An interesting thing happened between last week's colchicum patrol and this one. Take a look at this: I don't know exactly when the color intensified, but it seemed to happen overnight. It delayed the posting of this patrol, because I went back and took new photographs of many flowers to reflect the new color. I [...]
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Colchicum Patrol: Week 2
September 17, 2013 – Posted in: Colchicums, What's up/bloomingHere I am on week 2 of the colchicum patrol. I see I promised I would show you last week's colchicums as open flowers, but I changed my mind. I am just going to show you the newly opened ones because there just isn't time. With the exception of the white byzantinum, they have all [...]
Colchicum Patrol: Week 1
September 8, 2013 – Posted in: Colchicums, What's up/bloomingMy longtime readers know I have a "thing" for colchicums. Their botanical weirdness--blooming in fall without leaves, which show up in spring and die down in July--fascinates me, yes. But when you have as many different kinds as I do, it is just plain fun to go out on "colchicum patrol" to see what's come [...]
‘Disraeli’ colchicum
September 10, 2012 – Posted in: ColchicumsI have seen a lot of photographs of colchicums in books and magazines, including my own article on colchicums, where the color seemed unnaturally saturated and intense. I had never grown a colchicum that richly colored, and I suspected that the photographs had been "adjusted" to make them more appealing. Those photos may very well [...]
Colchicums Sprouting in the Bag: New Garden
October 1, 2011 – Posted in: Colchicums, New House, New GardensWhen we first started the process of buying our new house, I thought we'd be moving in August. In early July I started digging up colchicum corms as the leaves died down, indicating they were going dormant. It turns out the first date proposed for closing on a house is usually wildly optimistic, and my [...]
Colchicum ‘Beaconsfield’
October 1, 2010 – Posted in: ColchicumsThis is a recent acquisition from Odyssey Bulbs, in full, though battered, bloom on September 15th. It does not seem to be as tesselated (checkered) as Colchicum agrippinum. But since this is its first year, and since I was out of town for its peak bloom, we'll revisit that issue next year. It appears it [...]
Colchicum Sprouting When Received: Three for Thursday
September 30, 2010 – Posted in: ColchicumsSometimes when you get a mail order colchicum it is already sprouting in the bag. I have read that if that happens, you should cut off the blossoms and plant the corm. I decided to plant the corm at the appropriate depth, but leave the flowers uncovered until after they bloomed. Please remember this is [...]
Earliest Colchicums Ever
August 24, 2010 – Posted in: ColchicumsAfter two days of much-needed rain, I decided to walk around the garden to see what I could see. I wasn't really expecting to see colchicums blooming, because they usually start in September. Perhaps the extended hot and dry spell, followed by the cool, rainy weather encouraged them to break dormancy early. At any rate, [...]
Colchicum interview on Web Talk Radio
August 10, 2010 – Posted in: About this site, Colchicums, Garden Tweets, InterviewsI join Helen Yoest of Gardening With Confidence this week to talk about Colchicums on Web Talk Radio. They will be blooming in about a month, you know.
Colchicums: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day October 2009
October 15, 2009 – Posted in: Colchicums, What's up/bloomingYou might think after a 26F freeze there would be nothing left blooming in the garden, but you would be wrong. The colchicums continue to shoot up new blossoms. Pictured above is Colchicum autumnale 'Album'.Early on in my colchicum acquisitions, I discovered three different varieties that, to my eye, were indistinguishable. It turns out a [...]
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