{"id":2993,"date":"2020-03-02T08:38:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2993"},"modified":"2020-03-02T08:38:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:38:14","slug":"tommies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/tommies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tommies-1\"<\/a>I am absolutely ridiculous about the first flowers of spring.\u00a0 I start checking the beds around New Year\u2019s, hungry for even the smallest bit of color in my drab slice of suburbia.\u00a0 When I do spot something\u2014crocus, snowdrop or winter flowering jasmine blossoms\u2014I feel my spirits lift.\u00a0 It may be 25 degrees and sleeting, but those few flowers mean that spring is making itself known.<\/p>\n

I feel a special affection for Crocus tommasinianus, the little early bloomers known to their admirers as \u201ctommies\u201d.\u00a0 They are not the bodacious Dutch giants that appear later, but small, slender, purple-pink specimens.\u00a0 Each one stands only a couple of inches high, but has a huge impact at this time of the year.<\/p>\n

In my yard, the tommies are in the lower back garden, growing in a large clump.\u00a0 They have naturalized over time, which is typical of the species and part of their charm.\u00a0 Some vendors claim that tommies are immune to \u201csquirrel landscaping\u201d, which happens when squirrels dig up some of the bulbs and replant them in other places.\u00a0 All I know is that in my garden, a few tommies have migrated to other beds and are establishing floral beachheads in their new locations.\u00a0 Clearly the squirrels in my neighborhood don\u2019t read the catalogs.\u00a0 However, the transplanted tommies look so lovely that I can almost forgive the squirrels for their indiscriminate digging.<\/p>\n

You may have seen tommies and not known them. At the first sign of spring sun and warmth, the narrow petals open out to reveal the golden-orange anthers in the center of each flower.\u00a0 They have their season in the sun, with their grass-like foliage appearing after the flowers.\u00a0 Eventually all traces of the plants fade away, awaiting a return engagement the following spring.<\/p>\n

Part of the large and diverse iris family, Crocus tommasinianus was first described back in 1847, and is native to European areas in the northern Balkans.\u00a0 Its winsome appearance and native toughness caught the attention of gardeners and its popularity spread. \u00a0In fact, the species has gained such a following that I always wonder whether it has been depleted in its native range.<\/p>\n

The squirrels may dig and replant tommies, but they don\u2019t seem to eat them.\u00a0 Most horticultural sources label the bulbs and plants as resistant to deer and other garden varmints. This seems to be true in my garden, as the only damage ever done to tommies was inflicted by the less-than-dainty feet of Mr. Antlers and his crew. \"Tommies-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Plant Crocus tommasinianus in the fall and do so with a generous hand. \u00a0They like sun, but since they bloom well before the deciduous trees leaf out, they are perfect for planting underneath those trees. They also like to be naturalized in grass. Whether you do the planting or the squirrels pitch in, just make sure that you don\u2019t mow the area before the leaves have died back.<\/p>\n

Breeders have not gone crazy with tommies, but a few varieties show up in commerce. If you are partial to pink, try \u2018Roseus\u2019, which dates to 1924. \u00a0A mixture of \u2018Roseus\u2019 and species tommies makes a nice combination. \u2018Barr\u2019s Purple\u2019 is a time-tested variety, with blooms that are a bit larger and darker than the species. \u2018Lilac Beauty\u2019 features flowers that are a softer, more blue-purple shade than ordinary tommies.<\/p>\n

If you know someone with a clump of tommies, throw yourself on his or her mercy now and ask for a small division. It should grow bigger every year. Barring that, make a note for next fall and set aside a few dollars to buy some bulbs. They are relatively inexpensive, which is a good thing, because it takes about 100 of them to make a spring splash.\u00a0 Plant them three inches deep and don\u2019t bother with individual bulb holes.\u00a0 Dig one large, shallow hole and position all your bulbs in it.\u00a0 Barring that, plant the tommies in clusters of three, five, seven or nine bulbs to give your spring array a natural look.<\/p>\n

You can order tommies from Old House Gardens, 4175 Whitmore Lake Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105. (734) 995-1486, www.oldhousegardens.com (Catalog $2.00). They are also available from John Scheepers, 23 Tulip Drive, Bantam, CT 06750, (860) 567-0838, www.johnscheepers.com (Free Catalog)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am absolutely ridiculous about the first flowers of spring.\u00a0 I start checking the beds around New Year\u2019s, hungry for even the smallest bit of color in my drab slice of suburbia.\u00a0 When I do spot something\u2014crocus, snowdrop or winter flowering jasmine blossoms\u2014I feel my spirits lift.\u00a0 It may be 25 degrees and sleeting, but … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,5],"tags":[1368,2262,2265,2264,2263,1763,1369],"class_list":["post-2993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-winter","tag-crocus-tommasinianus","tag-early-crocus","tag-naturalized-bulbs","tag-purple-flowered-bulbs","tag-sping-blooming-plants","tag-spring-ephemerals","tag-tommie-crocus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2996,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2993\/revisions\/2996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}