Colchicums autumn 2007

[Boyed]

Maggi,

Indeed, it is very tiny. It had been flowering for a week, but I noticed it just few days ago. I've never seen a colchicum smaller than this. It doesn't impress me that much (as I mosly like large ones), but it is good to have it for the collection.

It is sent to me from my Ukrainian friend, who collected it in wild from Crimea. Though is gows wild also in Armenia only in one location, but I haven't managed to collect it so far.

[I.S.]

  Franz!
Thanks for information. Is that you mean?

[Anthony Darby]

This is a lovely wee species which I have added to my wants list. I am trying to increase my collection of small colchicums, but each time I get a new one, two or three more spring up that I have never even heard of.

[Thomas Huber]

- Colchicum pusillum and in the background C. psaridis, looking like a small form of cupanii!
- a nice clump of C. baytopiorum in a friends alpinehouse

[hadacekf]

Ibrahim,
C. umbrosum have bulb-like tuber circa 3 cm long, 2 cm diameter, subglobose, covered by a blackish membranous scale.

[Lesley Cox]

I wonder could anyone suggest a name for the following. The foliage is in a trough now (spring) but the flowers were back in the autumn, March April. It seems happy and seeds about (I just pulled out a dozen 5cms "grasses" which I then realized were in fact colchicum seedlings ) I bought it years ago from a local nursery as C. arenarium but am unsure about this. Help please?

[I.S.]

   Thanks Franz! So you mean mines are somethings else. I was thinking that they could be umbrosum. Because they come to me from top of mountains near Artvin.
   I have no idea for Lesley. Many of them are looking same to me from pictures. I think mostly aswer is hiden under ground. I have too many things to learn about

[Boyed]

Can anybody give me a helpful advice concerning my strange-flowering colchicum?
My colchicum 'Lalac Bedder' produced kind of distorted buds and I don't know what to think of. As far as I know colchicums are virus-resistant. I suppose this must be temporary think and next year the flowers may look O.K. Does anybody experienced such kind of thing?

[mark smyth]

some of mine did that this year also. I think it's temporary

[Boyed]

Thank you Mark, I was very concerned about that. I even isolated those plants from bees baring in mind that this might be infectious. Anyway, there are some new buds going to open and I hope that those one could look O.K. Let's wait.

[Paul T]

Zhirair,

I get distorted buds here if we get rain and then heat just as the buds emerge from the ground.  I think that the rain as they emerge mean that they are "softer" and then the heat the following day burns them.  The flowers then sometimes do not open properly, in some cases the tips completely brown off and the flowers stay wrapped together right at the tip.  It seems to only happen with the very first flowers that emerge, so maybe the rest of the buds are then protected a little by these damaged flowers?  This may not be the case with yours, but the change in conditions seems to be what does it here, so maybe there was some sort of change in conditions that caused it for you as well?  Another possibility anyway.

[Lesley Cox]

If this distortion is happening in more than one garden I suppose it's not likely that it's caused by a person using a weeding tool, poking the forming buds and damaging them? I do that occasionally

[mark smyth]

from memory I think it occurs, for me anyway, with late planted bulbs or those under stress of very dry ground

[Boyed]

Paul,

Thank you for the comments; they do make sense and really can serve as reason for such kind of distortion. Anyway, I think my case is different. It has been not raining here since the beginning of September and besides, all the colchicums develop in the same conditions and treated the same way (I watered them when needed). Though only one bulb did this.

Mark,of course, most probably it is caused by a stress, though it is quite hard to find out the exact reasons for that. Some of my colchicums temporarily gave slightly deformed buds, but not to that extent. But it seems to be that new buds coming, are going to look better. 

[Paul T]

Zhirair,

It's worthwhile mentioning that only some varieties seem to get the distortion I mentioned.  Not sure what the key is, or whether it really is that specific in timing for bud emergence etc, but not all the Colchicums surfacing at the same time get the tip growning I outlined, just certain varieties.  It isn't what you are having problems with, but I thought I would mention it for others who are reading.