Winter Flowering Colchicums December 2008

[Anthony Darby]

Lovely wee plant. Variable too. Not seen this one before. Is it in cultivation? The leaves look well behaved.

[mark smyth]

Yes definitely a lovely plant.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I agree with Mark and Anthony !!  Beautiful plant Oron - would love to hear more about it - as Anthony says, the leaves look not too exhuberant ...

[J.B.Wyllie]

Beautiful, good ratio flowers to leaves.

How big are the flowers? Would it be hardy in UK?

Jean

[David Shaw]

Yes, a super Colchicum. Like Anthony, I would like to know if it is in cultivation and if bulbs or seed are available anywhere.

[Maggi Young]

Colchicum ritchii is a stunner.... I think I know EXACTLY  how to grow it in the UK, in the unlikely event I had a bulb..... I reckon it should be grown in a large bucket of sand, kept permanently on the back of an Aga cooker,, with a grow light overhead. Tip  half a bucket of water over  it every year or so........bet it would flower a treat!

[Jim]

They are beautiful. I am pretty sure that seed of this has come up over the years from the Archibalds, M. Salmon as I have some three or four year old seedlings but I am sorry to say not sure where they came from now.
Jim

[Gunilla]

Oron, those Colchicums are really beautiful! I received Archibald's December seedlist today and they have a lot of Colchicums but not C. ritchii    

But they did have seeds of C. kesselringii and that is a Colchicum I have wanted for a long time 

[Oron Peri]

This species is very 'showy', it has a medium size flower of about 5cm across with
3 thick leaves.

It might be hardy like many other bulbuos plants from the desert, since night temperatures during winter can fall easily under 0C.
the problem would be excess of water, since it receives very little in its habitat, around 80-100mm.

 It is grown in pots at the botanic garden in Jerusalem which is cold enough in winter.
I think it was on JJA seeds in the past

[Oron Peri]

Colchicum ritchii is a stunner.... I think I know EXACTLY  how to grow it in the UK, in the unlikely event I had a bulb..... I reckon it should be grown in a large bucket of sand, kept permanently on the back of an Aga cooker,, with a grow light overhead. Tip  half a bucket of water over  it every year or so........bet it would flower a treat!

Maggi,
Don't think I have not tried this methood with other plants in the past...

[dominique]

Thank you Oron for these pics of solovely Colchicum which make us dream to seeds !!!
Dom

[arillady]

Oron,
Makes me feel I would not mind getting lost in that desert if I could enjoy such beauties.
Pat T

[Oron Peri]

Pat,
wait till you see the Onco's from that area....
oron

[Luc Gilgemyn]

You're making us drool Oron... and not just a little bit...