South of the equator, spring comes in September and October.
And here in our Northern Hemisphere, fall-flowering colchicum, crocus, and hardy amaryllis can stage a dramatic spring-like show in your garden in late summer or early fall.
Unlike any other fall flower, they bring the same urgency and spontaneity that characterize and make spring-flowering bulbs so delightful.
With few other flowers, you can be so creative in your garden. These fall-flowering corms and bulbs literally burst into bloom.
Get To Know The Colchicums
The colchicums are often called autumn crocuses or meadow saffrons. In reality, they belong to the lily family (the crocus belongs to the iris).
Few flowers are borne so profusely. They appear without foliage in September and October, and most varieties’ blossoms stand eight inches above the soil.
Each is short-lived, but others follow in rapid sequence so that a well-established plant or colony will be a conversation piece for several weeks. They are winter-hardy.
Colchicum’s Features
The colchicum’s foliage appears very early in spring, grows rapidly, and forms coarse, heavy leaves which yellow for a long period, finally turning brown in July.
Do not remove them from the plant until then since leaf-manufactured food continues to be sent to the corms during the full yellowing period.
Colchicum blossoms make delightful foreground displays for fail-flowering asters and chrysanthemums.
And, since they are without leaves when they flower, they are enhanced when planted so that they might send their flower stalks up through a ground cover such as pachysandra or the hardy trailing evergreen Vinca minor (periwinkle).
Different Uses
They stand such competition well. Or, you might place yours immediately in front of low-growing green foliage plants like hostas (plantain lilies) or a clipped hedge.
They are good companions for Sedum spectabile and spring-blooming primroses.
Colchicums naturalize well and may be set out informally in naturalistic settings, as in meadows or a woodland edge about a garden.
Selecting Colchicums For Your Garden
You may select from a number of colchicum varieties and hybrids.
Colchicum Autumnale
The best-known and most common is Colchicum autumnale, a very free-flowering, ‘soft rose-lilac with three- to four-inch flowers.
It is native to the Mediterranean in Southern Europe and North Africa. C. autumnale album is a free-flowering pure white that is noted for its rapidity of multiplication.
It is especially beautiful when grown with colored varieties. There is a remarkable double white, slightly blushed pink, and a rare double pink.
Colchicum Giganteum
C. giganteum is a large white-centered soft violet with a scent of honey. It flowers late and is from Asia Minor.
Colchicum Speciosum and Varieties
C. speciosum flowers with great beauty and gaiety, especially when borne above vinca. Its chalice-like blossoms are 6” inches wide.
- ‘The Giant’ is a highly favored variety of C. speciosum, is pure lilac, fragrant, very floriferous, and comes from the Caucasus Mountains, Macedonia, and Persia.
- C. speciosum hybrid ‘Autumn Queen’ bears giant clusters of flowers in deep rose-purple. C. speciosum album bears beautiful snow-white goblets and is said to be unequaled in beauty by any other autumn-flowering plant.
- C. speciosum album bears beautiful snow-white goblets and is said to be unequaled in beauty by any other autumn-flowering plant.
Colchicum Bornmuelleri
C. bornmuelleri bears 5”-inch vase-like flowers which are almost white upon opening and deepen to mauve with age.
Large-Flowering Hybrids
Other outstanding, very large-flowering hybrids, all in rose-to-lavender shades, including:
- ‘Violet Queen,’
- `Lilac Wonder’
- ‘Premier’
Where Colchicums Grow
Colchicums grow well in full sun or partial shade. They appear to have no preference for soil type but demand good drainage; otherwise, they will rot in the soil.
Their corms should be purchased in July or August, for at no other time can they be shipped safely.
So eager are they that they flower during their flowering season whether they have been planted or not, and if not, they will exhaust their corm’s food supply.
Plant them so that the corm tops are at least three or four inches below the soil’s surface, from 6″ to 8″ inches between each. For a beautiful display, group them into colonies.
After they have multiplied, and if one desires to divide them, they may be lifted after their foliage dies down in July or even while they bloom, provided that the divided corms are replanted immediately.
Flowering is likely to be curtailed if they are not divided, and corms become crowded.
Where To Plant Fall Crocuses
The fall-blooming species of crocus perform equally well in full sun or very light shade.
Since they are wildlings, once you plant them, they may be left to their own resources and divided only when growth becomes congested, and blooms fail.
They multiply freely. The different species flower from September to December, with the heaviest bloom occurring in October.
Plant corms 4” inches deep in August, September, and October and lift only after the foliage ripens in July; replant before the flowering period starts.
Plant them close together in colonies. They are at their best when sending flowers up through spreading mats of Phlox subulata, the dwarf sedums, or Vinca minor.
Crocus Speciosus
This is probably the most glorious of the fall-flowering crocuses. Its large snow-white flowers are borne in masses and seem to spring up from nowhere.
It has large, beautifully veined bright blue flowers, orange-red anthers, and yellow throats.
Crocus Zonatus
Crocus zonatus, a yellow-throated rose-lilac of great beauty, flowers freely and is a delight when planted either under tall shrubs, in the rock garden, or amid ground cover like pachysandra. It flowers readily in pots indoors or on the terrace.
Crocus Sativus
Crocus sativus is the saffron crocus, and the pistils yield the saffron of commerce, a deep yellow dye. Its flowers are large and purple-lilac, with violet feathering.
Other Popular Crocus Species
Other popular species include the following:
- Crocus asturicus from Spain, a pale mauve to purple-lilac, with darker stripes at its base; and
- Crocus welling, a rich violet, with showy veining at its base and glowing orange-red stigmas.
Lycoris Squamigera
Lycoris squamigera, which frequently is called a magic lily, hardy amaryllis, and Amaryllis halli, is a bulbous herb.
It is hardy in the North and thus suited to outdoor gardens throughout much of the United States.
This probably is the only member of the amaryllis family, which is neither tropical nor subtropical.
Like the colchicum and crocus, it leafs out in the spring, and the foliage ripens and disappears by mid-June or early July.
Then, as if by magic, its leafless flower stalks suddenly appear from the earth in August and, in a week or ten days, attain a height of 2’ to 3’ feet.
In an astonishing manner, they unfurl a great cluster of 8 to 12 large fragrant lily-like trumpets of a delicate lilac-pink which retain their beauty for several weeks.
So dramatic is the sudden appearance of the flowers that it is known as the magic lily. It was introduced to American gardens in about 1860 from its native China.
How To Plant Hardy Amaryllis
Lycoris squamigera is ideally suited for light woodland or in a garden border where ferns or hostas can provide greenery as a background for the flowers.
Plant the bulbs in late summer or fall and cover them with 4” to 6” inches of soil; leave them undisturbed in the garden yearly.
44659 by Oscar Keeling Moore