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How to Plant and Grow Crocuses: Early Spring Color That Critters Leave Alone

Image Credit:
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Crocus
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7a
7b
8a
8b
Toxicity
Toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
Under 1 foot
Spread
Under 1 foot
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Spring
Winter
Flower Color
Blue
Orange
Pink
Purple
White
Yellow
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Disease-Resistant
Low Maintenance
Winter Interest
Attracts Pollinators
Deer-resistant
Resilience
Cold Hardy
Plant Type
Bulbs
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Just when winter seems determined to linger forever, crocuses prove it doesn’t stand a chance. These tiny but mighty spring bulbs push straight through snow and frozen soil to deliver a burst of color when your garden needs it most. 

Even better? Crocuses are largely ignored by deer, squirrels, and rabbits—making them one of the most rewarding low-maintenance blooms you can plant. From fragrant snow crocuses to bold Dutch varieties, here’s everything you need to know to plant, grow, and enjoy these early-spring showstoppers year after year.

From snow crocuses (the first to bloom) to giant Dutch crocuses, all just 2 to 4 inches tall, these blooms offer a variety of colors (blues, oranges, pinks, purples, reds, yellows, and more) that stand out against the bleak late-winter landscape. Many have strong perfumes that lure bees out of their hives in February or March, too, providing the pollinators with an important early-spring food source.

Crocuses not only provide winter garden color but also naturalize, meaning that they spread and come back year after year—with minimal care—for an ever-larger display. As a bonus, deer, squirrels, and rabbits rarely bother early little crocus corms.

Planting

Where to Plant Crocuses

Crocuses do best in a spot that gets full sun (6+ hours of direct sunlight), but will grow in partial sun as well. Choose a planting site where there is well-draining soil; the corms will rot in soggy, compacted ground. Before planting, work in organic matter such as compost to a depth of at least 10 inches.

When to Plant Crocuses

  • Crocuses need to experience an extended period of cold weather in order to bloom, so plant them in the fall to get spring blooms.
  • Before the ground freezes in the fall, crocus corms can be planted most anywhere, except in the dense shade on the north side of buildings or under thickets.
  • Ideally, plant crocus corms 6 to 8 weeks before a hard frost is expected in the fall and when the soil temperature is below 60°F (16°C). This is usually during September or October in the northern U.S. and Canada, and October or November in the southern United States.

How to Plant Crocuses

  • Plant crocus corms 3 to 4 inches deep (with the pointy end up). After planting, water well.
  • Plant bulbs in groups or clusters rather than spacing them in a single line along a walkway or border. Single flowers get lost in the landscape. Plant a few inches apart, and plant in groups of 10 or more.
  • Consider planting crocuses in lawns and meadows where they can form carpets, or mass them in the front of flower beds along the edge.
  • Plant taller spring-flowering bulbs and shrubs behind the early bulbs for color contrast.

→ Learn more about planting fall bulbs.

Crocus field
A carpet of crocuses makes for a wonderful spring sight!

Growing

  • Apply a balanced fertilizer in early autumn if your spring is short and the days heat up fast; or apply fertilizer after bulbs flower in late winter if your spring is long and temperate. The crocuses will have a chance to use the extra nutrients to produce bigger carbohydrate stores.
  • Through the autumn, keep crocus beds watered if the weather gets dry, but do not waterlog the soil. Cover the beds with mulch before the winter.
  • In late February, remove heavy mulches from snowdrops and crocuses so that the shoots can come through. Leave a light layer of leaves to provide late-season protection from frost.
  • In February and March, keep plastic milk jugs or other coverings on hand to protect the flowers of crocuses and other early bloomers against the return of severe weather.
  • If you have crocuses growing in your lawn in mid-spring, don’t mow until their leaves have died down.

Pests and Problems

  • Mice, voles, and squirrels may feed on the corms. If they are a problem, consider planting crocuses in buried wire cages.
  • Birds sometimes pick off the flowers.
  • Corms in storage are prone to rot and molds if kept too moist.

Types

  • ‘Bowles White’ produces white flowers with deep golden yellow throats in early spring. It grows 2 to 3 inches tall.
  • ’Flower Record’ has single pale violet flowers in spring to early summer. It grows 4 to 5 inches tall.
  • ’Pickwick’ is a striped crocus with alternating pale and dark lilac and dark purple bases. It’s 4 to 5 inches tall and blooms in spring to early summer.
  • ’Tricolor Crocus’ is a beauty. Each narrow flower has three distinct bands of lilac, white, and golden yellow. It grows 3 inches tall and blooms in late winter and early spring.
  • ’Purpureus Grandiflorus’ has an abundance violet flowers with purple bases. It grows 4 to 5 inches tall and blooms spring to early summer.
Crocuses in Snow
Crocuses peeking up through the snow.

Wit and Wisdom

And all the woods are alive with the murmur and sound of Spring,
And the rose-bud breaks into pink on the climbing briar,
And the crocus-bed is a quivering moon of fire
Girdled round with the belt of an amethyst ring.
–Oscar Wilde

Bulbs

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening, so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Neumann</span> Wed, 07/31/2013 - 10:22
Can the crocus plant be used as a color die?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/05/2013 - 08:50

The Saffron variety was traditionally used as a yellow dye.

 <span>Elaine Gerdes</span> Tue, 07/09/2013 - 10:41
I would like to use Crocuses planted in clay pots as centerpieces for a March 8 wedding in Zone 7a, but I am worried that they will bloom too early or too late. Would you advise me on the best way to plant and store the bulbs to make this possible?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/09/2013 - 15:37
We've never timed a crocus' bloom for a wedding event, but your best bet with a crocus is probably to force it in pots. The bulbs (corms) can be forced after a cold period of about 13 - 15 weeks. Once you bring into a warm place, the bulbs will flower in 3 to 4 weeks--or even faster. Unless you've tested it out, you'll probably want to stagger your timing with multiple crocus a week apart to hit the bloom date. Here's a page about forcing crocus in pots: www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg1116.html
<span>Linda Reagan</span> Sun, 06/23/2013 - 14:36
I want to force crocus to bloom in October for an event. I'm in zone 8. Can I do it? If so, how?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 06/24/2013 - 18:11
When we force crocus bulbs, it is in the spring. Essentially, we create a warmer environment so the cold-hardy bulbs think spring has come. For fall, it is already warm. However, there are fall-blooming Crocuses which you plant in late-summer (July or August) and appear in September and October. Search Google for "fall blooming crocus bulbs" to explore the varieties and the age to maturity. "Saffron" a popular variety which grows in zone 8.
<span>Lisa Monington</span> Thu, 06/20/2013 - 15:39
After the plant has flowered and the leaves have turned brown, the flower produces a pod and seeds are in it. Will these seeds produce a flower? I thought that the corm only reproduced.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 06/21/2013 - 19:46
Though a crocus may have seeds, the seeds are sterile and they are not for reproduction. They are not fertile. It reproduces through a corm. a swollen underground stem.
<span>Joyce Asbury</span> Sun, 06/02/2013 - 00:51
My daughter gave me a plant that I think is a mix of crocuses on Mothers Day. A grass type leaf grew up as the flowers died off is this normal? Also, I live in San Antonio, Texas and our winters just aren't that cold. I also don't know what zone I'm in. Thank you.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 06/03/2013 - 21:12
You are in zone 8b. Bulbs such as crocus need chilling (in the refrigerator) for 8 to 10 weeks before being planted each year. They may come back for a few years in Zone 8, then peter out. Tommies (Crocus tommasinianus) are the best return growers in the South. In terms of the leaves, let them yellow and die for 6 weeks after the blooms end; the leaves gather the sunlight and make the food needed for next year's blooms. See more: http://www.hollandbulbfarms.com/planting-crocus.html