More autumn bulbs - and some of the loveliest

The soil is parched and yet up come treasures from dry bulbs; a friend posits that they may be responding to barometric pressure just as other bulbs flower in response to warmth or snow melt.

Who cares?

All I know is that they are Colchicum and I wonder which species they are. So I send off a photo to a Facebook group (Bulborum) and within minutes I have my answer: these sweet flowers are Colchicum cilicium (identified with more certainty after I send a photo of a bulb, too). My respondent from the US says this is one of his favourite of this genus.

Facebook, a force for good?

Well, today, I think so.

Jill Weatherhead is horticulturist, writer, garden designer and principal at Jill Weatherhead Garden Design who lives in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, and works throughout Victoria (www.jillweatherheadgardendesign.com.au)