READER’S QUESTION

WHY do colchicums and other autumn bulbs flower without leaves?

Mrs B. Crowther, Devon. TheY have developed an evolutionary trick. in Mediterranean climates most plants flower in spring, while the ground is moist. They need rapid pollination because springs are brief and summers hot and arid.

So competition for bees and other pollinators will

be fierce in spring. During summer all die back and the bulbs are dormant.

in autumn, before the winter rains, pollinator insects are hungry but flowers are scarce. So when autumn crocuses, colchicums or in South Africa, nerines begin to flower, hungry pollinators will flock to them.

To flower in autumn, the plants draw stored nutrients from bulbs. They don’t need leaves until spring, when rain enables them to grow, shed seeds and increase their bulbs.