Crocus tommasinianus 'Whitewell Purple'

Crocuses are spring-flowering plants native to Eastern Europe. Blooming from late-winter to early spring, they provide a much-needed source of nectar and pollen for queen bumblebees emerging from hibernation. They are easy to grow and particularly suited to growing in pots, and also naturalising in grass, where they quickly develop large carpets of colour.

Crocus tommasinianus 'Whitewell Purple' has paler purple flowers than the species, and holds flowers on strong stems, making it better suited to growing in herbaceous borders than other varieties, whose flowers can become splashed with mud. Plant corms in autumn in gritty, well-drained soil in full sun.