How to Grow Pink Crocus Zonatus

Prepare a garden bed in early spring. The bulbs need plenty of rich compost and well-drained soil in a full-sun location. Check the drainage of your bed by digging a 2-foot-deep trench and filling it with water. Allow it to drain and fill again. Check in the morning and, if it has failed to drain all the way, add some grit to the soil to increase percolation.

Spread 5 to 7 inches of compost and 3 inches of sand if drainage needs amendment. Dig it all into the soil and incorporate it to a depth of 8 inches. Remove any weeds, rocks or roots.

Use a bulb planter which has depth notches already printed on it and will core out the soil in appropriate holes for the bulbs. You can also use a trowel to dig holes that are two-and-a-half to three times as deep as the diameter of the bulb. This means the hole should be 3 to 4 inches beneath the surface of the soil. Dig holes in loosely formed clusters or even trenches to create a natural look.

Incorporate 1/8 to 1/4 cup of fertilizer, or the amount recommended by the product, into the bottom of the hole and loosen the soil to a depth of 2 or 3 inches. Put a bulb into each hole with the pointed side toward the sky. Fill the hole in and compress the soil.

Protect the bulbs from squirrels by laying a thick layer of bark mulch or a mesh barrier such as chicken wire. Remove the mesh or rake back the bark in late summer to allow the plants to push up through the soil easily. You can also let the plants grow up through the mesh.

Cut back the spent blooms and allow the foliage to persist until it dies back in heavy freezes. In winter and late spring replace heavy mulch or mesh to protect the bulbs from rodents. Fertilize annually in spring.