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Tecophilaea cyanocrocus
Also called Chilean Crocus
Chilean blue crocus is a small perennial bulb from the Andes of Chile, prized for its deep gentian-blue flowers. It is not a true crocus, and the key to growing it is well-drained soil and a dry, cool summer rest.
Tecophilaea cyanocrocus, the Chilean blue crocus, is a flowering perennial plant that is native to Chile, growing at 2,000 to 3,000 m (6,600 to 9,800 ft) elevation on dry, stony slopes in the Andes mountains. Although it had survived in cultivation due to its use as a greenhouse and landscape plant, it was believed to be extinct in the wild due to overcollecting, overgrazing, and general destruction of habitat, until it was rediscovered in 2001.
T. cyanocrocus is hardy in USDA Zones 9-10; in essentially frost-free mild climate areas (e.g. Northern New Zealand, Ireland, much of northern California) Tecophilaea cyanocrocus may be successfully grown in open rock gardens exposed to the weather. However, tecophilaea is somewhat frost-tender and cannot withstand hard freezes. Where winter freezes may occur, such as the Pacific Northwest, tecophilaea is best grown in containers that can be protected from very cold weather. Nonetheless, as long as the temperature does not drop much below freezing, tecophilaea is healthier for being kept in the open during winter.
Tecohilaea grows best in a well-drained, circum-neutral (pH 6-7) soil. The corms go dormant during summer, and water should be entirely withheld once the foliage fades after the springtime period of active growth. However, tecophilaea does not benefit from the summer baking that most tulips and many crocuses benefit from. On the contrary, tecophilaea prefers dry, but rather cool soil in summer.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tecophilaea cyanocrocus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
