My Favourite Fall Colour Combination

Chris Mousseau

One of the first things I planted in my ‘Island’ bed after we purchased this property was a Pagoda Dogwood, Cornus alternifolia, that I dug out of my backyard in Toronto, where it had lived for just a year after being transplanted as a two food sapling from a friend’s property north of the city. This small understory tree is native to Ontario (and much of the eastern part of North America); birds (robins, in particular, I’ve noticed) love its berries in late spring, and I love how the branches grow in a tiered fashion as well as the beautiful red the leaves turn in early fall.

I planted Colchicum bulbs at its base for several years and now there’s a nice carpet of purple at its base. In early spring the Colchicum leaves appear, followed by daffodils, Leucojum and a mass of Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) flowers. I’m happy to see that our current unusually dry spell hasn’t affected the Colchicum, although the dogwood leaves are quite noticeably sad and droopy and have started to fall a bit earlier than normal.

15 Comments

  1. Your Dogwood has been moved several times! That patch of Colchicum looks so pretty under your tree…it’s an unexpected looking flower in the fall, I think. I planted 2 bulbs, years ago…they became obscured under a dwarf weeping pussy willow. . And the rain that is forecast for some regions this weekend could be diasterous 😕

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    1. A number of my Colchicum are also obscured this year by shrubs that for some reason had a huge growth spurt…I pruned a few branches back but I’m also thinking about moving the Colchicum bulbs next year, after the leaves fade…

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  4. I’m just astonished. The Colchicum look for all the world like an early spring flower, but when I looked them up, lo and behold: a common name is autumn crocus. I did learn that the Colchicums are related to lilies, while crocus are in the iris family. When I looked up the maps for Colchium, I realized why I’d never heard of them! That said, purple and gold are my favorite autumn color combination, and these fill the bill perfectly.

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    1. There is also an actual autumn crocus (which is why I don’t use the term when talking about Colchicums) – the saffron producing crocus, Crocus sativus, which blooms in October around here. I planted a few last year but I fear chipmunks found them a rather tasty treat…

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  5. Lovely to see the beautiful colour of your Pagoda Dogwood in autumn, it’s gorgeous! The layers look really neat.. does it need trimming to keep the layers that tidy-looking? The colchicum underneath are a special touch.. give yourself a big pat on the back!

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