Flowers. Photo from R. V. Roger

Flowers. Photo from Kevock Garden Plants

Form. Photo from Kevock Garden Plants

See photo of flower form from Broadleigh Bulbs and another from Scottish Rock Garden Club

Plant Name

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Colchicum speciosum 'Album'

The name Colchicum is derived from Colchis, a location in Asia Minor, from which the bulbs are distributed.

Common Name

---

Soil

Sand, Chalk

Sun Aspect

Full Sun

Soil Moisture

Moist

Plant Type

Perennial Corm

Height x Spread in feet

4 inches x 10 inches

Foliage

Green leaves are produced in the Spring. Moisture required in the Spring for the roots and foliage, and October for the flowers.

Flower Colour in Month(s). Seed

Pure White in October before the leaves are produced in the spring

Comment

"Colchicum - plant the bulbs in late summer, early autumn, approx. 10cm (4”) deep. Unless it says otherwise they all like deep, fertile soil in full sun that never dries out completely but is not too wet either. Flowers are then produced in the autumn and winter from naked ground followed by fleshy winter foliage emerging from a rosette, that dies down in early summer before its dry dormancy." from R.V. Roger.

This bulb is "a very select variety with brilliant, pure white flowers, and these are quite thick in texture, making them particularly weather resistant. They take some time to establish but are well worth the wait as they produce a superb display." from R.V. Roger.

The 3 natural divisions of Colchicum are:-

• 1. Autumn-flowering species and hybrids
• 2. Winter- and Spring-flowering species and
• 3. Tessellated species, those marked with a crisscross pattern on the petals in colors of dark and light rosy mauve

and the relevant division is added to the Plant Description Page Title.

"Colchicum speciosum is from Turkey and Caucasus; introduced about 1850. Regarded as one of the finest for the garden. Corm very large - 2 inches - with neck. Tulip-like flowers up to 12 inches high; colour varies from pale to deep reddish-violet, with paler throat, sometimes white. Also white form offered as var. album. These flowering September-October, with foliage appearing in spring. Left in situ these plants form large clumps; 1 bulb covering 1 square foot in 2 seasons and doubling in size with the passage of a couple of good seasons." from Bulbs Volume I, A-H by John E. Bryan ISBN 0-7470-0231-2.

This bulb is native to Turkey, Iran and Caucasus: introduced circa 1828. Plant 5 inches deep in average well-drained, moisture-retentive soil - 6 inches deep in sandy soil - and 4 inches apart in July. When planting, take care that the bulbs are set in an area where their foliage will not cover other plants; like along shrub borders to bring colour at unusual times of the year.
Colchicum - photos taken by Arnold Trachtenberg - are grown in his New Jersey garden, planted in garden soil augmented with 50% grit.

Available from R. V. Roger and Kevock Garden Plants with Bulbmeister in USA