Gardeners are unanimous in their opinion of
Colchicum speciosum 'Album'.
Best of all are 'Waterlily', a sumptuous double, and
Colchicum speciosum 'Album', a rare and lovely white.
The silver, furry lambs' lugs of stachys byzantina are tough enough to survive being over come by
colchicum leaves and make a perfect foil, both in texture and colour, to the raging puce of some
colchicum flowers.
A PIECE of garden magic to which I always look forward is the virtual overnight appearance of the
colchicums.
On a bank under oak and ash trees, we planted
Colchicum speciosum `Altrorubens' which has a crimson- purple flower and the white version, `Album' set against the background of a holly hedge.
Although
colchicums look like crocuses, they are actually members of the lily family and not a type of crocus.
Four standard rowan and a 3m high silver birch were planted, along with 1,400 narcissus and
colchicum bulbs.
Colchicum bulbs are available in shops now and produce stocky flowers in shades of pink in late September.
Colchicum bulbs, flowers and foliage are all extremely toxic if ingested and can cause serious skin irritation.
A These will be autumn crocus or
Colchicum and are bought and planted as bulbs in late summer.
The dangerous toxins are often concentrated in specific parts of the plant, such as in the bulbs of amaryllis,
colchicum, snowdrops, bluebells and daffodils.
In the autumn, you can plant creamy white narcissi to produce an ethereal effect in spring, along with snowdrops, white hyacinths and lily-flowered white tulips, Tulipa White Triumphator, while the autumn crocus,
Colchicum speciosum Album is indispensable for the autumn garden.
