Just a Little Spot of Pink…

It happens regularly that some little spot of colour in the garden catches my eye while I am doing something in the house and curiosity takes me out to the garden, generally with camera in hand to capture the puzzling plant. While making the bed this morning, a little spot of pink on a raised bed outside the bedroom window puzzled me and I had to investigate. I really should have realised what it was – a colchicum – as there are some others into flower in the garden already. I say “already” for I feel it is a little early for them and growth is usually triggered by autumn rain and we haven’t had a lot of that.

The little spot of pink which caught my eye.

It was Colchicum parlatoris, a Greek species, which I grew from seed received via membership of the Alpine Garden Society quite a few years ago, around 2005 to the best of my recollection (and the note on the label!) In an effort to replicate Greek conditions to some degree I planted the young bulbs on a raised bed which is very well drained and in full sun so there is little danger of the bulbs standing in wet conditions even after rain. They have done well in this situation and had been left undisturbed from when I planted them to two years ago when I lifted a few bulbs to pass on to a friend. I moved those left to another spot on the raised bed but those in flower this morning are in the original planting spot so I, obviously, missed a bulb or two.

Also on the raised bed and only spotted when I was there to look at the colchicum was Biarum tenuifolium, a very small member of the arum family so related to our native Lords and Ladies. It’s one of those plants which could be lost so easily in the garden as it is so small and doesn’t really catch the eye – interesting rather than beautiful!

These two colchicums seem to be well ahead of their normal schedule here. I generally expect to see them in flower next month, after the garden has received some rain to prompt them into growth.

In flower elsewhere in the garden – Colchicum byzantinum and…

Colchicum autumnale ‘Album’

Of course, once out the door and the mystery solved and photographed, the temptation to continue on a ramble around the garden is irrestible. And, it was a beautiful morning so who could blame me! The light was strong and low, casting strong shadows across the garden, which is not the best for photography but that’s how it was and I enjoyed it. Here are the views:

Garden statuary – the bridge!

Cydonia oblonga with hardly a leaf left on it.

Looking down

Looking up

Gleditsia against the morning light

Fallen leaves – everywhere!

I’ve done a lot of clearing in this area in the last few days

A nice place to work on hot days, shady and cool but still very dry.

And, a few odds and ends spotted on my quickish walk around before I returned to finish indoor duties. The day continued bright, warm and dry and the afternoon was spent replacing retaining timbers for a small raised bed holding roses and clematis. It was a good day!

A maple catching the morning light

Canna ‘Cleopatra’

Canna ‘Durban’

Cottier’s Kale, grown on from two cuttings very gladly received earlier this year. It is a perennial plant so very convenient.

Gladiolus papilio

Pontederia cordata, growing in a pond

Sedum ‘Matrona’

Yucca filamentosa

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