Pretty!

That was quite the find. They are lovely.

What a great find! I didn’t know they grew in fields.

so nice to see en masse, rather than a couple of top-heavy behemoths , lolling about in miserable isolation. Understandable as they are never cheap to buy and take forever to bulk up but for sure, I think all bulbs look best when planted with a generous hand...and coming across them au naturel must have been quite a sight.

Given that they are toxic, perhaps the cattle don't eat them:)

I meant that I'd have thought farmers might destroy them, as the do other toxic plants, such as Ragwort. We saw several fields with similar displays.

wow, nice pics

I first saw them at some Swiss alm

regarding the toxicity: either they flower so late that cattle has been moved to the valleys again or the cows dont go for the flowers. I read or heard about that farmers go for the foliage which emerges in late spring. It is an old traditional work, but I think on the alm meadows they still do it.

I read up on it: the foliage is toxic even in hay and the recommended method is to mow it several times a year or graze intensivly, like with a large herd on a small patch for a short time, and repeat.

It seems that free ranging cattle are savvy enogh to avoid the colchicum but damage it by trampeling.

in the lowlands the meadows are usually mown several times a year and the Colchicum disappear

and to think it is used for medicine to treat gout and gouty rheumatoid arthritis.

I'm surprised the south of France is already looking so green. Had there been rains earlier in September? (I'm noting you posted 12 days ago on the 13th or 14th of September) Of course, it depends on a lot of factors, and maybe you took that picture in a mountain valley somewhere. Some of those might stay green all summer.

This is, however, one of the differences between the "real" Mediterranean climate, and California's version of it. The wet season is more spread out there, and many places actually have an October peak of rainfall, and June rainfall, though light, is not unusual. Unlike California where the peak tends to be January or February, and June, July and August are almost always entirely rain free.

This area, the Aveyron, is woodland and dairy farms at a little elevation. It was greener than England when we arrived. They'd had lots of rain.

Thanks for nailing down the exact departement. So important for understanding European microclimates. I am a lifelong learner!