Snow crocus
Crocus chrysanthus ·
The earliest crocuses: small flowers in cream, yellow, blue or purple, often with bronze feathering on the outside, opening in the first mild days of late winter.
- Size
- 3 in tall, 3 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early March to late March
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Bulb layer
A bed built around snow crocus
The planner designed this bed around snow crocus when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why snow crocus stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 2 Leadwort × 8, blue
- 3 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Bergenia 'Bressingham White' × 3, white
- 7 Snow crocus × 12, yellow
- 8 Star of Persia × 4, purple
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- Near the front. At 3 in it stands ahead of bergenia 'Bressingham White' (14 in) without hiding it.
- 12 plants in 2 handfuls. In the gaps between other plants, which fill the space when the bulb is not in growth.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From early March to late March.
- Opens the season. In all that time nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 46% of the visual weight and the right half 54%. Low plants run along 95% of the front edge: bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' and leadwort.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where snow crocus goes in a border
At 3 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: bulb layer. Small bulbs planted in handfuls of five or seven in the gaps between other plants, for colour before the perennials wake up.
They flower two weeks before the large Dutch crocus. Plant them in generous drifts of one colour where the winter sun reaches, so the flowers open wide.
- The first colour of the year
- Naturalising in lawns
- Rock gardens and path edges
What to plant with snow crocus
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Creeping phlox: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid April; tall enough (6 in) to stand behind it.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': carries the spot on into mid October; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; bold leaves against its fine ones.
- Creeping thyme: carries the spot on into mid July.
Questions about snow crocus
Does snow crocus need sun or shade?
Snow crocus grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does snow crocus grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does snow crocus flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early March to late March. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late March to mid April |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid March to early April |
| Zone 5 | Early March to late March |
| Zone 6 | Early March to late March |
| Zone 7 | Late February to mid March |
| Zone 8 | Mid February to early March |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should snow crocus be planted?
3 in (7 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 in (8 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 in (8 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many snow crocus plants do I need?
At 3 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 219 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 44 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 701 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as handfuls of five or seven, in the gaps between other plants.
In the bed above, the planner used 12 in two groups.
Is snow crocus poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to dogs and cats. May cause mild stomach upset if eaten. This is a true crocus, not the highly poisonous meadow saffron (Colchicum).
What can I plant to hide snow crocus's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Lady's mantle: 18 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower late May to early July.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid May to mid September.
- Garden chrysanthemum: 24 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower mid September to late October.
What does snow crocus look like in winter?
Snow crocus is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
More Crocus
- Autumn crocus Crocus speciosus
- Crocus Crocus vernus
- Crocus 'Ruby Giant' Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'
- Early crocus Crocus tommasinianus
- Saffron crocus Crocus sativus
In these guides
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- The first flowers of spring
- Plants with blue flowers
- Plants for a white garden
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
In flower in: March
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 3 in (8 cm) tall, 3 in (8 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 in (7 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early March to late March; open bowls; yellow, white, blue, purple
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.