Bulbs: Colchicum Waterlily Ugly Foliage, 1 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
hi beaker, I have these and I have the same problem! For a start I had them by my south wall and the foliage does tend to get too big for some things. When I changed the bed I moved them, this can be done 'in the green' as I did it, although the food goes back into the bulb to feed it when dying down. A really good time to do it is when the foliage is just emerging so they can re-root and grow on.

They do make more bulbs and can be split so will take a little time to reach maturity, although the last ones I put in only missed a season. The leaves can be OK if amongst taller things that take over as they die back, mine are starting to die back now. The advantage of moving them now is you can see where they are, perhaps wait until they start to die off. Normally here they are planted in the autumn, I think mainly because plants in the green are not easy to sell. It's best if they don't dry out, another reason they will not like being disturbed, as dried bulbs need more time to re-establish.

I am thinking of moving mine that are in a bed where the leaves show too much amongst lower perennials, and when they flower the perennials are dying back so the flowers don't get shown off very well at all. They would really be best around evergreens.

If you can put up with the dying foliage for a little while they won't take long before you can remove the dead foliage, it comes away easily a bit like crocus.

You can see the foliage behind the trillium, the hydrangea behind grows and the spaces fill with other things by they die back and I don't notice them.