Crocus chrysanthus Blue Marlin

Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Marlin' is distinguished by its bright and colourful flowers, in small blue-mauve cups enhanced by a bronze yellow heart and bright orange stamens. It is a very early variety, with small bulbs that bloom just after snowdrops. Easy to grow, floriferous and reliable, it naturalises in borders or rockeries, provided it receives enough sunlight and is planted in well-drained soil.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Marlin' belongs to the Iridaceae family. Its ancestor originates from Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula. This prolific variety quickly forms large colonies in upright clumps measuring 10 to 12cm (4 to 5in) in height. Flowering takes place from February to March, depending on the climate. The plants bear several cup-shaped flowers that open in a star shape. They are a tender blue-mauve with a bronze yellow throat. The reverse of the petals is streaked with violet. The heart of the flower is filled with bright orange-yellow stamens grouped together in a 'tube'. The flowers close at night and in bad weather, opening in the sun and even in semi-shade. The foliage is deciduous, drying up and disappearing some time after flowering, while the bulb goes into dormancy to escape the hot season. It consists of fine, thick, simple and alternate linear leaves. They are bright green with a central white-silver band. The 'bulbs' here are corms. A corm is, in plant morphology, an underground storage organ that looks like a bulb, but is formed by a swollen stem surrounded by scales.

Crocuses are undisputed stars of the garden, as they are the first heralds of spring. Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Marlin' works wonders in rockeries, borders, and along paths. It will also thrive on the edge of light woodland with primroses, along a hedge, planted en masse at the base of deciduous trees (lilac, mock orange, viburnums) with hellebores and Cyclamen coum, or in the middle of a lawn with winter aconites, snowdrops, or a carpet of violets, and of course, combined with other early-flowering crocuses. This crocus is also suitable for planting in outdoor pots.

Crocus roots can contract like a spring, allowing the plant to settle at its ideal depth.