The good weather of earlier in the week has gone. That bright crispness and that sharp coolness in the air have given way to dullness, mistiness, clamminess and a general feeling of misery and no opportunity to garden. Were it tomorrow, November 1st, I could make a timelier quotation of Thomas Hood’s poem, “November” but, even today, a little is not entirely misplaced:
No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!
And, of course, I could add “no gardening.”
Two grandchildren visited – a Hallowe’en visit – one dressed as Fireman Sam and the other, not yet three weeks old, as a most convincing cat – kitten? We were tricked and they were treated though the kitten slept through it all in a most disinterested manner. Clever girl!
To pass the rest of the day there was a little reading, writing and look back over photographs – a search for brighter days and cheering flowers. It is the colchicums which have most appealed to me this autumn. They certainly blossom when most else is finishing and going to decay. They flower without foliage and, so, one of their common name, Naked Ladies! – the foliage grows in spring and many gardeners complain that it is both large and coarse but I forgive it that small fault as I enjoy the flowers so much at this time of the year.
I hope my photographs will show the beauty of these plants and that you enjoy them!
Oooh, many thanks, Kathy. I have been racking my old brain in an attempt to remember the name. It is many years since we got this one and, despite the flopping, it has built up very well with three good patches in the garden. ‘Lilac Wonder’ it is then – I do recall having it but wasn’t sure it this on was it. Many thanks!
You’re welcome. ‘Rosy Dawn’ looks like C. speciosum with an exceptionally large white throat, so it clearly wasn’t that, and ‘Lilac Wonder’ has a reputation for floppiness. The RHS’ magazine “The Garden” has an article on colchicums in its October issue. There is a photograph on the article’s title page of a dozen or so labeled colchicums, sort of a miniature field guide.
It is a magazine I used enjoy and kept my membership active so as to be able to attend the Chelsea Flower Show on members’s day but in latter years the magazine has come to carry far more advertisements than I like – some are financially necessary for the success of any magazine but it had gone to the stage of being a impediment to reading the magazine – and I have allowed my membership to lapse.
I have noticed how you have planted some of these bulbs, with small delicate flowers, in gravel. I have planted these autumn bulbs in beds, which are always soggy & heavy this time of year (I am on rather heavy clay) which does not help the look of these small species as they tend to get bogged down with heavy rain. The gravel background certainly provides an excellent foil & although I am not a particular fan of beds topped with gravel, I am going to experiment with bulbs in a small area of hardcore. Your examples are, as ever, tip-top & so well choreographed. Thank you.
This situation seems to have suited Colchicum parlatoris, mainly because it is such a small plant. It would be lost in the open garden. I have planted some of the larger colchicums in a similar raised bed but simply to give them a year or two to bulk up. Not all need the wet conditions we associate with C. autumnale which grows in riverside meadows here. Others seem to prefer drier conditions.
It’s not ‘Rosy Dawn’ but it could be ‘Lilac Wonder,’ which is infamous for flopping.
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Oooh, many thanks, Kathy. I have been racking my old brain in an attempt to remember the name. It is many years since we got this one and, despite the flopping, it has built up very well with three good patches in the garden. ‘Lilac Wonder’ it is then – I do recall having it but wasn’t sure it this on was it. Many thanks!
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You’re welcome. ‘Rosy Dawn’ looks like C. speciosum with an exceptionally large white throat, so it clearly wasn’t that, and ‘Lilac Wonder’ has a reputation for floppiness. The RHS’ magazine “The Garden” has an article on colchicums in its October issue. There is a photograph on the article’s title page of a dozen or so labeled colchicums, sort of a miniature field guide.
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It is a magazine I used enjoy and kept my membership active so as to be able to attend the Chelsea Flower Show on members’s day but in latter years the magazine has come to carry far more advertisements than I like – some are financially necessary for the success of any magazine but it had gone to the stage of being a impediment to reading the magazine – and I have allowed my membership to lapse.
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Many thanks for your informative comments, by the way. Much appreciated – and I will go and label the colchicums accurately now!
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thank you for the poem Paddy and for entertaining me with your posts, much appreciated.
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It’s one which stuck in my mind from my school teaching days! Here’s a link to the full text: http://www.oatridge.co.uk/poems/t/thomas-hood-november.php
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Paddy,
I have noticed how you have planted some of these bulbs, with small delicate flowers, in gravel. I have planted these autumn bulbs in beds, which are always soggy & heavy this time of year (I am on rather heavy clay) which does not help the look of these small species as they tend to get bogged down with heavy rain. The gravel background certainly provides an excellent foil & although I am not a particular fan of beds topped with gravel, I am going to experiment with bulbs in a small area of hardcore. Your examples are, as ever, tip-top & so well choreographed. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This situation seems to have suited Colchicum parlatoris, mainly because it is such a small plant. It would be lost in the open garden. I have planted some of the larger colchicums in a similar raised bed but simply to give them a year or two to bulk up. Not all need the wet conditions we associate with C. autumnale which grows in riverside meadows here. Others seem to prefer drier conditions.
LikeLike