The crocus is an “early riser” – at least relative to the seasons.  These early spring blooms are often seen peeking out of the snow on a very cold day.

Crocuses come in lots of colors including white, yellow, blue, pink and purple.  Some are solid and others have striped petals.  Even the leaves have a stripe down the middle.

Once you see crocuses, you know that warm weather has to get here soon.

True spring crocus are cold tolerant.  They sprout from small corms planted in the fall or existing corms from prior years.  The plants and flowers are fairly small.

Once they’re done blooming, the nutrients from the leaves will be reabsorbed into the corm and the plant will go dormant until next spring.

There are two other types of crocuses that are in a different family.  They are called “crocus” due to their similar appearance to the true crocus.

The first is a “fall-blooming crocus.”  These are not as hardy as the true spring crocus.  They come up in the spring but don’t bloom until fall and are larger than the delicate spring crocus.

There is also an “autumn crocus.”  These don’t make an appearance until fall.  Then they send up their flowers followed by their foliage.  Like the fall-blooming crocus, these are larger and not as hardy.  This group includes the Saffron Crocus whose stamen are plucked for culinary uses.

You’ll read more about these other crocuses later in the year.