Colchicum cilicicum blooming and more on new blog post
Jane McGary (Mon, 05 Oct 2015 22:55:17 PDT)

On 10/5/2015 8:28 PM, Travis O wrote:

The book 'Flowers for Northern Gardens' by Leon C. Snyder wrote that C. 'Lilac Wonder' is a hybrid of C. autumnale and C. speciosum. ... I'm not sure where I read that 'Lilac Wonder' was a hybrid of giganteum and bornmuelleri, or if the two were just "suspected" as being the parents.

Here is Antoine Hoog's catalog description of 'Lilac Wonder':
"raised by Mr J.J. Kerbert from a cross with /C/. speciosum var
bornmuelleri" and description follows, mentioning "heavy imperial-purple
chequering," which is not apparent on at least some of the plants being
grown under this name.

That is, C. speciosum var. bornmuelleri was probably the seed parent,
and the pollen parent was unknown. C. autumnale is not mentioned here.
Certainly 'Lilac Wonder' looks more like C. speciosum than like C.
autumnale. 'LW' is a very persistent variety and a rapid increaser.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA