Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here today just to talk about crocuses. You may remember me from such posts as “Crocuses And Snowdrops”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
It’s pretty cold, and it’s going to be cold today, too, but tomorrow, not so much. On our morning walk it was seven degrees F (-13.9 C).
The only drawback for me is that I have to wear my boots, and the only drawback for the guy I live with is that the brightness of the sun on the snow hurts his eyes, even with polarized sunglasses.
Anyway, you may recall the guy I live with’s pontificating about crocuses and their corms. In particular, autumn-flowering crocuses.
He said that autumns are now so dry that newly-planted corms often don’t get enough water to form cormlets after the plants flower, which is why he’s growing some in pots upstairs under lights.
You can see that the leaves in the pot third from the left are starting to wither. He thought the leaves would stay green until spring, but apparently not. They do, growing out in the garden.
What really matters is the formation of cormlets.
In the pot closest in the picture, the leaves had all withered, and he thought it might be because of the heavier, silty soil which makes it difficult for water to infiltrate. He was afraid the corm had died.
He told me (I’m not sure I listened much) that a more porous soil makes it easier for water to infiltrate, and that water is more readily available to roots growing in porous soils.
Like this:
This is old soil-less mix taken from the troughs which were given away.
So he removed all the soil in that one pot, and after searching around for a while, this is what he found:
See the new cormlets? The tunic, or outer covering, of the old corm is at the left and middle.
It may take a couple of years for the cormlets to grow large enough to flower, but the process is well on its way now.
And that’s all I have for today. We’re eagerly looking forward to tonight’s -6F (-21 C), warmer weather after that, then colder weather, then warmer weather, and so forth.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Hi, Mani,
I greatly admire anyone like you and the guy you live with taking a walk in 7°F weather. That sort of thing does not happen often where I live, but the last time it did, I just walked back and forth inside my house.
Until later…
Yes, they do that sometimes. It can be both (or either) frustrating or gratifying. It is frustrating when something seems to have died, but gratifying to find that it did not. Bulbs do it also. Heck, even some of the banana trees here do it while young.
Well the guy I live with says corms are supposed to do this, unlike bulbs or tubers.
I am pleased that the crocus has not croaked. I was impressed by your noble pose in the first photograph. You make it look so easy. I hope you are both doing well and enjoying the snow/moisture.
You would have heard language from here all the way to where you live.
The cold is all gone now; it was a nice day today, though I didn’t go on my evening walk because it was super-windy at times.
HURRAH FORE CORMLETSS!!! They look guud Mani. Guy iss doin his magic again 😉 You look lovelee. Pleese wrap up warmm an enjoy yore bootiess. Iss -9 F degreess here an frigid. THE Poe-lar Vortex iss REELLY strong this yeer! Wee now have 4 feet of snow heer…..CATFISH! Take guud care Mani an Guy. **nose bopss** BellaDharma an ((hugss)) BellaSita Mum
Thanks.
It was about 45F today, here. Really and truly. More snow this weekend, though.
So windy this evening that we didn’t go on a walk.
45 Deegreess wuud bee a *heet wave** rite now Mani an Guy! It iss -15 F deegreess today an blowin snow!! YIKESS!! Two windy to go fore a walk!!! CATFISH!!!!!!
It’s only 28F here today. We had blowing snow yesterday, and some of the wind gusts were so strong the guy I live with decided we didn’t need to go on our evening walk.
But my morning walk was nice, and I didn’t have to wear my boots.
Mee-yow rite now wee wuud take 28 F for a tempyture Mani!! Wee havin blowin snow now…UCKY! Butt wee aRE happy you had a guud mornin walkie with Guy!!!
Thanks, it was nice, and we were able to go on our evening walk too.
It’ll be almost 50F by Friday and then more snow.
HURRAH for a guud walkie Mani an Guy! Did it get to 50 F deegreess?? Wee got up to 21 F deegreess. It did start meltin a bit an there was a Flood inn Office 2 doorss down from us….Iss frigid again tho’. bBBRRRR!!!!
It was pretty nice today, though I was left alone for a while.
It’s supposed to snow again tomorrow. The guy I live with is okay with that.
Mee-yow nothin wrong with a little ‘alone’ time Mani…guud fore nappin 😉 Guess what? It did NOT snow last nite…finallee….So far no snow today!
Snowing all day here.
Gotta love the yo-yo temps even during the Stock Show. Yesterday was the first day we were able to walk though it was aggravating how many people don’t think they have to shovel their walks. Grrrr. It can be treacherous trying to walk on packed down snow/ice. I don’t need any more broken bones, as I’m still recovering from a broken sternum. Sending safe and warm wishes to you, Mani and the man you live with.
Thanks. The guy I live with wears Yaktrax, which he says makes all the difference. The only issue with Yaktrax is that they do wear out if he walks a lot on concrete or asphalt.
There’s isn’t a law in our county (Jefferson) that says people have to shovel their walks, but almost everyone around here does. Except his neighbor.
The guy I live with said he didn’t know that there weren’t stockyards north of Denver any more. He said any time we got wind coming from the north, like we did yesterday, you could smell the stockyards.
That smell is likely from the Purina plant. Yes, I have Yaktrax too-they are hard to wear when someone actually shovels their walk. Denver has an ordinance that requires all residents to clear their walks within 24 hours following the end of a snowstorm. In my millennial/Gen Z filled neighbor, too many people apparently feel like that rule doesn’t apply to them. We’ve learned to tread lightly or face a fall on the ole keister-which is never fun especially when you’re older. We aren’t as limber as younger folks. We’re brittle.
The guy I live with said it would smell very strongly of cow manure. Not a smell a gardener objects to, but kind of weird at the same time, to be smelling cow poop in the winter.
He also walks in the snowy street while I walk on the shoveled sidewalk, because concrete is so hard on the Yaktrax.
More snow for us this weekend, and they’re saying rain for southern California. People living in New Orleans must be totally weirded out now.
“More snow this weekend, though.”
Would this be the, new term to me, “mountain wave” that they are mentioning in the news now?
The way we understand it, a mountain wave is air flowing over peaks in the mountains, creating a sort of ripple effect, and sometimes roaring down the mountainside.
The winds coming off the mountains here, according to the guy I live with, are katabatic winds, and they’re particularly strong at Rocky Flats and in Boulder.
It looks like the snow this weekend will be “upslope”; wind from the east.