Bulbous perennial of the Iridaceae family, 'Pickwick' is a horticultural cultivar from the group of large spring crocuses, resulting from selection and hybridization from Crocus vernus subsp. vernus. Like most Dutch crocuses, it was developed and stabilized in the Netherlands, and its name evokes a character from the novel by Charles Dickens, which attests to the age and notoriety of this cultivar.
'Pickwick' is distinguished by a particularly graphic floral display: the tepals, broad and well-developed, are silvery white to lilac white, traversed by well-marked purple violet stripes and veins that form a very characteristic decorative network. The base of the tepals is dark violet, the anthers bright yellow. This striped pattern makes it immediately recognizable among the group cultivars and gives it an almost heraldic appearance.
The foliage is that of the group: narrow, upright, dark green leaves, adorned with the typical silvery median line of crocuses.
In cultivation, flowering occurs in March-April. It is grown in well-drained soil, in full sun, and is suitable for rock gardens as well as lawns and borders. Planted en masse, the effect of its repeated stripes on a large scale is particularly striking, especially when mixed with solid white or purple cultivars.