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The first crocus to paint the ground in February is Crocus Tommasinianus. We have a long rug of it alongside the front drive, a violet stain on the grass that leads the eye to a fat bush of Cornus mas, a pale mustard yellow block of tiny flowers at the same time.

C. Tommasinianus is named after Muzio Tommasini of Trieste, who mapped the flora of Dalmatia in the 19th centrury. It is the opposite of fat Dutch crocuses; a willing wildling that multiplies lustily even in thick grass, and helps itself to yards of easy cultivated soil.  All it needs is six weeks without cutting or disturbance after flowering.  Convention says the cultivar 'Whitewell Purple' is superior. It is darker in colour, but all'Tommies' brighten February days and this year have positively sparkled in the sunshine. Some interplant them with snowdrops; others think each is more beautiful alone.