I was paying attention and took photos of these flowers as they emerged from the ground over a period of a week (okay, I was visiting my grandsons for a few days in between, but I did not miss one of my favorite flowers).
I was given my first Colchicum bulb many years ago when I went to a farmer’s market looking for a friend. Never found her, but did chat up a person packing up their booth, and they gave me this strange, roundish, potato-shape bulb that they claimed would flower. I stuck it in the ground and promptly forgot about it.
The next spring some leaves came up, but I could not remember what they went to. The leaves died out, and not until late summer did a beautiful pink flower emerge. I thought the crocus had forgot what season it was, since they bloom in early spring. The flower died and I got busy with my life again.
Years later, I noticed many of the beautiful delicate pink flowers in the fall. I read about colchicums in a gardening magazine and finally realized what I had in my yard. By this time my area of these bulbs had enlarged quite a bit. When I dug them up to divide and spread them around, I saved half a dozen bulbs for my friend who gave me a stack of her old Fine Gardening magazines where I learned about these unusual flowers.
susansflowers 