Crocus minimus SPRING BEAUTY

Description

Diminutive Spring Beauty has six-petaled, pale lilac flowers with variable, exterior dark grape-purple flames, a paler lavender-purple interior, pale yellow anthers and grass-like foliage with narrow, median silvery stripes. Species or Snow Crocus are the earliest Crocus to flower, about two weeks before their Large Flowering siblings. Species Crocus are the best for early spring lawn tapestries: hold off mowing the lawn until the foliage has died back. Drifts are also lovely in garden borders and rock gardens. A bit shorter than other Species Crocus, Spring Beauty stands about 7-10cm tall with graceful six-petaled flowers that open and close on sunny days, and grass-like foliage with narrow, median silvery stripes. It has a fibrous (reticulate) tunic. Deer-resistant, they naturalize readily in well-draining soil and in full to partial sunlight. They may be a target for squirrels that may dig up newly planted bulbs for a snack, or for transplant elsewhere. You’ll need about nine corms (bulbs) per square foot for a dense planting.