genus Colchicum always storm me . I intend , I know where I institute them , and I know when they are hypothesise flush , but I am never really prepare for when they emerge , which seems to be virtually over night . All it takes is a few chilly nights in September , and suddenly , a sea of imperial opens up driving the bees , crazy . Last Saturday morning , I remark some of my populations bloom even nicer than the workweek before ( when I had mistakenly believed that our Indian Runner Ducks had extracted each of the former blossoms ) . One week afterwards , the clumps appear not risky for the vesture , and in the later summer fair weather , open up their petal for a magnificent show .
1 . Order Early . The ‘ Waterlily ’ Colchicum above are an impressive display at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden . It demonstrate the best way to place these autumn flowering bulbs . There are a few affair to think back , First , plant Colchicum early , which have in mind that you must order them early.2 . locate them where they will look awesome in September . This is important for two reason . First , Colchicums bloom immediately after planting in the autumn , but they send up their foliage in the spring , which can be rather aggressive . The foliage is not unattractive , but it break down down in early July , so plan for this ( blend Narcissus is a good idea , but not Hosta , for when the plants blossom in the fall , you will not see them ) . The mind localisation , is an open spot in a mixed bush border , which remains marginal as above .
3 . Plant lot of bulbsIf you order from a major retail mail ordering source , they will get in at the right time to implant for your geographical zone , but like all bulb , the more you set , the better the display . I calculate that the drift of ‘ Waterlily ’ genus Colchicum at Tower Hill came from about 50 bulbs , implant about ten yr ago . Even 25 bulbs plants 1 metrical foot apart , will give you the same facial expression in 3 yr . These are plants that become better with age , so feel good about investing in them .
4 . Here is the perplexing part . The common name for Colchicum is ‘ Autumn Crocus ’ , but they are not true Autumn Crocus , for there are many specie of true crocus which are autumn bloom , and most look very much like give blooming crocus which you surely know . The genus crocus is not related to the genus Colchicum , and out of the 80 or so specie of true crocus , about one-half are autumn bloom . unhappily , many true fall crocus are not hardy beyond Zone 6 , and accumulator tend to turn crocus in greenhouse aggregation . You may have heard that Saffron make out from Crocus , which it does , an autumn blooming one , Crocus sativus . genus Colchicum are a different genus , and , not all Colchicum are crepuscle blossom , some species bloom in winter , and others in the give . There are many named varieties which are very old to culture , but the pure wild class , or coinage number around 60 . Most are native to Turkey , the Middle East and Southern Russia . These are in general collector species , and only a few micro collector glasshouse carry the saltation pratfall , so do n’t worry about getting anything but a fall blooming Colchicum from your local garden center , or from a Dutch bulb dealer .
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