Colchicum: The best colchicums for your garden, plus how to grow them

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Colchicum speciosum 'Rubrum' — © Richard Bloom

Colchicums, or autumn crocus, commonly flower in late summer and autumn, in shades of white to pale pink and dark purple. The goblet-shaped flowers can be narrow and slim or large and sturdy. Autumn crocus flower without their leaves, which don't appear until the spring – hence their common name, 'naked ladies'. They are actually part of the lily family.

Read everything you need to know about growing crocus.

During the 20th century the great gardener and author E.A Bowles championed the genus in his book A Handbook of Crocus and Colchicum for Gardeners, published in 1924 with a revised edition in 1952.

Bowles was a stickler for correct nomenclature and often bemoaned the fact that colchicums were so inaccurately named. The underlying challenge for botanists is the seasonal differences of colchicum – their flowers appear in autumn and their leaves in spring. They then go dormant in summer.

A peculiar characteristic of colchicums is when cut for indoor display they do not need water, and will last well in their dry state in a vase and adding water does not extend their life; you can even grow the corm indoors on a windowsill, without any compost or pot and it will still flower.

COLCHICUMS IN BRIEF

Origins Asia and Europe, usually in high-altitude meadows.

Size Colchicum flowers 10-30cm tall in autumn, leaves as tall and spreading in spring.

Conditions Sunny or half-shady position in borders and shrubberies, ideal in long grass.

Hardiness rating Most have a rating of RHS H5 and are suitable for gardens in USDA zones 4a-8b. Holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.

How to grow colchicums

Where to plant colchicums

Colchicums are in their element growing in grass, especially under deciduous trees – check out our recommended trees for autumn colour. They look great growing en masse. In traditional orchards or wildflower meadows they flower well and are supported by the surrounding grass.

The white flowers of Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’ look amazing planted among the black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Kokuryu’.

When to plant colchicum bulbs

Colchicum bulbs (or strictly speaking, corms) are best planted from June until August, when they are dormant. Colchicums thrive in heavy soils and even do well on sandy loam.

How to plant colchicum bulbs

Plant bulbs at least 5cm deep and around 15cm apart. The top of the dry, brown tunic should be just above soil level. All parts of the plant are poisonous, so wear gloves when handling. You can also buy potted bulbs in autumn.

Caring for colchicums

To keep colchicums growing well, it’s a good idea to lift and split the group every three to four years. You could remove the foliage once it has completely died back.

Colchicum problems

Colchicums generally suffer from few diseases but in damp summer weather they can be damaged by the keeled slug, a small slug that lives between the corm and the tunic. This only becomes a problem if the emerging bud is eaten.

The best colchicums for your garden

Colchicum ‘Autumn Queen’

A fine early flowering, well-marked cultivar that is now well over 100 years old. Often noses through in late August with mid-sized flowers, which thrive in a sunny site. 18cm. AGM. RHS h5, usda 4a-8b.

Colchicum ‘Waterlily’

The only multi-petalled, dark-pink, large-flowered cultivar. A Dutch seedling – apparently a cross between Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’ and Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’. 15cm. AGM. RHS h5.

Colchicum x agrippinum

This highly tessellated colchicum selection is a hybrid of unknown parentage. It has hybrid vigour with demure leaves in spring. 10cm. AGM. RHS H4.

Colchicum byzantinum ‘Innocence’

An albino cultivar, singled out from a Colchicum byzantinum bought from Van Tubergen nursery in the 20th century, Vigorous and floriferous. 15cm. AGM. RHS H5.

Colchicum ‘Benton End’

A substantial colchicum flower of quite a dark purple. It was found in the eponymous Suffolk garden of the artist Sir Cedric Morris, who was famed for his bearded irises. 18cm.

Colchicum ‘Pink Goblet’

Found by Dick Trotter in his garden Brin near Inverness. This true-pink plant, which smells of honey, was selected from a sowing of Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’ seed. 20cm. AGM. RHS H5.

Colchicum byzantinum ‘Pink Star’

A slim-petalled colchicum flower that can produce up to a dozen flowers per corm. The collective impact is delightful. Bulks up quickly. 15cm. AGM. RHS h5.

Colchicum ‘Felbrigg’

This large and growable selection of Colchicum cilicicum, is named for the National Trust Garden in Norfolk, but was found in Myddelton House, EA Bowles’s garden, in Enfield. 14cm. AGM.

Colchicum autumnale ‘Alboplenum’

This multi-petalled, white colchicum is short and quite weatherproof. The flowers are very long lasting. Widely available. 15cm.

Colchicum ‘EA Bowles’

Found in the peach border at Myddelton House after Bowles’s death. A mid- season plant with a strong purple sheen to the petals and an imposing presence. 20cm.

Colchicum ‘Rosy Dawn’

A late-flowering cultivar raised by Barr & Sons Nursery over 70 years ago. Very strong and often fertile, so seedlings will eventually occur. 15cm. AGM. RHS H5.

Buy Colchicum ‘Rosy Dawn’ from Beth Chatto

Colchicum cilicicum ‘Purpureum’

Colchicum cilicium 'Purpureum' — © Richard Bloom

A strong, late-flowered colchicum cultivar, dwarf in stature with short, quite glossy, dark-green leaves in spring. Widely available. 10cm. AGM. RHS h5, USDA 4a-8b.

Buy Colchicum cilicicum ‘Purpureum’ from De Jager

Colchicum autumnale ‘Nancy Lindsay’

This colchicum was collected nearly 100 years ago by Nancy Lindsay in Romania as she travelled back from a plant collecting trip. 10cm. AGM. RHS h5, usda 4a-8b.

Buy Colchicum autumnale ‘Nancy Lindsay’ from Broadleigh Gardens

Colchicum speciosum ‘Rubrum’

A diminutive Colchicum speciosum with flowers that are like small glass flutes on slim perianth tubes. The foliage, however, is typical of Colchicum speciosum. 20cm.

Colchicum ‘Poseidon’

It has the dubious virtue of being the strongest plant in the recent colchicum trial at RHS Hyde Hall. Its leaves rival some veratrums in its size. It is also extremely floriferous. 18cm.

Where to see and buy colchicums

Avon Bulbs, Burnt House Farm, Mid Lambrook, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5HE
East Ruston Old Vicarage, East Ruston, Norwich, Norfolk NR12 9HN, Open Wednesday – Sunday, 12-5.30pm, until 26 October
Rare Plants, PO Box 468, Wrexham, Clwyd LL13 9XR
RHS Hyde Hall Garden, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET, Open 10am-6pm
RV Roger Ltd, The Nurseries, Malton, Road, Pickering, North Yorkshire YO18 7JW
Witton Lane Seeds, 16 Witton Lane, Little Plumstead, Norwich, Norfolk NR13 5DL