Colchicum

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 02 Mar 2003 23:53:21 PST
Jerry Flintoff wrote,
>    Nice colchicum photos.  I assume you grow C. baytopiorum frost-free?

I have not found it necessary to grow this species strictly frost-free. I
have one pot of it in a frame that remains uncovered most of the time, and
it has come through about 25 F here this winter, while in leaf, with no
damage. In previous years it also came through several degrees of frost --
I've had it about 12 years.

Jerry also mentioned C. hungaricum. There seem to be several different
plants going around under that name. We can only hope that someone will
soon produce a monograph of the genus so we can sort out the many small
colchicums we are growing, some from seed collected in the wild. That was
how I got my Colchicum szovitsii, which Jerry praised -- I agree that it
(if that's what I have!) is very nice. Another pleasing one this winter has
been C. doerfleri, which has a particularly good color among the small
species.

Jane McGary
Northwest Oregon


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