Hi Jane and all, The colchicums exist with the grass because I don't mow that area until the Colchicum foliage has yellowed off in mid-July. The islands of tall grass, where I have planted Colchicum, Narcissus, and Crocus in the lawn, really drive my poor wife crazy until they are at last mowed. They are out in our front lawn, about half way between the house and the street. But it is worth it, just to see the Narcissus blooming there in spring and now the colchicums as autumn nears. Most of the neighbors probably already suspect that I am a little eccentric, so a couple patches of tall, unkempt grass in the front lawn doubtless fit in with that concept fairly well. Now that the Colchicum are starting to flower, once again the grass will not be mowed for several weeks -- but in Fall, the grass is not so tall nor growing so fast as in May and June. Corydalis solida and Fritillaria meleagris that were planted out there too have not done so well. I think the last of them died a year or two ago. Regards, Jim Shields At 06:03 PM 8/28/2004 -0700, you wrote: >Jim SHields wrote, >>The Lycoris are now all nearly over with here. I hate to see them go, as >>this means summer is about to end. However, there is consolation at >>hand: the first Colchicum are starting to bloom in my lawn, C. >>byzantinum. It is usually the first one up in autumn, and this year is >>typical. Usually, the next one to appear will be Colchicum cilicium >>"Purpureum". > >Jim, will you please explain how colchicums coexist with a lawn? That is, >one thinks of a lawn as being mown at the time that the colchicum leaves >are in growth. The flowers would, however, be pretty in grass. > >Jane McGary >Northwestern Oregon, USA ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA