Pickwick (Crocus vernus 'Pickwick') - purple flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Pickwick

Crocus vernus 'Pickwick'

Pickwick blooms from April through April.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
Apr
checked
Hardiness
Zones 3–8
checked
Sun
Full sun
checked
Water
Low water
checked
Mature size
4 in × 3 in
checked
Type
Bulb
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Pickwick

Plant it in full sun. It prefers low water. It is hardy in USDA zones 3–8. Expect it to reach about 4 in tall and 3 in wide at maturity, in roughly 1 year (a house reading).

Is Pickwick toxic to dogs or cats?

Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.

Verification
What was checked

Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.

See the 7 sources it was checked against

When to plant Pickwick

Pickwick is a fall-planted bulb: get it in the ground 6 to 8 weeks before the ground freezes, typically September or October in zone 5, the middle of its hardy zones 3 to 8. It pays you back the following April.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 5, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 5 in September. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does Pickwick get?

Illustration of Pickwick drawn to scale beside an adult4 intall5 ft 7 inan adult3 inwide
About 4 in tall and 3 in wide at maturity: ankle-high beside an adult.

See Pickwick in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

Where these facts come from

Pickwick's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 7 published sources on October 21, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.

How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.

Good to know about Pickwick

Curated from university extensions, botanic gardens and other primary sources, with the source named on every note.

Safety

Only mildly toxic: ingestion causes GI upset (drooling, vomiting, diarrhea) in dogs, cats and horses. Do not confuse it with deadly autumn crocus (Colchicum). per ASPCA

The Crocus group

One of 12 in the Crocus group. Same genus, similar care.

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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.

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