Colchicum and companions
Jane McGary (Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:02:26 PDT)

Boyce Tankersley recommended colored-leaf heucheras with COlchicum,
and this is pretty -- I have several such combinations in the garden.
However, you have to propagate a lot of the heuchera (or spend a lot
at the garden center) to get an effective ground cover out of it. I
think the sedum and also the Phlox subulata that Boyce recommends
might suffer from the dying colchicum foliage flopping over on their
mats, though. Phlox subulata does not die back in winter here as it
apparently does for Boyce in Chicago; in the Northwest it is
evergreen. Here we mostly grow the smaller selections, suitable for
rock gardens.

If you can find a medium-sized sort of geranium that is sterile, such
as G. x cantabrigense 'Biokovo', this works well with colchicums
also. Some of the G. renardii selections and hybrids are not invasive
and have pretty, soft grayish foliage; they do not seed here. Their
full growth tends to arrive just as the colchicum leaves are falling over.

Of course, most of you probably cut off the colchicum leaves as soon
as possible to keep your gardens neat, but I rarely get to it, except
in the most noticeable positions!

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA