wrote:
We have a new flower that I don't recall seeing before. I have two
photos of it, but, unfortunately neither is very good at showing the
inside of the flower itself, as it has not fully opened today as it
has yesterday when it was sunny, but I did not have a chance to take a
picture. Anyway, it's at http://www.flickr.com/photos/24728380@N07

Some additional info: It looks sort of like a tulip, but the leaves
are not tulip-like at all. The petals are entirely wihte, while the
inside is yellowish orange. It is growing on the east side of the
house, and so has almost no direct sunlight. We are located in
southern New Jersey and it came up just recently (early to mid March).
Does anyone have any idea what it might be?

Thanks,
Boris Zakharin

Definitely a crocus, as others have said. The date of bloom, the location,
the grass-like foliage with a light stripe are pretty definitive. I've
never paid much attention to varieties with these plants -- they are all
"inexpensive generic early spring bloomers of unpredictable color which
survive almost anything" to me.

That said, I'd be happy if a few more of the hundreds of yellow and purple
ones in my yard were of the white variety. I could count the white ones on
the fingers of one hand and might have fingers left over. I theorize that
the white ones are just a little less hardy and prolific than the other
colors. Or perhaps they naturally revert.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com