Colchicum hungaricum ‘Valentine’

As ornamental plants, the winter-blooming colchicums trounce even the snootiest snowdrop, in our highly biased opinion. And how many snowdrops arrive at the Valentine’s Banquet dressed in pink? This ‘Valentine’ only occasionally makes an eponymous holiday appearance in our district, but if you garden on Cape Cod or Long Island or some similarly tropical strand, prepare to be charmed on February 14 or thereabouts. Like others of the species, ‘Valentine’ produces multiple weather-resistant blooms over multiple weeks, and thrives in a sunny, well-drained garden niche. Mediterranean/Modified continental/Montane; SE Europe. Zone 5.