Fall crocus: will mine ever come up?

[Laura321]

I planted some fall crocus bulbs about 4 weeks ago and there's no sign of them coming up yet. I think the growing guide from the company I bought them from said 2-3 weeks. I'm confused about how much to water them and worried that too much water could be the problem. I started out watering daily, then eased off because I read that one of the varieties I planted should only be watered in the driest of conditions. We havnt had any rain since planting so I suppose that's dry. Another potential problem is my kids and dog walk over the area sometimes despite the stakes I placed around the area. What do you think? Will they every come up?

[applestar]

I was looking around and on line sources seem to say 4-6 weeks to bloom. So you might need to just wait a little more.

Note too though, that if I'm remembering right, fall blooming crocuses send up the flower stalk first. So compacted soil from foot traffic is not really the best thing, and when they do emerge, the shoots will be delicate and easily kicked over/damaged.

I think you might want to strengthen the barricade and keep anyone from trampling that area.

[rainbowgardener]

I think applestar is right on all counts - about the flower stalk coming up first and about 4-6 weeks. White Flower Farms sells a bunch of different crocus varieties and 4-6 weeks is what they say. I went looking for a reference, but couldn't find it, but I'm thinking temperature and day length probably play a part in determining when it blooms. It needs to cool off first.