Amateur Gardening – 13 July 2019

22 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 JULY 2019

Pick of the very best

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Graham Rice chooses his six top RHS Award of Garden Merit winners

Colchicums

This week it’s

When is a crocus not a crocus? When it’s a colchicum, of course! Graham unmasks

autumn’s great pretenders and shares his six favourites from the AGM winners

Plant white-fl owered C. speciosum ‘Album’ in borders

with silver-foliaged plants like Helichrysum petiolare

‘Variegatum’ for a touch of autumn magic

Kevock Garden Plants kevockgarden.co.uk 0131 454 0660

Pottertons Nursery pottertons.co.uk 01472 851714

RV Roger rvroger.co.uk 01751 472226

Where to buy

O

K, what’s the difference

between a crocus and an

autumn crocus? Actually, it’s

kind of a trick question, as

there are both spring- and autumn-

flowering species of the true crocus,

while what we usually refer to as the

‘autumn crocus’ is a different plant

altogether: the colchicum.

Colchicums are related to lilies. The

flowers develop from fat corms, with up

to a dozen large and showy blooms in

pinks, lavenders and white, each with

six stamens. Mostly, the flowers open

in autumn and are followed by bold

strap-like leaves in spring. Colchicums

are also very poisonous.

Crocuses are related to irises. They

develop from smaller corms – rounded

with neat points – and in autumn or spring

produce fewer and daintier flowers, with

three stamens. These blooms, which

come in a wide variety of colours, are

followed by slender, unobtrusive foliage.

Big impact

Colchicums tend to prefer richer soils

and more moisture than crocuses, their

colour range is more limited, and while

their impact is often more dramatic, their

foliage is far more noticeable. They

invariably flower with no leaves – hence

they’re sometimes called naked ladies.

Some smaller-flowered colchicums

are collectors’ plants, best grown in

pots in a cold greenhouse; but most

are robust and happy in the rough and

tumble of borders, where one of the

most striking features is the number of

flowers that emerge from a single corm.

This can be up to a dozen in some cases,

and all on long, slender stems – it makes

an impressive show, especially when the

corms start to multiply tightly.

The key point is to ensure that the

flowers are not smothered at flowering

time, and that the large leaves that

develop in spring are hidden, at least

partly, by nearby foliage.

Naturalising colchicums in grass

works very well: the flowering meadow

will mask the foliage, and you can get the

mower out when the leaves have died

away – but before the flowers emerge.

July is usually about the right time.

In borders, colchicums work well with

vincas, ivy or epimediums. Their showy

flowers will emerge through these low

All photography Alamy and TI Media All parts of colchicums
are toxic, especially when
ingested, so it’s wise to wear
gloves when handling them.
Extracts are used in the
production of a wide
variety of medicines.