Colchicum autumn 2009

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I'm afraid the large colchicums have all been recycled. Apart from a white one, the last big leafed one I have is graecum and its days are numbered.

I had never thought you to be that cruel Anthony... 
The two cuties look great though !! 

[Ragged Robin]

The 'two cuties' appear to be up to their necks in chippings, Anthony - how deep do you plant them?

[Anthony Darby]

The 'two cuties' appear to be up to their necks in chippings, Anthony - how deep do you plant them?

Halfway down the pot. I think they are supposed to be short?

[Sinchets]

Some pics of Colchicum autumnale taken yesterday in a pasture near Daveri and in a haymeadow near Chakali.

[Hagen Engelmann]

Very nice color variations, sinchets. Do they grow as single plants or in smaller and bigger groups. Do they split a lot?

[Ragged Robin]

Simon, how deep is the soil in pasture for the Colchicum to grow so well and what sort of position - they are lovely shots by the way?!

[Sinchets]

Hagen- The Colchicums here, judging from the range of shades and petal shapes growing very close together, are not great colony formers by splitting, and I presume must be building up larger groups from seed.
Robin- These pastures are all on deep and humic soils. Not sure about their depth, but they don't grow in nearby fields where the bedrock is exposed in places.
It is still early days just now and these are flowering following heavy rain last week. Hopefully we will soon be able to see fields where you can't put a pin between the flowers 
A picture of an early bloomer up the hill from the house, where the Colchicums are pushing up through the grasses in fields, which weren't cut for hay. They will have big leaves in spring, but you usually can't see them for the grass. 

[Hagen Engelmann]

Sinchets/Simon, it must be great "to see fields where you can`t put a pin between the flower". I only know fields of galanthus.
If you could show us  some pics of the sea of colchicum........

[Hagen Engelmann]

highlights of the day
Colchicum variegatum
Colchicum macrophyllum cultivar1
Colchicum macrophyllum cultivar2

[Boyed]

You all have good eyes, so you like the small flowering colchicum. But what can I do, with big glasses on my nose. Yes, I like the big flowering colchicum. Today very respectable: ZEPHYR and JOCHUM HOF

Beautiful photos, Hagen!
I do appriciate large-flowering ones very much and mosly grow these.
Your 'Zephyr' is a real true to name variety having charcteristic star-shaped base. I had questions regarding this one last year and eventually found out that mine, which has rounded base is mislabeled.

[Ragged Robin]

Wonderful Colchicum highlights in your lovely photos Hagan, all so different - the dark stamens are a real feature.

[Tony Willis]

a couple out today.

A pot of Cochicum cilicicum and the first of the Colchicum vaerigatum

[Sinchets]

Our Flora Bulgarica lists Colchicum turcicum, callycimbium (or callicymbium) and borisii as flowering now in various parts of Bulgaria. It does not however show any pic of these plants and I cannot find any information as to what these species should look like. Has anyone else heard of these species? At the moment I don't know if they are just synonyms for other species and all I have been able to find is that C.borisii is RedBook listed. Can anyone provide more information?

[mark smyth]

Hagan my variegatum looks more like your macrophyllum this year

[Tony Willis]

Flora of Turkey gives C.turcicum as a species occurring in N Greece,Bulgaria,Yugoslavia and has sites in European Turkey.

Wet meadows and open fields,autumn flowering