Crazy about Colchicums.

I was last to call this post ‘ Naked Ladies ’ , but then decided that it would attract the wrong sort of lecturer . But this is in fact the mutual name for these beauties because the flowers appear without any foliage .

Colchicums are commonly misguided for autumn crocus ( or should it be croci ? ) But there is a difference if you look at the efflorescence closely . Crocuses have three stamens and colchicums have six . Some mass choose crocuses because they are more delicate , but I love Colchicum ; they give the garden a much needed gust of colour in early fall .

The first one to bloom always gives me a shock by appear in August . It isColchicumautumnalewhich seems rather a misnomer , as by the autumn it has been and gone .

Colchicum autumnale

Colchicum autumnale

It is the only colchicum which is aboriginal to the UK and used to flourish in the Mae West of the country , but I believe it is rare now . Gerard spell that it is safe as a remedy for gout . He say it comes from the Isle of Colchis . In fact what was roll in the hay as the ancient urban center of Colchis is in the Black Sea area of Georgia . If you remember your Greek mythology , you will recall that Colchis was the name and address of Jason and the Argonauts in the quest for the Golden Fleece . Colchicum were pronounce to have recoil up from drops of the poisonous potion brewed by Medea , the daughter of the King of Colchis . In fact she intend it as a love potion , but colchicums are very toxicant .

It would seem that Gerard ’s gout curative is somewhat pestilent . There have been several immortalize accidental demise by colchicum poisoning . Apparently , masses have mistake it for wild ail . improbably stunned people they must have been too . In the 19th century , colchicum was used by a woman call Catherine Wilson as a poison . The symptom resemble those of cholera , so in those days , so she had a fortune of start out away with it . She was a nursemaid and persuaded people to change their wills form her the donee and then she kill them with colchicine . She is suspected of murdering her first husband and several other people . She was fall in 1862 . So do n’t snack on your colchicums .

Colchicum autumnale

The white formColchicum autumnale‘Album ’ is a fleck subsequently and seems to last longer in my garden .

Colchicum autumnale‘Album ’

Much bigger and showier are the lovelyColchicum speciosumhybrids . The most desired one , Colchicum speciosum‘Album ’ was engender in the late 19th century by Backhouse of York . E.A.Bowles tells us that when he first envision it , there were only three medulla in world and even year by and by they changed hands:‘at a toll only desirable for millionaire ’ . It is indeed a gorgeous bulb with immense goblets of glisten white .

Colchicum autumnale

Colchicum autumnale

Colchicum speciosum‘Album ’

Another of the Backhouse hybrid is a favourite of mine . It isColchicum speciosum‘Atrorubens ’ . I do it the path that it is purple all down the stem .

Colchicum speciosum‘Atrorubens ’

Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’

Colchicum autumnale‘Album’

I have clumps of colchicums scattered all round the garden and I have decided that unless you’re able to afford hundreds of bulbs this is not a keen way to expose them because they just do n’t have enough impact . I was at Beth Chatto ’s garden lately and she has them threaded throughout the garden , peculiarly in the woodland garden . They looked lovely , but the cost of doing this would be prohibitory for most of us .

I also ascertain them growing in a special layer on a late visit to East Ruston Vicarage garden . I love this garden and I have been meaning to drop a line about about it for a while now , but I keep getting side - go after . I will endeavor to make it my next post . But I am not piercing on this room of displaying colchicums in all their nudity . And I think the labels are intrusive .

Last week , I visited the howling garden of the bulb specialist , Rod Leeds who lives near me . He save the three books which are my electric light Good Book . ‘Autumn Bulbs ’ , ‘ ThePlantfinder ’s Guide to Early Bulbs’and ‘ Bulbs in Containers’ . Not only does he have varieties of colchicums that I have never pick up before , but the show in a bottom alongside his drive made a giving impact . It inspired me to write this post and to contemplate making an fall bottom of colchicums myself . I am not certain where yet ; I ca n’t quite face digging up more lawn . But I am definitely going to dig up all my colchicums and place them in a layer together . As they are so defenseless when they flower , I loved the way Rod give way them frills of the Petroselinum crispum freshPolypodium cambricum‘Richard Kayse ’ .

Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’

Colchicum speciosum‘Album’

Polypodium cambrian”Richard Kayes ’

I found a greenhouse on ancestry which stock up this gorgeous fern and I buy it along with aPolypodium cambrian‘Pulcherrimum Addison ’ which is one Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Plants advocate .

The problem with colchicums is the fact that in springtime , they have the most tremendous leaves which can be a pain in the neck , and they do n’t die back prettily . I might take up some of Beth Chatto ’s ideas for companion flora . The clean distinguish pulmonaria leafage is perfect with the gorgeous prime ofColchicum speciosum‘Album ’

Colchicum speciosum ‘Atrorubens’

Colchicum speciosum‘Atrorubens’

Colchicum speciosum‘Album ’ withPulmonaria .

Lamium maculatum‘White Nancy ’ can be incursive , but it too looks good with the ashen colchicum . The native fernAsplenium scolopendriumcrops up all over my garden and how nice it looks in this group .

Whoops , this next one is a compounding I will not be re-create . Ground Elder is the nemesis of my animation . I drop my lifespan trying unsuccessfully to annihilate it . Even if this is the variegated form , it is not welcome in my garden . The doubleColchicum‘Water Lily ’ is not one of my favourites . Almost as before long as it blooms it collapses messily .

Colchicum‘Water Lily ’ withAegopodium podagraria‘Variegata ’

I do n’t think I would use the invasive periwinkle either .

So what would I use ? I already have plum tree - colourise Heuchera planted with some of them and they calculate unspoiled together . The foliation of Alchemilla mollissets them off well too , as long as you keep it neatly trimmed .

Polypodium cambrian ‘‘Richard Kayes’

Polypodium cambrian”Richard Kayes’

I may also plant a few autumn floweringLiriope muscariwith them .

genus Liriope muscari

And in a cheery spot what about some lovely yellowSternbergia lutea ? Although I must admit that so far I have not had much achiever at getting them to blossom every year . These are in Rod ’s garden .

Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’ with Pulmonaria.

Colchicum speciosum‘Album’ withPulmonaria.

Sternbergia lutea

I shall certainly take up Rod ’s approximation of plantingCyclamen hederifoliumalong the front of the bed . I suppose this bed is proceed to be gravid playfulness to make and it will be a chance to produce some different genus Colchicum . By the way , if you want to move colchicums , the best clip to do it is after the leaves die down and they have gone dormant .

55 Responses toCrazy about Colchicums.

The Colchicums are very pretty but I also call back they look well grow through something to gird their loins . The bulbs are n’t often seen here – when they are , they ’re usually offered as freshness items rather than sold for mass planting . We do have our own nude gentlewoman though , in the shape of Amaryllis belladonna . regrettably , mine did n’t make an show this yr , perchance because their foliage was burn to a potato chip by an early heatwave .

They are wonderful – thanks for share-out .

Colchicums are front-runner of mine as well and I very much enjoyed the back story . Colchicine is still used to treat gout and is very efficient in the correct dosage . I was very golden to have inherited quite a few of these with my current garden and am always on the lookout for dissimilar varieties . Beautiful !

Crazy about Colchicums.