COLCHICUMS are dramatic and colourful plants to brighten up our gardens at the end of the season, with a freshness that is more spring-like than autumnal. You see them in garden centres from the end of July onwards —large lumpy corms with white flesh revealed beneath the crackling brown skin (technically, a membranous tunic). The flowers start to emerge from August to October and will do so even if the corm has not been planted. Sometimes, you see naked, unsold bulbs already flowering rather pathetically in their various shades of pink or pale purple.
Everyone starts by thinking these gorgeous creatures are autumn crocuses, whereupon horticultural smarty-boots delight in pointing out that they’re not even in the same botanical family. The truth is that colchicums do indeed resemble crocuses, at least to the nonbotanical eye, but they are generally taller, up to 8in tall and more substantial in appearance. Some have pretty markings on their petals (accurately, tepals); others are white-flowered or doubles. For real experts, there is even a bright-yellow spring-flowering species called C. luteum, but it is not easy to cultivate well.
There are about 100 species and almost all the easy-to-grow ones are native to the hills of the Mediterranean, eastward into Turkey and Central Asia. Our own native Colchicum autumnale, however, occurs as far north as the Baltic sea. Travellers encounter it by the million in the meadows of France, Switzerland, Germany and northern Italy.
Denne historien er fra August 4, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra August 4, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
