Ruby Giant (Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant') - purple flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Ruby Giant

Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant'

Ruby Giant blooms from February through March.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
Feb–Mar
not yet checked
Hardiness
Zones 3–8
checked
Sun
Full sun
checked
Water
Low water
not yet 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 Ruby Giant

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 (not yet checked).

Verification
What was checked

Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant. The bloom months and water need on this page were not, and each fact above says which. 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 11 sources it was checked against

When to plant Ruby Giant

Ruby Giant 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 February to March.

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 Ruby Giant get?

Illustration of Ruby Giant 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 Ruby Giant 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

Ruby Giant's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun and trait tags were checked against 11 published sources on July 29, 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 Ruby Giant

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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Design a garden with this

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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