Need advice on Colchicums

16 years ago

I have a small group of colchicums, whose name I've forgotten, but may be 'Autumn Herald'. I put them in about 4 years ago and though they come up every spring, they never bloomed after the first year. (They're not overcrowded.) My soil is very light and sandy. I'm thinking of moving them to an area in the yard with slightly heavier soil. When should I do this--when I first see the leaves, when the leaves are almost died back?

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Comments (3)

geoforce
16 years ago
Not sure what your problem could be as my soil is also a light sandy loam with nigh perfect drainage, and also quite dry in Summer. I give them full sun, although in their location, they go into shade from the terrain about 2 pm. Move about a month after the leaves die down. They should be nicely hardened off then, about like tulip bulbs. Generally, they don't mind crowding, and bloom well even if undivided for years. The last ones I moved (just to spread them around) gave 14 bulbs where one had been planted and they had had 15 or so flowers the previous fall.

George
shrubs_n_bulbs
16 years ago
Try a general fertiliser this spring. They might not be bulking up well enough to flower in summer. I have to say it is hard to stop a Colchicum flowering unless you have really tiny bulbs.
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chrismd
16 years ago
Just in general, I've noticed that the fall blooming crocus and colchicum DON'T if they don't get water at the proper time. Seems to be they need a good soaking to flower well. If that doesn't happen, they will put out the flower spike anyway, but it will be too weak to break ground, and the bulb will use up its water reserve and die.

Just my unscientific, unproven opinion.

Need advice on Colchicums

Comments (3)

geoforce

shrubs_n_bulbs

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chrismd

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