Cold Climate Gardening

According to John Bryan in Bulbs, “the plant usually grown under this name is a form of C. speciosum with yellow anthers.” Elsewhere he also says it has a white throat. I’ve looked at the photo of the “true” C. bornmuelleri, and I definitely have the impostor. It has yellow anthers and a white throat, and it’s big as the “triplets” I described previously.

The firm I bought it from describes it having “huge, fragrant, vase-like flowers on a green base . . . As the flowers mature, the pink coloration in the petals becomes very prominent, like a blush.” There’s always someone throwing a wrench in the monkeyworks! Huge, yes; fragrant, no; vase-like, well, that depends on the vase; green base, yes, if by base you mean perianth tube. And it’s true the color is very prominent, but like a blush? My first thought is blush the make-up, which is usually a very transparent hint of color–not what I’d call prominent. But just now I thought, “Oh, blush as in ‘I’m blushing’!” Yeah, on me that’s certainly prominent. But it’s not that color. On my plants it’s just a really concentrated form of the color on the Triplets–mauve, I think it’s called.

Whatever the name, whatever the color, I highly recommend this colchicum. It multiplies quickly, producing large, vivid blossoms that stand up well. I can easily see planting this in grass or in front of shrubs without its getting lost.

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