Colchicums

As August comes to its peak of heat and humidity, we hope to find signs of fall in the garden.  The days are noticeably shorter although early mornings are still light enough to see without a flashlight.  We never forget about colchicums.  In fact, whenever we visit that section of the boxwood border in August, we are really in search of a precocious flower.  Failing to find that, we settle down and pull weeds.  This weedy year we couldn’t have seen a flower under the grasses that were smothering all the small plants that inhabit that area, but before the month was over, our first and earliest colchicum, C. autumnale, appeared at the back of the bed. The first thing we saw was a pointed, soft pink bud barely visible at soil level.  By the next day it had evolved into a cup-shaped flower.  Its neighbors followed in quick succession as more flowers appeared day after day until by the second week in September our garden was, and still is, full of clusters of blooms in many shades of pink and white.

Colchicums have unusual ways of coming back into growth.  They bloom before their roots grow, making them easy to divide and spread without fear of disturbing them.  As soon as they appear, we can separate and plant them throughout the garden in sunny areas as well as shade.   Although most of our species have white or medium pink flowers, we have one species, C. variegatum, with an almost violet flower.  Because they flower without roots, they don’t need water to bring them into bloom.  This year, that is a blessing.  Deer and other foraging critters ignore them for, as members of the amaryllis family, they are poisonous.  

At Montrose colchicums join cyclamen, acis, and spider lilies in declaring fall is here. Sometimes mistaken for fall-blooming crocuses, colchicums can be easily distinguished by their six stamens (crocuses have only three). Fortunately, the arrival of winter isn’t the end of the colchicum display. C.hungaricum ‘Valentine’ appears in February, and thus far has never been harmed by cold weather. Our small greenhouse is home to several of the smaller species including C. neapolitanum macranthum and pusillum. In earlier days, we used to find and buy colchicums lying dry and often in bloom on garden center shelves. Now it is best to buy them from mail order nurseries.