| Where
the garden meets the wild
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TECOPHILAEA BLUE CROCUS, AZULILLO Tecophilaeaceae (Blue-crocus family) |
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| Return to Plants Index Bulbs Index Autumn-flowering crocus Spring-flowering crocus Colchicum | |
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Tecophilaea cyanocrocus in a spring garden. Photograph © Bill Dijk. |
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| The blue crocus has everything a gardener
could desire: rarity, spring bloom, a heavenly scent, heavenly color ~ and recently,
confirming its celestial affinity, it returned from beyond the
grave.
Tecophilea cyanocrocus is native to the high Andes of Chile. Thought to be extinct in the wild since about 1950, thanks to grazing and overcollection, it was rediscovered in 2001 at a new site on private land south of Santiago. Joint British-Chilean efforts to reintroduce the blue crocus to its other known Andean haunts are also in the works. The type flower of Tecophilaea cyanocrocus is cobalt blue with a chalk-white centre, as shown in these photographs lent to us by Bill Dijk, proprietor of the New Zealand nursery Daffodil Acre. Other color forms occur, including pure white, light blue, mauve and violet. The blue crocus is named for Tecophila Billiotti, daughter of the Italian botanist Luigi Aloysius Colla (1766-1848). She must have been something. |
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Photograph © Bill Dijk |
Tecophilaea
cyanocrocus
Leybold. Chilean crocus. One or two flowers per stem, deep gentian-blue, 3-4 cm (1.5")
across with
darker veins and a white throat, bloom in March-April. They are sweetly scented.
There are 2 or 3 linear leaves up to 12 cm (5") long. Tecophilaea
needs a
winter cold period to induce flowering. Chilean researchers suggest that it blooms best with additions
to its soil mix of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. Grow this in a glasshouse or in
a sunny, protected border. Height 8-12 cm (3-5").
Award of Garden Merit (Royal Horticultural Society) 1993 to the
species in general.
Corm. $20.00 |
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| This page was updated March 28, 2008. | |