Colchicum ‘Autumn Herald’ produces goblets of amethyst violet flowers beginning in mid-September with orange stamens and a broad white blotch at the base of the petals.

Plant this fairly large corm in sun or partial shaded conditions in soils that never completely dry in summer. The broad elegantly pleated foliage appears in spring and dies down by early summer. Shortened days, cooling temperatures and autumn rains initiate the flowering cycle for fall blooming colchicums.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to people and animals alike. Extracts were once prescribed to treat a variety of ailments before the side effects were fully understood. A chemical known as a mitotic poison prevents cells from dividing normally resulting in cells with double the number of chromosomes. Plant breeders have used to attribute to create new hybrid lines of agronomic and horticultural crops but beneficial effects on animals are less common. An infamous nineteenth century murderess is thought to have used Colchicum to poison her victims.