lauriemorningglory said:Lovely! Do you grow these in your garden, Elizabeth? I've been thinking about trying them for a little end-of-the year bloom. Approximately when do they bloom? Is there anything else that blooms at the same time?
No, I don't grow them. Around here they seem to bloom anywhere from late September through mid October, depending on the year. Lately, with the wacky weather patterns, bloom seasons for almost everything can vary by several weeks. Currently Ann Arbor is listed as zone 6a, though not so long ago it was in zone 5b. Bearing Fleur569's warning about toxicity in mind, I'd encourage you to try some of them. One of the places I see them growing is on a wooded hillside at Hidden Lake Gardens which hosts a large collection of hostas that are planted among cultivated or naturalized woodland spring wildflowers like bloodroot, trillium, wild ginger, Dutchman's Breeches, etc. In such an environment, they're 'the only game in town' when they bloom. There may be a few hostas still in bloom, but they're pale in color. So the clumps of autumn crocus provide lovely oases of color in a sea of green. The point is, they seem to tolerate a fair amount of shade and to grow happily, say, around the bases of trees.
Quite a few sun-loving garden plants that have been blooming all summer (the usual suspects) are still in bloom when the autumn crocus blooms, and continue to bloom up 'til the first frosts, and some hydrangeas are still going strong at that time of the year. There are a few autumn blooming trees, of course, most notably Seven Son Flower tree, Heptacodium miconioides, and some wildflowers (now routinely cultivated) like goldenrod and asters, that bloom from late summer through the fall season. Mustn't forget dahlias, either, as late bloomers. But I don't know any other flower that begins its blooming season as late as autumn crocus. I'd love to hear about other people's experiences in this regard. Always eager to learn more about the natural world.
