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Garden Notes: ‘Naked Ladies’ a (risqué?) beautiful addition to garden

There were quite a few Naked Ladies dancing in the garden breezes this fall. That might be indicative of the warmer weather we’ve been experiencing or the development of Naked Lady (Colchicum) hybrids tolerant of zero and below winter temperatures.

Whatever the cause, the flowers were compelling in their grace and beauty.

Colchicum, also known as Madonna Lily, Autumn Crocus and Meadow Saffron, is a type of lily that magically appears out of bare earth without a stitch of leaves.

Colchis was an ancient kingdom thought to be the home of all the world’s sorcerers. In Greek mythology, Medea was a talented sorceress and the wife of Jason of the Argonauts. She granted her husband’s wish that his father regain his youth, while keeping his old head and its repository of wisdom.

The first Colchi­cum is thought to have sprung from a single drop of that potion. Colchicum is poisonous. Every last bit of it contains a powerful drug, colchicine, used as a cure for gout.

Naked Ladies resemble tall crocuses. They’re honey-scented, pink, blue or white fall bloomers that jump up just as everything around them is falling down. Each stalk can have a dozen flowers in a cluster. The strap-like leaves look like Agapanthus when, after their flowers have died, they show themselves. The leaves continue growing until the following spring when they disappear into their unmarked graves.

Colchicum corms are available in early fall — I found 10 of the smaller Sativus or Saffron Crocus at Martin’s Greenhouse on the Birmingham Pike. They will be lilac with orange stamens. Because the flowers and their leaves appear at different times, they’re more time consuming than other bulbs and so they’re sometimes hard to find. I did find a Colchicum Giant corm at Ameri­can Meadows, www.americanmeadows.com, and planted it last week. It’s to have large rosy-lilac blossoms with white centers.

All the bulbs are planted in full sun and close to the hose, taking into consideration my rather sketchy watering habits and our weird Pennsylvania rains.

I’ve been told the Giant’s bulb will multiply and old bulbs can grow to the size of grapefruit. Colchicum Giant grows 10 to 12 inches tall in Zones 5-9. The Saffron Crocus can tolerate some shade and tops out at four or more inches. The usual wildlife culprits wisely avoid Naked Ladies. Ironically, slugs consider them a delicacy and will happily dine on a plant that is deadly to any other living thing.

Naked Ladies grow into significant clumps of foliage and garden experts recommend planting the corms about a foot apart.

Anna Pavord, writing in her book, “Bulb,” says Colchicum can be grown indoors in a saucer with no soil or water. She says they’ll bloom, but to keep the corm strong it has to be planted immediately after flowering.

Somehow Naked Ladies are beautiful outside. Inside? I think I’d require of my house plants a little more modesty.

Contact Teresa Futrick at esroyllek@hotmail.com.

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