Colchicums January 2008

[mark smyth]

Hopefully this weekend I will have more photos to add to this post. The wind this week and the snow last week ruined many emerging Colchicum flowers.

To kick things off here is Colchicum luteum - what a colour!

[annew]

Pure sunshine - we could do with some!

[David Nicholson]

I must order some of those next year.

[Tony Willis]

A couple of colchicums from Turkey flowering a bit out of synch. I know they have all been split,renamed etc. but as I probably wrongly identified them in the first place I am not too worried.It probably means I have lots more species in my collection.

[Maggi Young]

Oh! Those Colchicum have got their clocks mixed up, haven't they?  Any idea why they've done that?

[Tony Willis]

No idea really, they were repotted and watered as normal about September but they have been coming up at all odd times.A lot of the  pots of crocus such as veluchensis  also seem to be in flower now instead of the spring whilst others of the same species are not even showing

[mark smyth]

Last year I had autumn flowering Colchicums in late November

Like I guessed earlier this week the high winds and heavy rain ruined most of the winter flowering Colchicums except for these two hungaricum 'Album' and 'Velebit Star'

[dominique]

Tony,
September is often too late to repotted autum flowering Colchicum and Crocuses and often after they grow and flower curiously, particularly that 2007 year. July is better.Colchicum variegatum is true but bivonae without white center and few tesselated is suspect for me.

[Tony Willis]

September was just an estimate,I have them dry for the summer and generally start my bulb repotting about the beginning of July. I have a lot and it takes me a couple of months,I have to garden at the same time.

I understand your comments on the identification and wonder what you think it is? I do not think they are easy to identify and I am no expert.Look at the problems the RHS had with the award to Colchicum speciosum which had tessallation .

[I.S.]

  Dominique! I think also your C. bivonae is right. I am looking also to turkish plants data service. In that area there is not Colchicum speciosum. C. speciosum spread mostly north of Turkey and C. bivonae west of Turkey.

Regards..

[Maggi Young]

So, Tony, is your 'C. bivonae' from Edremit in Balıkesir, western Turkey, or Edremit, Van, in the east?

[I.S.]

  Hi Maggi!
I did not know that there were two Edremit in Turkey. so I checked and seen another one near lake Van.
When we are talking Edremit, It means an holiday village in Balıkesir. Region Van have not recorded neither C. bivonae nor C. speciosum.

[Tony Willis]

I am talking about Edremit in the West.

I have looked in the Flora of Turkey which I used to key out this plant(grand words for a complete amateur) at the description for bivonae and it says-perianth segments rosy purple,strongly tessallated,sometimes white at base. As in them all these characters vary and so I think I will stick with my identification for the moment.I am very happy to be corrected.

I have been to Lake Van twice and on the way collected C.speciosum on the Zigana Pass. It grows like a weed for me in the garden and is wonderful in the autumn

[art600]

Mark
Where did you purchase the Colchicum luteum - they are magnificent. If grown from seed, what was the source.

Arthur

[mark smyth]

Arthur they came from Janis