerge from the ground at the same time as the foliage. The elongated cup-shaped flowers first display their golden-yellow reverse marked with a beautiful brown-violet variegation. Then they open into a star shape with 6 branches. The heart of the flower is filled with yellow stamens grouped together in a 'tube'. The flowers close at night and in bad weather, but open wide in the sun and even in partial shade. The foliage dries up some time after flowering and is composed of thin, linear, single, and alternate leaves with a medium green colour and prominent central vein. The 'bulbs' are corms. In plant morphology, a corm is an underground storage organ that resembles a bulb but is formed by a swollen stem surrounded by scales.

Crocus x luteus 'Stellaris', like other botanical species, is irreplaceable in rockeries and at the base of bushes, when its radiant flowering emerges as a beautiful surprise in the early days of spring. It thrives in well-drained soil, on the edge of open woodlands with Corsican hellebore, along a pathway, planted en masse at the base of deciduous trees (lilac, mock orange, magnolia, viburnum) with Anemone blanda and Cyclamen coum. It also pairs well with other early-flowering crocuses and small botanical tulips.

Crocus roots can contract like a spring, allowing the plant to settle at its ideal depth.