Colchicum, False Autumn Crocus, Showy Colchicum, Naked Ladies, Meadow Saffron 'Album'

The RHS has awarded this cultivar its prestigious Award of Garden Merit. It considers this the best of the colchicums, whiter, larger, st...Read Moreurdier, and better shaped than C. autumnale 'Album'.

The chalice-shaped white flowers bloom without foliage in September, when many gardens begin looking tired. Colchicum flowers often fall over after a day or so---they are often grown through a low groundcover for support. I always look forward to their appearance, and I'm always disappointed that they last so briefly.

Each corm produces 1-3 flowers. Corms multiply by offsets. They aren't cheap, but even a single corm will soon enough produce a substantial display if you dig and move its offsets every few years when the foliage goes dormant. Corms should be purchased for late summer delivery and planted immediately, or they will bloom in storage.

The glossy spring leaves are big and beautiful, though their demise is conspicuous and protracted. Broad, straplike, to 1' long, they rise in earliest spring and go dormant in June. As the corms multiply, the clump of foliage tends to smother its spring neighbors.

This plant performs well in full sun to part shade. It does well in the shade of deciduous trees. I think of colchicums as among the more shade-tolerant of bulbs---similar in their requirements to daffodils, and just as easy.

Good drainage is essential. Consistent moisture is needed only when the leaves are active in spring. Too much water leads to corm rot, especially during summer dormancy. Colchicums perform well under large deciduous shrubs and trees, whose roots absorb any excess moisture in summer. All colchicums are intolerant of standing water.

All parts contain toxic concentrations of colchicine, and are not generally bothered by herbivores. Leaves, corms, and flowers are vulnerable to snails and slugs.

Soil pH can be acid, neutral, or alkaline, as long as it's well drained. This plant tolerates poor soil, but quickly shows its appreciation for added organic matter.

This species is commonly called autumn crocus or meadow saffron. Both names are correct but misleading, as it is not a crocus, nor does it produce saffron. There are true crocuses that bloom in the fall, and among them is the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus.

"Naked ladies" usually refers to Amaryllis belladonna.

This is my favorite "bulb" flower of any season. It has beautiful, white, goblet-shaped, flowers in October in St John's, Newfoundland, ...Read Morewith rather large bright green leaves the following spring. As with all colchicums these must be left to die down naturally. It inceases more slowly that most colchicums, I lift and replant every 3-5 years.

It was first produced in Backhouse's nursery in York, England in the early 1900's and the famous bulb man, E.A. Bowles, waxes lyrical about it in his books. He says the first corms were sold at 5 guineas each and they are still fairly expensive these days - but worth every penny!