Last Blooms/Colchicum

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net
Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:15:17 PDT
Jane McGary wrote: " It may be simply C. autumnale, the normal form from
which 'Waterlily' is a sport."

Jane, do you know something I don't? 

There is a widely grown double-flowered form of Colchicum autumnale, but
that is not 'Waterlily'. 

The parentage of Colchicum 'Waterlily' is usually given as Colchicum
autumnale 'Alboplenum' crossed with C. speciosum 'Album'. I think the
intention of the hybridizer was to get a hybrid, double, white-flowered
Colchicum bigger than C. autumnale 'Alboplenum'. 

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where the heat has fried the
colchicum this year, and 'Waterlily' is more like 'Cactus-flower'.  


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