About
Colchicum cilicicum is a perennial plant that grows from corms, reaching a height of about 10 cm. It features semi-erect leaves that are narrowly elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, measuring between 30 and 40 cm in length. This species produces 3 to 25 funnel-shaped flowers in autumn, each ranging from 4 to 7.5 cm long, displaying purplish-pink tepals that may become more intense near the rounded tips. In addition to its ornamental value, this plant serves as a late-season pollen source for honeybees.
About the genus
Colchicum are perennial plants that grow from corms, featuring typically coarse, broad, strap-like leaves. These leaves may emerge alongside or following the goblet-shaped blooms.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Exposed, Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H5
Plant details
- Plant type
- Bulbs
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden, Gravel garden, Rock garden, Wildlife gardens
- Native to
- Turkey Syria Lebanon
- Toxicity
- TOXIC if eaten. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling TOXIC to pets - see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants for further information and useful contact numbers
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Plant 10cm deep, moist but well-drained, deep, humus-rich, fertile soil in an open site in full sun in summer or early autumn. Intolerant of waterlogging. See bulb cultivation for further advice
- Pruning
- No pruning required
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed, sown in containers in an open frame as soon as it is ripe, or by removing cormlets when dormant in summer; for more advice, see bulb propagation
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to slugs
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to grey moulds (Botrytis), smuts, and tulip grey bulb rot