The earliest of bloomers here at illahe, Colchicum alpinum can be in bloom at the middle of August. It always gives me pause thinking this is the first signal that you better get all those summer projects wrapped up because fall is coming! It’s also on of the most compact if you are looking for a species for a crevice garden, large trough or the rock garden. Originating from the high-altitude regions of the European Alps

The Autumn Colchicums are to me some of the best of plants for our new normal climate. They naturalize without using any of the precious resource water, but can take almost flooded conditions in the winters new deluges, the leaves make a showy, bold statement, belying the drought tolerance. Ok, so you have to deal with the leaves dying back for a couple of weeks every year, but just when you forgot they were there, BAM, they smack you in the face with these beautiful pink blooms just as everything else is coming to an end with summers heat and falls chills.