Tuesday, April 18, 2006

White crocuses

These crocuses were spread in drifts across most of a small pasture next to an old farmyard on the west side of Highway 47, somewhere between the Handsworth Dam (Moose Mountain Lake) and Highway 48. I wasn't keeping track of where we were, but I seem to recall a sign for "Braemar Road" just a little bit of north of this site.

We stopped for a picture, but the big surprise was yet to come.


I'd heard of white forms, but these were the first I've ever seen.


Please don't brave that highway to go and dig them up. If you must have crocuses, you should be aware that they do not transplant well, but with a little know-how, they can be readily grown from seed.

6 comments:

Deb said...

Wow, I never knew there was such a flower. They are beautiful! I just noticed wood anemones blooming in the woods here yesterday.

arcolaura said...

The crocus? or the white form? I'm surprised to hear that people haven't seen prairie crocuses before - it never occurred to me that they wouldn't be widely known. They're the floral emblem of both Manitoba and South Dakota, and it looks like they occur widely in western North America. They have some other names - pasqueflower, prairie-smoke, or pulsatille.

Deb said...

Okay...I have heard pasqueflower. I didn't realize they were the same thing.

arcolaura said...

The wood anemone you mentioned is new to me. I see they are listed as occurring in Saskatchewan, but not common. I wonder if I've seen them and just assumed they were Canada anemone.

Anonymous said...

In my backyard, I have noticed we have many crocuses growing, in the colors of purple, yellow, white with purple stripes, and plain white, and there are many more that are yet to bloom.

arcolaura said...

Oh, but I would assume you are talking about true crocuses, Crocus sp., whereas these are the prairie crocus, Anemone patens, which are normally a pale purple color.