AN AWESOME AUTUMN
Out-of-season bulbs give you colour right up until Christmas
Visit southern Europe in the coming weeks and you could be pleasantly surprised. For, as rain greens the parched terrain, spring-like flowering bulbs appear — oddly out of season. some, such as sand lilies and colchicums, bloom only at this time of year. But there are late versions of spring plants, too — narcissus, crocuses and even snowdrops.
Autumn bulbs such as these have evolved to fill a niche. Many produce naked flowers now, followed by leaves and seeds the next year. that enables them co.uk to attract pollinators when competing plants are dormant but complete their development in the normal growing season.
the earliest — colchicums and autumn cyclamen — are already showing colour. they will be over in a few weeks, but with careful selection, you can enjoy a run of blooms right up to Christmas.
Buy popular varieties at the garden centre, by mail order or online from crocus.co.uk, or specialists such as avonbulbs.
offer a wider choice. As with almost all bulbs and corms, autumn varieties need free-draining soil.
But different plant groups have different preferences. Most colchicums, for example, hate boggy conditions but also dislike drying out too much in summer. CROCUS CHAMPIONS ColChiCuMs are the most popular. Many people call them ‘autumn crocus’ but they’re not related to crocuses. Britain’s only wild species, C. autumnale, is called meadow saffron. But it doesn’t produce saffron, and like all colchicums, is poisonous. the most rugged, Colchicum
speciosum, has sturdy 15cm flowers in lilac-pink. Waterlily has great double flowers, while white Album has superb single ones.
Big, broad leaves follow in spring. though handsome at first they’re scruffy when old. But to allow bulbs to thrive, the top-growth must die off. so if you plant in grass, don’t mow until the leaves wither.
saffron comes from the autumn- flowering Crocus
sativus. it does best in a coldframe or Alpine house. But there are prettier, easier crocuses for outside. the finest, C. speciosus, has large delicate flowers in bright violet with blue veining.
For November, C. ochroleucus has small cream-white flowers. if allowed to self-seed each year, they’ll spread to create a show. snowdrops could grow in the same spot for January cheer.
GOOD FOR CUTTING
oNE of the most spring-like autumn bulbs is Sternbergia
lutea. Glossy, dark green leaves accompany yellow crocus-like flowers, often into November. A curious snowdrop, Galanthus
reginae- olgae, flowers at the same time. Among larger bulbs, south African nerines are great for cutting. Nerine bowdenii has curled pink flowers. Good forms include the pink Mark Fenwick and Zeal Giant. For bolder flowers, try Amaryllis belladonna. umbels of large pink flowers appear on naked stems from mid-autumn. Don’t confuse these with the houseplants also called Amaryllis, correct name Hippeastrum.
true amaryllis flowers are beautiful but look bare without foliage. that’s why hybrid Amarcrinum memoria- corsii Howardii is a better bet. Pink, lily-like flowers and lovely pleated leaves appear from late summer. Find them at van meuwen.com or suttons.co.uk.