I don’t know if colchicophile has the same ring to it that galanthophile does… and for that term I admit bias… but for a post on this blog I’ll at least try to stick with it. Colchicophile: a lover of the various species of the colchicum genus. I do like my colchicums and perhaps that could stretch into love on a particularly beautiful warm, sunny, September afternoon, but it’s not warm or sunny today, and the gloom of this second day of rain makes me think more about plants unhappy with the cold, rather than these enthusiastic and hardy autumn bloomers.
Colchicums elbowing up through the summertime placeholders in this colchicum bed. For those who need to know, it’s an unknown hybrid center and left, with the white of c. autumnale album to the right, and the last of x byzantinum to the back.
As a point of reference, there’s no need to collect colchicums. They might be a fascinating and colorful group of plants which send flowers up at a time of the year when most other plants are shutting down, but the springtime foliage dies down in early summer and that leaves a hole in your plantings until the flush of blooms comes up. No one wants gaps in their June border and then empty spots all summer, so don’t collect them. Even more critically don’t devote an entire bed to them because you’ll end up collecting sedums and other low growing things to fill in while the colchicums take a rest and it looks like you need more growing there than just a neatly tended mulch bed. Also you’re asking for trouble when you have a bed which looks like “just a few more” seedlings and transplants and new purchases could fit in, when in reality it’s already filled, so just don’t say I didn’t warn you. I used to have a nice, neat bed of colchicums and now I have an overgrown bed of colchicums and if you’re one to think that’s a problem well then that’s where any advice on my part ends. Just don’t do it.
Colchicum popping up here and there in the not-a-rock-garden but plenty-rocky colchicum bed. They would look much nicer surrounded by mulch and not covered in chrysanthemums, but they are…
But if it does happen, and you find yourself with more than two or three clumps all I can say is enjoy the ride. It’s a nice way to get excited about September and even October as fresh flowers sprout up in a tired garden. Your July perennials are dying without grace but colchicums show enthusiasm and that’s in short supply after weeks of watering and toil.
Colchicum naturalize well in grass as long as you allow enough time in the spring for the foliage to grow and then fade away. Either mow around it or just let the whole lawn look ‘country’ for a while. Sometimes I let the lawn ‘look country’ until late August and that’s been fine as well.
Here are a few favorites, and if you’re thinking they’re all my favorites they’re not. I have a bunch more which are just fine, but don’t get me thinking colchicophile when I see them. Maybe they just need time, or maybe they need a better spot, since some parts of the colchicum bed are probably drier and poorer soil than they’d like.
Colchicum cilicicum gives a wonderful show of neat and stocky blooms which seem to go on and on. I’d divide these and give them room to form an even bigger patch if I had the space.
Colchicum ‘Autumn Herald’… I think… many a vendor will sell you a named form which doesn’t quite fit the name. I guess for normal people it’s just fine if their three clumps are perhaps mislabeled, but when your fifth clump looks similar to the second, and your white comes up just as pink as the others, I guess it starts to get more irritating.
At first Colchicum xbyzantinum seemed a little boring to me, but over the years it’s clumped up and won me over with its long bloom season and hardiness and now I can’t complain.
The checkered flowers of the almost-dwarf Colchicum x agrippinum are absolutely cool. This little guy is not one to plant in the grass unless your grass is of the weakest kind.
I don’t remember being overwhelmed by the colchicum ‘Spartacus’ when it first bloomed but now it might be top five. Once it became a good sized clump the flowers really fill in and the season goes on for weeks, and the smaller size and pale pink color stands out nicely against others in the colchicum patch.
‘Nancy Lindsay’ is a colchicum everyone should grow. For me it clumps up well and makes a nice solid patch of color for a decent amount of time. I like it.
So there it is, a small sampler of the early and mid-season colchicum show here at Sorta Suburbia. The later forms are just starting and some of the mid-season ones are at their peak this weekend, so perhaps I can eke out another post… but that might be pushing it and the rain has to stop first. Also I should probably take a few cuttings inside and finish cleaning out the winter garden BEFORE I start bringing things in and dropping potted plants here and there. A system and some organization would help but nevermind. It will get done, and if it doesn’t? I have friends with plants and just like me they’re waiting for someone to show a little interest so they can fill a bag or a trunk or a truckbed with goodies.
Have a good week!
You missed one of my favorites, Colchicum autumnale plenum.
Do you like that better than Waterlily? I find ‘Plenum’ a weak grower compared to Waterlily, and not as full.
I like it fine. I don’t have Waterlily.
C. autumnale plenum is very stingy here, in a good year I only get one or two blooms! I need to find a spot it likes, some of the autumnale sulk here whenever they can find an excuse to do so…
The unknown hybrid center and left might be Lysimachus, if you ever acquired that. But for me Lysimachus is an early bloomer and Neptune is a mid-season bloomer. They are side-by-side in my garden and Lysimachus is winding down and Neptune is just getting going. There is a design conundrum placing these bulbs but I think the low growing sedums are a good choice. I also grow them near daylilies or hostas and just cut back the foliage of the perennials if they obscure the colchicum flowers. And yes there is a problem of “sameness” in the trade. Some of the bulbs are mislabeled and some varieties are sold under more than one name. And some look very much alike in bloom, but bloom at different times or at least have different leaves.
Lysimachus isn’t far from this one, in the same bed and it was in bloom well before the unknown started. I’ll have to look at Neptune, I thought it lacked much of the white center this one has but I don’t look at it much… it never wows me, just kind of average here although I know many love it.
Daylilies and hosta are a good choice, but I know I’ll just forget to trim them back and then one day wonder where the colchicum are. I think a nice shrub border carpeted with colchicums would be nice, but then I’d want to add just a few summer things as well, and befor eyou know it your carpet is interrupted. I think I just need a bigger garden.
I’ve been seduced by the color and charm of these September bloomers, so it’s a little too late for your advice to not devote an entire bed to them. Oh well 🙂
I’m intrigued by the idea of planting low growing sedums over the top of colchicums, I can imagine them easily poking their heads out of the sedum groundcover without being too obstructed.
I think the sedum covering is my favorite. A big colchicum clump will leave it suffering in June, but it fills in quite fast once the fading foliage of the colchicums is removed. Hmmm. I wonder if these sedums are originally from you lol
You know, as long as you’re already collecting and have given up, I might as well send you a few more next summer. I’m sure there are a few Kathy hasn’t already shared with you.
Very nice. They really do look good coming out of shortish grass. I’m still hard put to ID most without a label to guide me, although some do really stand out. A nice burst of early fall color
Haha, I was thinking the same as far as IDs without a label. Colchicum in my garden seem to look different here and there year to year based on the weather. I have two clumps of distinct colchicums which I moved a couple years ago to a new spot and now I’m really not sure if I kept the right label with the right clump. I wish they were more distinct like snowdrops.
“I wish they were more distinct like snowdrops.”
How can I be the first to comment on the hilarity of this statement?!
Well Plant Nerd, I’m not sure what you’re getting at here 😉
You have a beautiful and varied collection, Frank. I’ve never planted them. I imagine they are tricky to plan around in a garden, however, they look nice against a stone wall. I do have a bulb meadow where they could live happily. Hmmm…
They are a little tricky to plan around, and I think that’s where my luck with them comes from… I’m a terrible planner, so they sink or swim and I only have to show of the swimmers! They would do well in your meadow, but the foliage is so much lusher than most others that can be tricky as well! My meadow is all cute little crocus and species tulip foliage and then there’s a big clump of hosta-ish colchicum leaves!
Beautiful! They give without taking much, always a good thing. System and organization, why? Ha ha ha.
Yes! I rely on these plants which do their thing in spite of me 🙂
Oh, I love them, and I remember seeing so many at the Philadelphia Fling in September 2023. Folks don’t seem to plant them as much here in S. Wisconsin. I could see placing a few in some pots. They’re so cheery. I’m not ready for frost…we’re having near perfect weather here in S. Wisconsin right now: 70s highs/50s lows. I’m in denial about what’s next…
Oh. Please send some of that weather our way because it’s been rain all weekend, and now a few nights in the forecast are in the upper 30’s…. yuck… I’m not ready at all. Soon the trees will turn their disgusting colors and then die. I think I’m past denial and into anger lol over the passing of another summer! Maybe this super El Nino will grant us a bizarrely warm winter, although I’m not sure that’s what I want either. Some people are just never happy!
Your colchicum addiction is showing (off). Just beautiful. Hope you didn’t have trouble from the storm. We’re still in moderate drought but it has cooled off some.
Haha, yes I might be showing off. I can’t help myself sometimes when they’re growing well, and of course I don’t show the ugly ducklings 😉
I’ve been watching your region’s weather a little more closely. My daughter is at Clemson for school and was excited to have some cooler weather! She’s coming to Pa to visit in about a week and I hope our 40’s at night don’t put her into shock.
I hoped you would know I was teasing! You have plenty of beauties and I love seeing them all.
Clemson is 4.5 hours SW of me but overall the weather probably is similar. Enjoy having your daughter back home. The 40s will feel like a relief to her I imagine.
You are slowly winning me over with those lovely photos of all your beauties! Which sort would you recommend a beginner in a dry garden? Are they very drought tolerant? Hope you get some nicer drier weather to enjoy them a bit longer!
Yes! I am more than happy to offer suggestions 😉 Mine are all very drought resistant and often flower out of dust dry soil and don’t seem to care. If anything I’ve lost a few from too much summer rain.
I think your choices should depend on what’s available. I would go for obviously different forms and stick to whatever is cheap and available to start. See if you like them! You can obsess later lol
Thanks!
My goodness,yet another addiction. Your colchicums are fabulous. I saw a garden last year where a bed in a prime sunny position was planted just with colchicums, nerines and schizostylis It looked amazing but must be boring or even ugly for most of the year. And as you said that is the problem with colchicums, they are a nuisance in spring. But when they bloom you forgive them.