Colchicum is a beautiful, but very poisonous plant, and therefore its uncontrolled reproduction causes significant damage to agricultural pasture animals. When growing a flower, Colchicum on its personal plot You also need to act carefully, wear gloves and prevent pollen from getting into your eyes and respiratory tract.
Russian name for the plant Colchicum ( Colchikum) , or winter house, given for the unusual rhythm of development. Unlike most bulbous plants, many colchicums only grow leaves in the spring, and flowers appear in the fall, some literally before the first snow. And in the Middle Ages in Latin he was called “filius ante patrem,” which translated means “son before father.”
According to another version Latin name the herb colchicum - Colchicum - comes from Colchis, where one of the species of this plant moved from the Mediterranean. According to ancient Greek myth, the daughter of the king of Colchis, Eeta Medea, with the help of whom Jason obtained the Golden Fleece, was reputed to be a sorceress who knew the secrets of poisons. Colchicum is highly poisonous: the effect of its poison is compared to the effect of arsenic. Thus, the name “colchicum” is associated not only with the place of growth, but also with the princess’s activities.
You can find a photo and description of the colchicum flower, as well as recommendations for growing it, in this material.
What does colchicum look like and where does the flower grow?
Corm perennial in a vegetative state up to 30 cm high. The corm is conical, covered with dark brown, membranous scales.
Leaves are large, up to 30 cm long and 6 cm wide, bright green, with a slightly wavy edge, dying off by early summer. Many people note that the colchicum looks like a crocus: its flowers are very large - up to 7 cm long - with a long white tube and lilac or lilac-pink corolla lobes. One corm produces up to 4 flowers. Blooms in September-October. The seeds ripen at the end of May-June. After seeding aboveground part plants die. Has a lot garden forms and varieties that differ in flower color (white, dark red, red, etc.), flower shape and degree of terry.
Look what the colchicum flower looks like in these photos:
Colchicum is a light-loving mesophilic plant that prefers fine-earth-crushed soils and avoids stagnant moisture. In the western, wetter part of its range, Colchicum splendidly ratet from the lower mountain to subalpine zone at an altitude of 150 to 2500 (less often 3000) m above sea level.
Here this species grows in beech, beech-chestnut and beech-hornbeam-maple forests, riverine alder forests, in shrub thickets, in forest clearings and edges in the belt of fir and spruce forests. It can grow strongly in various associations of secondary mid-mountain meadows.
When describing the colchicum, it is worth noting that massive thickets are characteristic of the following formations of the subalpine belt: park maple woodlands, tall grasses and subalpine meadows. Mid-mountain and high-mountain populations of crocus (colchicum) in the western part of its range are usually spatially separated by a belt of dark coniferous fir forests, under the canopy of which this species is not found. In the central and eastern parts range (in the Greater Caucasus and Talysh), the distribution of colchicum is limited to the upper forest and subalpine zones within altitudes of 1200-3300 m. Here it can grow in large quantities in well-moistened subalpine meadows, preferring relief depressions and slopes of northern exposure, as well as in groups of depleted tall grasses, bracken thickets and parklands of eastern oak.
As can be seen in the photo, the colchicum plant is found scatteredly in forest clearings, edges and under the canopy of beech forests, not forming thickets anywhere:
In the eastern part of its range, forest and subalpine populations of colchicum often come into contact with each other. Throughout the entire range and at all altitudinal levels, a clearly expressed focal pattern in the distribution of colchicum is observed. It can be abundantly represented in various ecological and phytocenotic conditions of some mountain tracts, but be completely absent in similar conditions in other nearby locations.
Look at the photo of the colchicum, the description of which is given on this page:
Colchicum magnificent: photo and description of the plant variety
A variety of this plant is the magnificent colchicum flower, a description of which is presented below.
Colchicum splendid ( Colchicum speciosum stev.,c. Liparochiadys voronow) - a herbaceous perennial with large oblong corms covered with dry dark brown leathery scales, which at the top form a long tube covering the lower part of the shoot.
The length of the corms is 3-5 cm. Leafy shoots develop in the spring and reach 25-40 cm in height. There are 4-5 leaves (rarely 3 or 6), their blades are large, oval-oblong (18-25 cm long and 3.5-5 cm wide), obtuse at the apex; vaginas are long, closed; merging they form a false stem.
When describing the magnificent colchicum, it is worth noting its large beautiful flowers. They are pink-purple, lilac-pink, less often almost white, odorless, bloom in the fall, 1-3 per plant. The limb of the perianth in the pharynx is glandular, with six broadly oval (5-6 cm long and 1.5-2.2 cm wide), with obtuse lobes at the apex; The perianth tube reaches 25-40 cm in length, its diameter is 0.3-0.6 cm.
Pay attention to the photo - the colchicum flower of this type has stamens almost half as long as the leaflets, with linear yellow anthers 8-12 mm long:
The style exceeds the stamens, it is thick, straight at the apex, with a truncated stigma.
The fruit is a three-locular elliptical capsule 3-4 cm long. The seeds are round, brown, 2-3 mm in diameter. It blooms late in summer and autumn (depending on the altitude of the place of growth above sea level) - from the second half of August to early October. The flowering duration of each population is 2-3 weeks.
As you can see in the photo, during the flowering period of the magnificent colchicum, the leaves are still undeveloped and hidden underground:
Leafy shoots and fruits appear on the soil surface in the spring of the following year (April - May). The seeds ripen in late May - June - early July. After seeding, the above-ground part of the plant dies. In summer (July - August) the corms are in a state of growth dormancy. The change of corms occurs annually: mother corms are replaced by daughter corms by the end of the spring growing season (May - June).
Growing and methods of propagation of colchicum
Most often, colchicum is planted in open sunny places, but it also tolerates partial shading. It is grown on loose, fertile, moderately moist, light soils. Leaves are removed from flower beds only after they have completely turned yellow. In summer (July-August), the plant is completely hidden in the soil, and its corms are dormant. Since all parts of the plant, and even the water in which the flowers stood, are poisonous, you should handle colchicum carefully and work with gloves!
Colchicums grow slowly and are planted after flowering once every 6–8 years. After flowering, ash is added to the planting sites.
There are two ways to propagate colchicum – by seeds and vegetatively. At vegetative propagation Clone-nests are formed, in which 3-10 (sometimes up to 35) corms are concentrated, closely pressed to each other.
Daughter corms are planted in August to a depth of 8 to 20 cm, depending on its size. When propagating by seed, fresh seeds are sown in June – July. Seedlings will appear next spring, and the plants will bloom in 5–9 years
This video shows techniques for growing colchicum:
The forest belt of Abkhazia and neighboring regions of the Krasnodar Territory is inhabited by colchicum plants that differ from typical individuals of C. speciosum Stev. the shape of the corms (they are broadly rounded with a rather long coracoid process in the lower part) and the structure of the covering scales (they are dense, shiny, as if varnished).
Some researchers consider these plants to be a form of C. speciosum Stev., others distinguish them in independent species- Colchicum white (C. liparochiadys Woronow).
Uses of Colchicum
There are many reports in modern medical literature about treatment with colchicine and colchamine. Usually they write about pathologies that are difficult to treat: amyloidosis, periodic illness. Clinicians' impressions are positive, but along with optimistic assessments, the same refrain sounds everywhere - a toxic effect on various organs. Oncologists continue to actively study Colchicum.
The alkaloid colchamine is used in oncological practice for the treatment of endo- and exophytic forms of skin cancer of the 1st and 2nd stages, as well as some forms of esophageal cancer and stomach cancer. Fresh corms of Colchicum splendid have been used in the pharmaceutical industry - the drug kolhamin is produced from them.
To treat skin cancer, omain ointment containing the alkaloid colchamine is used. For esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, colchamine tablets are prescribed orally.
Colchicum is used in ornamental gardening. The beauty of its flowers does not need advertising; it is all the more spectacular because it blooms in September - October, when all plants bright colors have already bloomed.
Colchicum is harmful to many animals, especially young animals. Goats and sheep are less sensitive to the plant's poison, but the milk of animals that eat the plant is poisonous. In Italy, where there are many goats and colchicum grows in many areas, cases of poisoning have often been reported.
IN medicinal purposes almost all parts of the plant were used, most often seeds, which, as later studies showed, contain greatest number alkaloids. They tried to treat gout and rheumatism, bronchial asthma, jaundice, dropsy, intestinal and kidney diseases. Colchicum was also considered a protective remedy against infectious diseases, especially the plague. To do this, you had to carry the plant bulb with you in your pocket.
Autumn is a time when not only poets feel sad at times, because there are fewer and fewer bright colors around every day... Bright and joyful pinkish-violet or yellow flowers become a big surprise for many. It seems that just recently everything in this flower garden has already faded, and suddenly, contrary to the general withering, a flower appears that looks like crocuses. Don’t be surprised, everything is correct, you are lucky - you have come across a colchicum flower.
Do you want your plot to bring pleasure from unusual flowering right up to the snow, even despite the frosts? That's right, that means you also need a colchicum for this.
Autumn colchicum
Due to the fact that one of the regions of Western Georgia - Colchis - is considered to be the historical homeland of the flower, it received another name: “Colchicum”. In general, this perennial is rich in names! Don’t be surprised if you come across a plant name such as “autumn plant” or “autumn plant”; this is related to the time of flowering. Europeans are accustomed to calling it meadow saffron, and the British associated the name with the fact that flowers appear on it in the absence of leaves. That's why people in Britain often call him the "naked lady."
We will introduce you to interesting plant Let's take a closer look at how to breed and care for it.
Colchicum through the eyes of a biologist
Autumn timelessness or "colhicum"
The flower, which is called colchicum because of its flowering time, is a perennial plant. Determining its place in the vast floral world, botanists classify the colchicum in the Colchicum family, which, along with other families, belongs to the Liliaceae order.
Let's imagine detailed description flower. In the spring, in April, the short colchicum flower produces 3-4 large leaves with an elongated shape. The leaves of the perennial are colored green color, have glossy surface. The leaves are erect; during this period the plant can reach a height of 30-40 cm. 
With the onset of summer, the leaves begin to wither and die. Colchicum blooms in autumn. Externally, the shape of the flower, which has 6 petals, resembles a bell or a funnel. At the time of flowering, the colchicum is also short: the tube rising from the ground, decorated with a flower, has a height of 20-30 cm.
Autumn colchicum - . One bulb produces 3 or 4 flowers; in rare cases, there are slightly more buds. The plant blooms within 3 weeks. Flowering is accompanied by a pleasant and subtle aroma. Flower petals can be simple or double. The color of colchicum is varied. The most common flowers are different shades purple, but often the plant pleases gardeners with white, yellow or pink flowers.
Video “Unpretentious flowers for the garden - autumn colchicum”
Colchicum flower care in open ground
Autumn does not require special care, he is quite unpretentious. But in order for a plant to delight with its flowering, one cannot do without following certain rules. Growing requires the most basic care techniques: watering, fertilizing, loosening, combating diseases and pests of the flower.
Landing location
First of all, you need to take care of a suitable place for colchicum. Please note that he loves well-lit areas. In a little partial shade, the colchicum flower will also feel quite comfortable, but a place that remains in the shade most of the day, for example, under dense trees, is not suitable for it.
in the location you choose will not make much difference. After all, colchicum can grow and develop even in clayey areas, if it is not too heavy and swampy. The plant is intolerant to stagnant water! The best choice for perennials is well-drained, loose sandy loam soil mixed with compost and humus.
Watering
Do not water the colchicum flower as often as other plants or flowers in your area! For a plant that cannot easily tolerate excess moisture, rain moisture and groundwater will be sufficient.
A slight moisture of the soil is allowed when the colchicum blooms or during particularly dry and hot periods.
Top dressing
For fertilizing, which is advisable to carry out 2 or 3 times during the season, you can use any complex fertilizer intended for flowers. Required condition: the fertilizer must be nitrogen-containing! To fertilize, you need to prepare a solution by adding fertilizer to water in the following proportion: 2 g of fertilizer and 1 liter of water. Apply the prepared solution to the soil (30 g per 1 sq.m).
Loosening
Remove weeds regularly. Avoid excessive planting density. Loosen the soil regularly, this will enrich it with oxygen, which is very beneficial for the roots.
Protection from pests and diseases
In rainy times or with excessive watering, a difficult period begins for the plant. This is due to increased activity of slugs or snails at this time. Take care in advance uninvited guests. Creating uncomfortable conditions for them will help you fight slugs. River shells and egg shells, previously crushed, become a problem for slugs and force them to leave the area. Therefore, it is worth sprinkling them on the soil between the colchicum. Cutting it to length plastic bottle and filling it with water, you can get a good obstacle trap for snails. Place these traps around the perimeter of the flower garden, so you can protect your colchicum from mollusks.
Fungal diseases of flowers (for example, gray rot) are also associated with high humidity. When it appears, you need to remove the diseased parts of the flower and spill the soil with a fungicide (for example, Topaz) for disinfection.
Video “Colchicum flower - autumn snowdrop”
Colchicum flower: methods of propagation
Experts know that colchicum can be propagated in different ways, using one of the main methods of propagation.
Using seeds
Colchicum flower - seeds
You can increase your colchicum plantings by using the plant’s seeds for propagation. The seed capsule appears in the center of a bunch of leaves in the spring, and by mid-summer it has time to fully form and dry out. From the dried, opened capsule, the seeds are scattered into the soil. At this time, the ripened seeds can be collected for propagation. To collect seeds, select a box that has just begun to turn black. After cutting it, it is left in a cool, dry place (possibly in the open air, under a canopy) to dry. Flower growers should keep in mind that colchicum seeds intended for propagation are not stored! Better right away, at the beginning summer period, use them for planting. You can collect seeds in July.
If you follow certain rules, sowing seeds will not be difficult.
- Before planting, soak the seeds in water and leave for a while. During this time, rinse with water several times.
- Prepare shallow holes for sowing. Fill them in the following order: drainage, sand, loose soil.
- Moisten the soil in the prepared holes.
- Place the seeds in the holes and cover them with soil. Autumn seeds do not need deep planting!
The sown seeds do not require special care other than regular watering. In the spring of next year, seedlings will appear, which will also be quite unpretentious. You will only need to water, loosen and thin them.
If autumn chores did not allow you to sow a colchicum plant in the fall, wait whole year no need until next fall. You can sow seeds in spring. But until spring comes, they need to be stored in a cool place (cellar, refrigerator).
Growing colchicum with seeds has a number of advantages:
- The ability to grow plants of a certain color.
- Growing a completely healthy plant.
However seed propagation It also has serious disadvantages. The main thing is the length of wait for flowering, because after sowing the seeds, such colchicums will bloom only after 6-7 years. However, they will not be able to save varietal characteristics plants. Therefore, collecting seeds terry variety, it should be understood that it will not be possible to grow new flowers of the same double size; therefore, another method is most often used - bulbous propagation.
Using bulbs
Bulbs for propagating colchicum can be purchased at a retail chain of gardening stores, or you can prepare them yourself. Harvesting time: mid-summer, July. Signs that you can dig up the bulbs for propagation are the ripening of the seeds in the capsule and yellowed, withered leaves of the plant.
Propagation of colchicum using corms
Professionals advise following the following sequence of actions:
- Carefully dig up the bulb and carefully peel it. When removing old leaves, be careful not to damage the scales that cover it. Do not cut the tube formed by scales, maintain its length!
- Rinsing the dug out bulb in water.
- Place the bulb in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
- Drying planting material at room temperature. A dry, dark place is suitable for drying.
- Soil preparation. To provide the plant nutrients, add a bucket of humus and 0.5 buckets of river sand to each square meter of soil. Dig up the flower bed. When starting planting, continue working with the soil, using superphosphate (1 tbsp) and wood ash (1 l) to fertilize each square meter.
- Start planting the bulbs.
It is important to remember when is the best time to plant bulbs. The most the right time for planting in the ground - August. Try not to thicken the plantings, leaving a distance of 10-15 cm (small colchicum bulb) or 20-25 cm (large bulbs) between the bulbs. Also determine the planting depth depending on the size of the bulb being planted. For small ones, a shallow depth is suitable - from 6 to 8 cm, for large ones - slightly more, 12 - 15 cm.
According to legend, the ancient Greek god of the underworld of the dead, Hades, kidnapped the daughter of the earth goddess Gaia. The grief-stricken mother endured the separation from her daughter so hard that everything on earth became gray and dull. To give her mother a clue where she was, her daughter, the beautiful fertility goddess Persephone, sent to earth bright flower Colchicum
Plant the legendary flower in your garden, it will delight you with its blooming and help you cope with autumn sadness.
One of the miracles autumn garden- Colchicum flowers (colchicum, autumn crocus, autumn crocus). Colchicum (Colchicum) is a perennial poisonous corm ephemeroid plant, the flower is 10-15 cm high, the leaves are 30 cm high.
The genus Colchicum has up to 70 species, most of which are autumn-flowering plants. But there are several varieties of colchicum that bloom in early spring.
These include Hungarian Colchicum (Colchicum hungaricum),
Yellow Colchicum (Colchicum luteum),
Colchicum szovitsii),
Colchicum trifolia ( Colchicum triphyllum) and some others.
Colchicum got its name from its unusual flowering time. Having fragile, delicate spring flowers, colchicum blooms in the fall, when almost all plants finish their growing season and their foliage turns yellow.
In our gardens you can most often find two types of crocus blooming in autumn - autumn colchicum and magnificent colchicum.
In early spring, elongated leaves appear from the colchicum corm, forming a compact rosette, 20 to 40 cm high. As the plant grows, a daughter bulb with a renewal bud is formed in the lower part of the short false stem.
Around July, the mother corm decomposes in the ground, and the leaves die along with it. Plant for the hottest periods summer months goes dormant until cool September arrives.
Due to the unusual life cycle plants the question often arises
“When to replant colchicum?”
Colchicum bulbs are transplanted (or planted) in August- this month marks the plant’s dormant period.
Planting location depends on the size of the bulbs.
Large corms are planted to a depth of 12-15 cm at a distance of 20-25 cm, smaller ones are buried by 6-8 cm with an interval of 10-15 cm.
Colchicums can grow in one place for a long time - 6-7 years.
After this period, the corms become crowded in the nest - as a result, the flowers become smaller, since the underground part of the plants has nowhere to develop further.
Keep in mind - all parts of the plant are poisonous (contain the alkaloid colchicine) and cause skin burns. Therefore, before starting work on planting colchicum wear gloves.
As with all ephemeral plants, replanting or transplanting autumn colchicum is carried out after the complete death of its leaves, that is, when the colchicum is at rest (from mid-summer to early September). Colchicum corms are dug up, carefully cleared of soil and placed for drying in a warm and ventilated place.
After this, the corms are planted in a new place. If the planting is returned to its original place, the soil is enriched with compost with a small addition of sand. In particularly poor soils, additional fertilizers are added. The corm is planted at a depth equal to three times its diameter.
The soil is preferably moderately moist, loamy, loose, nutritious, preferably a mixture of compost, rotted manure, peat and leaf soil.
When planting, it’s good to add 1 cup of ash and 30-50 g of complex fertilizer to a bucket of soil. Before planting, dig up the garden soil to a depth of 20-25 cm, adding the prepared soil mixture (see above).
Corms are planted to a depth of 15-20 cm, small ones at 6-8 cm. It is recommended to mulch the plantings for trouble-free wintering of the bulbs.
Care
Colchicums - unpretentious perennials, not requiring special care. They can grow in one place for 5-8 years or more. They respond well to feeding. In the spring, they are shed with spring complex fertilizer dissolved in water (Fertika, buoy fertilizers), and in July autumn fertilizer(potassium-phosphorus).
In June, the yellowing, withered leaves are cut off, although you don’t have to do this if you are not annoyed by the yellow, drying foliage.
In autumn, colchicum flowers can be attacked by slugs. To combat them, you need to promptly weed the weeds, loosen the soil, and sprinkle the surface of the earth with superphosphate.
Reproduction
Colchicums can be propagated by seeds, but this is a very unpromising activity. Since plants from seeds will bloom in 10 years. But if you want to tinker, then the seeds are sown immediately after collection in prepared beds.
It is best to propagate colchicums from daughter bulbs. After the foliage turns yellow, it is cut off and the corms are dug up, cleaned of covering scales, washed, divided, and dried in a dark, dry place. At the end of July, beginning of August they are planted in a prepared place. In the fall, many of the newly planted corms will delight you with their blooms. For the winter, plantings are covered with peat or fallen leaves.
Forcing
Colchicums lend themselves well to forcing. Even without soil and water, the corm produces a flower in the fall at its normal flowering time.
However, you can immediately dig up the bulbs after the foliage turns yellow, wash, dry and place in a cool, dark place (in the refrigerator). 2 weeks before the expected flowering time, the bulbs are taken out and planted in prepared soil in a pot.
Place the container in a lighted place, water rarely and moderately (about once a week). Up to 5-6 flowers can appear alternately from one bulb. When the colchicum has faded, the pot is buried in the garden (if possible) or stored until spring in a cool place (in the refrigerator, basement, on the balcony).
Planting and caring for colchicum (in brief)
- Landing: mid-August.
- Bloom: in the fall.
- Lighting: bright sun, light partial shade.
- The soil: well-drained, moderately moist and not too heavy, the composition and level of acidity do not matter much.
- Watering: only during the flowering period, if there is a drought.
- Feeding: 2-3 times per season as a complex mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen. In the fall, compost is added to the soil.
- Reproduction: seeds and daughter corms.
- Pests: slugs and snails.
- Diseases: gray rot.
Read more about growing colchicum below.
Colchicum flower - description
Perennial herbaceous plant Colchicum is an ephemeral plant with numerous short stems with large, elongated, lanceolate leaves that develop in spring and die back by early summer. The corms are covered with brown shells that form a long tube that encloses the lower part of the plant. Colchicum usually blooms in autumn, although some species bloom in spring - single funnel-shaped flowers up to 20 cm in length rise from the ground along with a perianth fused into a tube, most of which remains underground. The fruit of the colchicum is an oval, spherical, three-locular capsule. Colchicum is poisonous, as Dioscorides wrote about, and all parts of the colchicum are poisonous - both aboveground and underground.
Growing Colchicum from Seeds
The generative (seed) method of plant propagation will take you a lot of time, since crocus grown from seeds bloom only after 6-7 years, when the bulb has gained mass and gained strength. In addition, only a few spring-flowering species of colchicum reproduce generatively, as well as those species that do not form daughter bulbs, for example, yellow colchicum. You need to sow the seeds in fertile, moist, loose soil at a shallow depth immediately after they have ripened and collected - at the beginning of summer, but you should first soak them in water for a while. If you did not have time to sow the seeds right away, you will need to stratify the seeds for about six months by placing them in the refrigerator. Instead of soaking, it is better to pour the seeds into an oversized stocking or sock and place them in the toilet tank - each flush washes the seeds, removing inhibitors, after which the seeds germinate well. Before sowing, try to arrange a drainage layer sprinkled with sand in the holes in the beds for colchicum. Seedlings appear only the following spring, but sometimes they take much longer to germinate. Caring for seedlings is very simple: thin out the seedlings, water them as needed until the foliage dies, remove weeds from the garden bed and cover young colchicums for the winter. Growing colchicum from seeds requires experience, time and patience, but those who do not try will not acquire the skill. Try your hand at following our recommendations, and remember: negative experiences are sometimes more valuable than positive ones.
Planting Colchicum
When to plant colchicum.
Colchicums love sunny areas, although they grow well in light partial shade. If you plant crocus in the deep shade of trees, it will become easy prey for slugs. Colchicums like soil that is well-drained so that the roots do not get wet from stagnant water. Colchicum grows in both acidic and alkaline soil, feels good even in clay, if it is not too heavy and not oversaturated with moisture. Peonies and junipers are preferable as neighbors for colchicum, which will be able to distract the eye from its yellowed foliage with their bright greenery.
Colchicum planting time blooming in autumn– mid-August, when the plant is in a dormant period. A large colchicum bulb can produce a flower in the first year.
How to plant colchicum.
Planting Colchicum in open ground is done at a distance of 10-20 cm between copies, and the depth of planting the bulbs depends on their size - from 8 cm for small bulbs to 20 cm for large ones. When planting, superphosphate is added to the soil at the rate of one tablespoon per 1 m² and liter jar wood ash for the same area. When plunging the bulb into the soil, make sure that the long tube formed by the scales peeks out of the ground: the bud will pass through it, like a tunnel. Do not cut this pipe under any circumstances, otherwise the flower will have to push a heavy layer of earth while germinating. Before planting, a bucket of humus and half a bucket of sand per 1 m² are added to the soil for digging. Colchicums from bulbs bloom in about 6 weeks.
Colchicum care
How to care for Colchicum.
Caring for colchicum flowers is absolutely not difficult: moistening the soil becomes necessary only during the flowering period, but only if it is hot and dry at that time. At any other time, there is no need to water the crocus; natural precipitation will be enough - waterlogging is strictly contraindicated for it. Colchicum is fed two to three times per season at the rate of 30 g. complex fertilizers per 1 m² in the form of solutions (2 g of the drug per liter of water). Fertilizers must contain nitrogen. In the fall, compost is added to the site. And of course, while loosening the area, remove emerging weeds. As you can see, planting and caring for colchicum will not tire you.
Colchicum transplantation.
Colchicums can grow in one place for six or seven years, after which they need to be replanted, although it is better to do this every 2-3 years, otherwise the bulbs grow greatly, they become crowded, and the colchicum flowers become smaller. When to replant colchicum? It is better to plant and replant colchicum bulbs in August, when the plant enters a dormant period, but you need to dig up the corms as soon as the colchicum leaves turn yellow - in the middle or end of June. The bulbs are carefully cleaned from the soil, freed from remnants of leaves, and daughter bulbs are separated from the mother bulbs, which are no longer suitable for germination. After washing under running water, the corms are pickled for half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate, dried and stored until planting in a dark, dry room at a temperature of about 24 ºC. When August arrives, young colchicum bulbs are planted according to the scheme already described, after adding fertilizer to the soil.
Colchicum pests and diseases.
Colchicum is damaged by slugs and snails that eat the leaves of the plant. With chronic waterlogging, the plant may develop gray rot. To avoid having to fight off slugs, fill the rows with fine gravel, crushed shells or eggshells. You can place plastic gutters around the perimeter of the site and fill them with water - this will serve as a mechanical barrier for gastropods. Gray rot – fungal disease, which occurs during prolonged excessive watering plants. If the infection is not total, you can treat the crocus with Topaz, Champion, Kuproxate or another similar preparation, but severely affected parts of the plant must be cut out and watering balanced.
Colchicum after flowering
Some gardeners, trying to maintain an attractive appearance flower garden, trim off the faded flowers and yellowed leaves of the colchicum. But it’s better not to do this, since the bulb will need all its vitality to ripen, and intervention in natural process will not lead to anything good. Therefore, remove from the area only those plant debris that have fallen off on their own.
Types and varieties of colchicum
Not all colchicums bloom in the fall; there are species, not yet widely grown in cultivation, that bloom in early spring. We will introduce you to popular species and varieties of both autumn-flowering and spring-flowering crocus.
Spring-blooming colchicums
Colchicum luteum
is a spring-flowering species common in the edges of rocky glaciers in the Tien Shan, Himalayas, Tibet and Pamir. In culture since 1882. This colchicum blooms as soon as the snow melts, with bright yellow flowers up to three centimeters in diameter and no more than 15 cm high. Flat, dark green leaves develop simultaneously with the flowers.
Colchicum hungaricum
native to Hungary, although found in Albania, Greece and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Blooms in late winter or early spring with white or purple flowers. Pink colour with dark burgundy anthers. The tops and edges of the leaves that develop during flowering are densely covered with hairs. A popular variety is Velebit Star.
Colchicum Ankara, or trifoliate, or Bieberstein
(Colchicum ancyrense = Colchicum biebersteimi = Colchicum triphyllum) is one of the earliest ephemeroids - in some cases this species blooms at the end of December and ends flowering in April. It grows in the southwestern part of Ukraine, Moldova, western Turkey, and Crimea. It has three narrow, gray, oblong leaves, grooved and ciliated at the edges, and 2-4 lilac-pink flowers.
Colchicum Regel, or Kesselring
(Colchicum regelii = Colchicum crociflorum = Colchicum kesselringii) grows mainly in the alpine and subalpine zones at an altitude of more than 2000 m above sea level, as well as in the Pamirs and Tien Shan. The corm of this species is oblong, the leaves, from 2 to 7 pieces, are grooved, obtuse, with a smooth or finely toothed edge. Flowers ranging from one to four, white with purple-violet stripes on the underside of the limb lobes, bloom immediately after the snow melts.
In addition to the described spring-flowering species, of interest are Sovich's crocus, water-loving and tufted.
Autumn-blooming colchicums
Autumn colchicum (Colchicum autumnale)
grows in forest clearings and meadows of Europe from Western France and England to Latvia and the Carpathians, sometimes it is found at an altitude of more than 2000 m above sea level. The autumn crocus flower reaches a height of 40 cm; its erect, oblong, flat leaves develop in the spring and die off by summer. White or light lilac flowers up to 7 cm in diameter grow in numbers from one to four from one corm. The most common forms of autumn colchicum:
- – Colchicum autumn white– very rare; from one corm in the second half of September, from five to seven pieces, flowers up to 15 cm long with a snow-white perianth with a yellow center bloom;
- – autumn double crocus with purple flowers up to 12 cm long and about 5 cm in diameter, consisting of a large number of petals - up to 35 in one flower. The leaves are dark green, up to 25 cm long and up to 4 cm wide. It blooms later than other colchicums - at the end of October;
- – Colchicum autumn white double– with double white flowers with up to 45 petals. Blooms in the second half of September;
- – autumn colchicum neddyste- a variety bred in the Czech Republic with soft pink flowers.
There are also forms of autumn colchicum with purple and dark purple flowers, and the Baconsfield variety has pink-purple flowers with a white center.
Colchicum speciosum
originally from Transcaucasia, Turkey and northern Iran. It grows in height up to 50 cm. Bright green leaves with a wavy edge up to 30 cm long and 6 cm wide already die off by summer. One corm produces very large lilac-pink or lilac flowers with a long white tube that bloom in September. Colchicum splendid has many garden forms: white, dark red, giant, Turkish and others. The most popular varieties:
- – Huxley– a variety with lilac-pink flowers that gradually become bright purple;
- – Waterlily– purple double flowers;
- – Premier– a late-blooming variety with bright pink-purple flowers.
In addition to these two most commonly grown autumn-flowering species, colchicums Fomin, Stevin, Trudi, Sibtropa, Jerusalem, shadow, bright, Pannonian, Neapolitan, Cochi, Cilician, Byzantine, variegated, Bornmüller, dark purple and others are also known in culture.
In addition to the species colchicums, there are many attractive hybrid forms: Autumn Herald, Princess Astrid, Dick Trotter, Violet Queen and many other forms and varieties.
Most often, in summer cottages they try to plant perennials, which will be able to delight you with their flowering every year. One of these crops is autumn crocus. The plant has many additional names, including Colchicum, autumn flower, autumn color, colchicum, untimely color. From Latin the name comes from the word “Colchis”. This was the name of the Black Sea region, in which this culture became widespread. As already mentioned, autumn colchicum belongs to perennial crops. It grows in Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, as well as in Russia, where there is a temperate climate and suitable weather conditions. Read more about the characteristics and rules for planting the autumn colchicum plant later in the article.
Colchicum is a popular crop in regions with temperate climate. It is considered quite dangerous and poisonous. Moreover, all parts of the plant are poisonous - those located above and below the ground. The main characteristics of the plant are as follows:
Many people wonder whether it is worth growing colchicum on their summer cottage, because it belongs to the group of poisonous plants. But, as you know, such crops have medicinal properties; it is only important to correctly calculate the dosage when using them so that they bring benefit and not harm. The active component in this plant is colchicine, an alkaloid-type substance. Scope of application and medicinal properties Colchicum are as follows:
It is worth saying that, since this plant is poisonous, it is strictly prohibited to treat yourself with it, without consulting a doctor. Colchicum varieties
Colchicum varieties are divided depending on their flowering time into:
Spring flowering varieties:
Autumn-flowering varieties:
Colchicum propagation
There are two ways to propagate the crop:
Most often, preference is given to growing the crop using the first method, since after one year new tubers can already begin to flower. You can buy autumn colchicum bulbs at any flower shop, or collect them yourself from flowers that have finished their flowering period. If the method of propagating the crop using seeds is chosen, then new flowers can be expected in this case only after 4 years. However, if you can only grow one from a bulb new flower, then several plants sprout from the seeds at once. Propagation by seeds is used for crop varieties that can bloom in spring period, and for the autumn crocus flower the vegetative method of propagation is suitable. In order to improve the germination and quality of existing seeds, you can undergo a stratification procedure. Usually this procedure is carried out within six months after collecting the seeds. Propagation of colchicum using a bulb
Thanks to this procedure, you can admire the flowering of the crop in winter period. The forcing is carried out in the following order:
For preservation in winter, containers with planted bulbs are covered with snow, protecting it from freezing. A balcony or loggia is also suitable as a storage place for corms. Colchicum propagation using seeds
The propagation procedure using seeds consists of several stages:
Planting Colchicum
Most often carried out autumn planting Colchicum Sometimes the plant is planted in the month of August. How to choose the right site for planting a crop:
Planting order:
Colchicum care
Colchicum belongs to undemanding crops, however, some rules for caring for this plant should still be followed:
Diseases and pestsMost often, the plant is susceptible to the harmful effects of the following diseases and pests:
Autumn colchicum: video |
