Bulbmeister.COM - Discussions

[kmirvin]

Joe:

That is a very nice images. I can see how such a sight could muster the kind of enthusiasm you express. That stark white flower against earthy leaf litter and gray stones is beautiful. I like the veination in the petals, too.

[joe]

Posted on Monday, January 15, 2001 - 01:43 pm: Edit Post Delete Post Print Post
Last fall I thought I would try a few of the smaller Colchicum varieties. Among others, I ordered a single bulb of C. hungaricum from Odyssey Bulbs (www.odysseybulbs.com) in Michigan. The bulb of C. hungaricum is smaller than the smallest crocus bulb. It was packed in it's own tiny envelope and I was afraid I would lose it in the grass while I was digging the hole. I planted it and by late November it had put out a couple of small shoots. Within short order something nibbled off the top of one of the shoots. Just before the two terrible ice storms we had in late December, I covered the shoots with leaves. Last week I noticed that the tattered buds were out of the ground and about to open. Saturday (Jan. 14) it rained all day but Sunday was warm and sunny. My back yard is still covered with tree debris from the ice storms and is currently not a pleasant place to spend time. On the way to the trash can I happened to glance down at the Colchicum and its flowers were open wide in the afternoon sun. I decided to take a quick shot of them but naturally the battery on my digital camera (which I'm still learning to use) was low and wouldn't take a single picture. By the time I charged the battery enough to take a photo the sun had gone behind some clouds and the flowers had started to close up. I did manage to take a few shots before they fully closed. The flowers are very small (bigger than a Claytonia but smaller than a Z. candida) but very cheerful on a winter afternoon. They must produce some sort of nectar as they were covered with ants. I'm hoping that they will multiply into a nice little clump. I have a photo at the bottom of the page at:

http://www.netcolony.com/arts/jwlamb/art/col.html

More and more unusual plant varieties are becoming available and it will be interesting to see which ones become permanent and dependable additions to our gardens.