Colchicum (colchicum): description, types and varieties, how to plant and care?

The colchicum plant gets its name from the Greek name for Colchis - the territory on the Black Sea coast. It was there that these plants were originally discovered. Today, colchicum began to be grown in gardens and parks, and among the people this plant is known under the name "colchicum" or "autumn color", so named for the flowering in late autumn. However, it is worth noting the fact that not all colchicums bloom in autumn. There are some species of this plant that bloom immediately after the snow melts, with the arrival of spring.

Colchicum (aka colchicum) is a small flower with a short life cycle. He relates to wild and garden bulbous plants, but can be used for forcing flowers from bulbs and as an indoor version, placed in a flower pot. The flower of Kolkhikum resembles an elongated bell with 6 petals, which are pink, white, purple, purple or yellow with various shades - it all depends on the type and variety of the plant.

Flowering in this perennial lasts on average from 12 to 21 days, after which the aerial part of the plant dies off.

In the tricuspid capsule of the colchicum, brown-brown colored seeds form and ripen. Their full maturation, necessary for the reproduction process, occurs only by the end of summer., therefore, to obtain planting material they are left at the plant to winter under the snow cover. The foliage of kolchikum has an emerald green color and resembles a leaf of wild garlic or lily of the valley in structure, the length of the leaf plate in most species is 27-30 cm.By the middle of summer, the leaves slowly begin to turn yellow, die off and dry out, therefore by the beginning of autumn, before the onset of flowering, the peduncles are bare.

The root system of the plant is presented in the form of a bulb, its shape is oval, and on the outside it is covered with dense scaly formations of old leaves. From each bulb there is a bushy growth of peduncles, their number ranges from 3 to 12.

In nature, at least 60 different varieties of colchicum have been found, in addition, on their basis, with the help of selection work, many hybrid forms have been bred. Here are the varieties of colchicum that bloom in the fall.

• Colchicum is cheerful. This plant bears another name - bright colchicum. Its habitat is meadows, forest edges and glades of the regions of the Ciscaucasia, as well as the lower reaches of the Volga and Don. The flowers of this species are large and have a lilac or purple color. Up to 3 peduncles grow from a bulb with a diameter of 3-3.5 cm. The flower petals are 3-4 cm long, and the stamens are up to 2 cm long. Flowering begins in August and lasts until October.

• Autumnal crocus grows in areas overgrown with grass, in dry and open areas - in meadows, glades, foothills.In the wild, the plant can be found in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. The flowers are large, white, pale pink and lilac in color. One bulb grows 1-3 peduncles and 3-4 green leaves. The flowering period begins in early September and lasts 3-4 weeks. Plant height is 35-37 cm, prefers a temperate climate.

• Colchicum magnificent - found in meadows and in the steppe regions of the Caucasus, Georgia, Krasnodar Territory. During flowering, the bulb produces 3-4 flowers with a color of light purple or purple. This plant has a large bulb, up to 5 cm in diameter, and the leaves of the perennial are small, up to 7 cm in length, no more than 6 of them grow. The flowering phase begins in September or October, the seeds ripen in July next year and are 3 mm in size. The plant reaches a height of 38-40 cm.

• Colchicum "Waterlily" - a hybrid, which was obtained by crossing autumn colchicum and magnificent. The result is a plant whose flowers are very large, double, with multiple petals, they are painted in rich purple-pink shades. The varietal hybrid turned out to be undersized and grows no more than 20 cm. It is picky about the composition of the soil and does not tolerate winter frosts, requiring shelter. The leaves of the plant are long, reaching 25 cm, by June they already completely die off.

• Bornmüller's Colchicum - a compact plant, found in the wild, grows up to 13-15 cm, flower diameter reaches 8-10 cm. Up to 6 peduncles are formed from one bulb. The flowering phase begins in September, the leaves grow with the peduncles and are light green in color. The color of the petals is pink, in the center of the flower it darkens to purple.

• Colchicum "Giant" - a hybrid form, derived from a combination of Bornmüller's colchicum and colchicum giant. Flowering in a bulbous perennial begins in early autumn, the flowers are large, have a rich cherry color with a characteristic light spot in the center. Peduncles grow up to 15-25 cm.

• Colchicum Byzantine - is rare, but has an unusual double shape of petals, which have a slight sharpening at the ends. The diameter of the flowers reaches 10 cm or more. 10-12 peduncles are formed from one bulb. Plant height under favorable conditions can reach up to 60 cm. The leaves are long, up to 25-30 cm and wide, up to 10-15 cm. This species begins to bloom in August, the color of the petals is white or purple.

There are also varieties of colchicum that bloom in spring.

• Colchicum Ankara - a species rarely found in nature, which has a compact size and grows up to 10-15 cm. It is found in Moldova, the Crimean peninsula, in Ukraine, in the mountainous western regions of Turkey. Flowering begins in early spring after the snow melts. From each bulb, 8 peduncles are formed, surrounded by three leaves. The flowering period of this perennial is short and is no more than 2 weeks.

• Colchicum yellow - in the conditions of its natural habitat, the plant can be found near glaciers in Tibet, the Himalayas, Pamir, Tien Shan. The perennial blooms at a time when the snow cover is melting from the foothills. The flower size of this species is small, only 3 cm in diameter. The petals are painted in a bright yellow color, and the peduncles grow up to only 15 cm. The leaves are dark green in color, and their growth occurs in parallel with the formation of peduncles.

• Colchicum Hungarian - the area of ​​growth of this type of colchicum is the territory of Greece, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Albania. Perennial blooms at the very end of winter - early spring. The flowers are small, white or reddish-pink in color.The leaf plates are formed simultaneously with the peduncles, but on the outer surface of the leaves you can see a coating of small and fine hairs. The plant is very compact, its height does not exceed 10-15 cm.

• Colchicum of Kesselring - in the wild, this species can be seen in the alpine and subalpine regions, located at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. In addition, this plant species was found in the foothills of the Pamir and Tien Shan. Flowering of this bulbous perennial begins in spring, when the snow cover melts. Small-sized bulbs produce from 1 to 4 peduncles with small white flowers. On the reverse side of the petal there are stripes-streaks, painted in a contrasting purple-lilac shade.

In summer cottages, flower growers are planted hybrid varieties. This perennial bulbous plant is not very capricious and takes root quite well in a flower garden. The plant is widespread; it is grown outdoors in most regions of Russia.

Colchicum likes to grow in sunny or slightly shaded conditions, the plant can tolerate a lack of moisture well, but excessive moisture in the soil can lead to the fact that the bulbs of the plant rot, and gray rot appears on the flower or it is exposed to an invasion of slugs... For this reason at the foot of trees and shrubs, the crocus should not be placed.

The easiest and fastest way to grow crocus from bulbs, therefore, gardeners usually do not breed it with seeds. Bulbs are purchased in specialized stores or dug up from their own flower beds to increase the number of growing specimens. The bulbs purchased in the retail network are ripe and ready for planting. And those specimens that you plan to dig up in the flower garden must have completely yellowed foliage and ripe seed pod.

Before planting in open ground, you will need prepare the soil. Colchicum loves light, loose and nutritious substrate, without moisture stagnation in it. For this reason, you need to choose a site without holes and lowlands. For planting the bulbs, holes are prepared, their depth should be at least 25-30 cm... This perennial plant looks beautiful in a flower garden if it is planted in groups. In the first year, the bulbs bloom extremely poorly, but over time, each bulb grows baby onions, which create a dense floral cover during the flowering period.

Colchicum has different flowering times, which depend on the plant variety. Therefore, when planting bulbs in open ground, this must be taken into account.

• Plants that start flowering in spring should be planted in early to late summer. At this point, the bulbs and seeds are ripe enough and ready to be dug up. In the fall, they can be planted again.
• Bulbs of varietal plants blooming in autumn (the vast majority of them), should be stored in a cool place until next year and planted in the ground in August.

If you managed to acquire large and strong autumn-flowering specimens, they can bloom even immediately after planting.

For normal growth and development of perennial bulbous crocus good drainage is needed, therefore, a layer of broken bricks and river sand is placed at the bottom of the landing moons, and a layer of loose soil substrate is poured on top. Alkaline or acidic soil is considered the most suitable for cultivating colchicum.

If you want to propagate the crocus by seeds, narrow grooves are made for sowing them in a loose substrate from fertile soil and sand. Seeds must be planted to a depth of 5-7 cm, sprinkled with earth and then from time to time irrigate as needed, doing this until a stable snow cover is formed.

In order to plant colchicum bulbs, the soil is pre-fertilized. For each square meter, you will need to prepare a soil mixture consisting of 1 bucket of humus, ½ a bucket of river sand, 1 liter of ash and 50 g of superphosphate fertilizer. In the prepared soil, holes are made, with a distance from each other of at least 20 cm.The depth of the hole depends on the size of the bulbs: small specimens are buried into the soil by 10-15 cm, and large ones - by 18-20 cm.The distance between the planting holes is 15- 20 cm. The planted bulbs are sprinkled with soil and irrigated with warm water.

In the process of planting bulbs it is important to ensure that the growth points of the peduncles, which are formed by bulbous scales, are very slightly visible from the ground - this will make it easier for the formed bud to break through the thickness of the earth and come out to its surface.

Growing colchicum in the garden is not particularly difficult for experienced flower growers, since this plant takes root well and is undemanding to care for. After planting the bulbs, you need to take care of them before the arrival of winter - loosen and mulch the soil, remove weeds, if necessary, and also build a shelter from frost for some varieties... An important point in the care of colchicum is that at the moment of wilting of its foliage and some inflorescences, it is impossible to remove them by cutting, since these aerial parts are vital for the plant in order for the bulb to have nutrition and fully ripen.

Moistening the soil is required during flowering and provided that prolonged hot weather is established in summer. If there is no drought, the plant will have enough atmospheric precipitation, which, in moderate amounts, play the role of natural irrigation.

Fertilize the soil in which the crocus grows should no more than 2-3 times for the entire summer period. For this, nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium mineral fertilizer is suitable, which is consumed in an amount of 25-30 g / 1 sq. m. For better assimilation of fertilizers by the plant, the mineral complex can be diluted in water, the solution is prepared at the rate of 2 g of fertilizer per 1 liter of water. In the autumn season the soil is fertilized by adding compost to it.

A perennial is capable of retaining its decorative attractiveness and growing in one place for 7 years, however, gardeners recommend transplant colchicum every 3-4 years to a new place... If this is not done, then over time, the baby bulbs grow strongly, they become closely next to each other, so the flowering becomes less abundant. The most favorable time for transplanting is the end of June, when the leaves of the plant completely die off, and flowering has not yet begun.

To complete the transplant, the plant stands gently dig up and separate the daughter bulbs from the parent specimen... To transplant correctly, only daughter bulbs are used, and the mother part is not transferred to a new place. The planting material is washed with water, disinfected with a potassium permanganate solution and dried.

In addition to propagation by bulbs, colchicum also propagates by seeds, but this method makes you wait for flowering for quite a long time, about 6-7 years from the moment of sowing... This is the period required for the plant in order for it to grow and form a full-fledged bulb. Spring-flowering species and those varieties that are not able to form daughter bulbs reproduce in a similar way.

If freshly harvested seeds from ripe bolls could not be sown immediately in the same year, then further, before sowing, the seeds must be stratified. This process takes at least 6 months, while the seeds are stored in the refrigerator. To increase the germination of planting material, they will need to be soaked in water before planting.

After sowing, the first shoots of colchicum can be seen only a year later, and sometimes even later. Young plants will need to be thinned and weeded to remove weeds, and a shelter should be built for them for the winter. Growing colchicum from seeds will require a lot of strength and patience from you. As a home plant, the crocus bulbs are planted in a flower pot and the inflorescences are distilled. They do this at the end of summer and use strong young bulbs.

Colchicum attracts attention slugs and snailswho love to feast on its aerial parts of the leaves. The invasion of these pests is observed if there is waterlogging of the soil in the flower garden... In order to prevent watering, do metered watering, and a layer of crushed shells, eggshells or fine gravel is poured between the plants.

Excessive watering can lead to the fact that colchicum infects gray mold, which is a fungal disease in which the leaf plate of a flower first turns yellow, and then becomes covered with a gray-black bloom. For the treatment of the plant, preparations of fungicidal action are used, but they are effective only if the degree of damage to the plant is small. With the total development of the disease, the flower will have to be dug up and destroyed.

Colchicum during its flowering in the fall always looks very impressive in a flower bed, it is impossible not to pay attention to it. Delicate and fragrant flowers appear at the moment when your garden has already faded and is getting ready for relaxation. Blooming bright islets of Kolkhikum will be an appropriate decoration for the local area, they can revive the space near the fence, place various flower beds along the edge of the border, plant in a rocky rockery or decorate an alpine hill.

Landscape designers recommend planting a juniper or dwarf fir next to the crocus. This combination looks incredibly beautiful when pale pink inflorescences appear against the background of a dark green mass. Some gardeners are trying to place plants next to the crocus that could cover the bare peduncles of this bulbous perennial with their foliage. But because of his love for dry soils, finding a harmonious neighborhood can be quite difficult.

Autumn croplands are presented in the video below.