Crocus flowers take centre stage in the late winter garden
Image: Crocus ‘Botanical Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan
If you’re looking for advice on crocus care along with some nifty planting tips, check out this helpful collection of independent articles, Instagram posts and video tutorials. Crocus bulbs bring bright bursts of jewel-like colours at a time of year when not much else is growing. These versatile blooms brighten gardens and lawns long before other popular spring favourites like narcissi and tulips appear.
Inspired by this colourful content? Browse our high quality range of online crocus bulbs including delicate saffron crocuses, autumn flowering Colchicum and classic spring varieties.
Thompson & Morgan blog
Crocuses deliver a powerful punch of early colour
Image: Crocus ‘Yellow Mammoth’ from T&M
“As a general rule, plant your bulbs in well drained soil. Those sitting in waterlogged soil will rot,” say the expert team at the Thompson & Morgan blog. Find out when to plant your crocuses, how deep the bulbs need to be buried, and how much space to give them in this ultimate bulb planting guide.
Roger Crookes
Roger brightens up a roundabout with crocus bulbs
Image: Roger Crookes
YouTuber Roger Crookes uses crocus bulbs to spread joy in his local area. Try planting your bulbs in the shape of a love heart or a rainbow, recommends Roger. He opted for a simple ‘crocus chuckle’ on his local roundabout. With a colour scheme including purples, stripes and yellows, his efforts are sure to raise a smile! Watch his video to see how he plans and executes his designs.
Danielle – @danielles_allotment
Crocus bulbs produce large flowers in relation to their bulb size
Image: @danielles_allotment
“Crocus bulbs were the first thing I planted at my plot and the first thing to bloom and make me smile,” says Instagrammer Danielle. Check out the photo of her first crocus of the year taken in January – a welcome sign that winter is nearly over. If you want to add some early colour to your allotment like Danielle, plant crocus bulbs along the grassy borders of your plot to help mark it out. Check out her page @danielles_allotment to follow her journey.
Ashley – @tayviewgarden
Colourful crocus flowers appear like jewels in the lawn
Image: @tayviewgarden
“North-facing garden? I’ve got you covered,” says Instagrammer Ashley at @tayviewgarden. Go for crocus! She advises planting a few, and watching as they multiply into a carpet of colour over time. She’s naturalised crocus bulbs throughout her lawn – take a look at her post to see how far her bulbs have spread in just two years.
Darren Harwood
Plant your crocus bulbs close together for dense patches of colour
Image: Darren Harwood
Do you want to add dense patches of colour to an established lawn? YouTuber Darren Harwood recommends using an edging tool to plant groups of crocus bulbs. The tool cuts through the turf with minimal disturbance and gets your bulbs to the perfect depth for growth, he says. Watch his video for a full demonstration and lots of helpful planting tips.
monalogue
Crocus ‘Pickwick’ brings a magical atmosphere to Ramona’s garden
Image: monalogue
“The main attraction in the garden at the moment is the crocus lawn. It brings me so much joy,” enthuses top blogger Ramona at her YouTube channel monalogue. She planted 800 crocus ‘Pickwick’ bulbs in her lawn during lockdown for the promise of something colourful to cheer her up. The larger flowers of ‘Pickwick’ create a powerful impact – watch her video to find out more and get a sneak peak at her dreamy cottage garden.
Tony – Simplify Gardening
Crocuses are best placed at the top of your bulb lasagne display
Image: Simplify Gardening
Fancy having a go at making a bulb lasagne? Crocus bulbs are the crowning glory of Tony’s container display, providing some of the earliest colour. Tony plants five layers, each with a different type of bulb, to make sure he gets four months of fabulous flowering from his pot. Check out his excellent video over at Simplify Gardening to see how it’s done.
@seeds_with_stephanie
Crocus flowers provide food for bees early in the year
Image: @seeds_with_stephanie
“My first bee of the year visited the garden and landed on my new crocus flowers,” says Instagrammer @seeds_with_stephanie. The crocuses are the earliest flowers to bloom in her bulb lasagne, looking lovely and providing an attractive food source for hungry pollinators. Check out Stephanie’s page to keep up with her gorgeous images and gardening adventures.
Rekha’s Garden and Kitchen
Home grown saffron has a superior quality
Image: Rekha’s Garden and Kitchen
Did you know that the spice saffron is harvested from Crocus sativus? Food and garden blogger Rekha uses her homegrown saffron to make a delicious mango chutney. “My very own home grown organic saffron has the most delightful strong saffron aroma, unlike the shop bought varieties,” she says. Follow her recipe to make something extra special with your own precious harvest.
Benedict Vanheems – GrowVeg.com
The spice saffron is harvested from the stigma of the crocus flower
Image: Crocus sativus from T&M
Crocus sativus is best planted in late summer, says Benedict Vanheems at GrowVeg.com, and if you want to save money by harvesting your own saffron, you’ll need to plant about 50 bulbs. “Saffron crocuses are ready multipliers, taking just a couple of years to bulk out and reward you with enough saffron for a weekly paella,” he says. Find out how to pick and dry this valuable spice in his detailed article.
@jack_lamonby
Colchicum flowers are unrelated to crocus, but are very similar in appearance
Image: The goldfinch/Shutterstock
Did you know that ‘autumn crocuses’ are not true crocuses? They are, in fact, Colchicum bulbs that produce very similar low-growing flowers in the autumn rather than the spring. You can tell them apart in spring by their larger leaves and the shape of their corm, says gardener @jack_lamonby. He recommends popping these beauties in a sunny spot for a splash of autumn colour.
Alison – The Blackberry Garden
Crocus flowers look especially lovely peeking through gravel
Image: The Blackberry Garden
In her ode to the crocus, award-winning blogger Alison Levey extorts its merits as a sun-loving mood-lifter. “The crocus times its moment, it refuses to open its flower unless the sun is on it, and then it just goes,” she says. Read Alison’s full article: ‘The brilliant heads of the crocus’ over at The Blackberry Garden to find out how she uses crocuses in her own garden.
Balconia Garden
Prepare your crocus bulbs carefully for storage
Image: Shutterstock
Short on growing space like K from Balconia Garden? Try lifting your crocus bulbs after they finish flowering to free up pot space over the summer. The first step is to allow the foliage to completely finish growing and start to turn yellow, she says. Her informative video demonstrates how to clean, dry and store your bulbs. Then, when it’s time to replant them in the autumn, give her crocus planting video tutorial a quick watch for some useful tips.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these crocus posts as much as we did. If you’re looking for information on other winter-flowering bulbs, check out our winter flowers hub page, or for more info on creating a spectacular spring bulb display, head over to our dedicated spring bulb hub page. We’ll keep an eye out for your crocus pics on social media come spring just remember to use the #YourTMGarden.
Sophie Essex is a freelance garden writer with a passion for horticulture and environmental conservation. With a BSc in Botany/Plant Biology from the University of Plymouth, she further honed her expertise through a Masters of Science in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants from The University of Edinburgh.
Sophie has also worked as a professional gardener and landscaper, showcasing her practical skills by transforming outdoor spaces. Her commitment to fieldwork is further evident in her acquisition of a Certificate in Field Botany from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and over the years, she has interned at the Eden Project, Cornwall, the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Find more information about Sophie over at LinkedIn.