CyberSalad: Garden Pursuits: Bulbs: Crocosmia

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Crocosmia

     In late summer and fall, crocosmias, relatives of the gladiolus from South Africa, bear slender 2- to 4-foot flower stalks with spikes of 1 1/2-inch blossoms set amid sword-shaped foliage. Crocosmias make excellent and long-lived cut flowers, and provide garden color late in the season after most other flowering plants have faded.
     Hardy in Zones 6-10, crocosmias must be lifted and protected from the cold elsewhere. They do best in full sun. Plant the corms in spring, spacing them 3 inches apart and covering them with 2 inches of soil. Apply a light dusting of 5-10-5 fertilizer when the plants emerge, and again three to four weeks later. In Zones 6-7 in fall, apply a heavy winter mulch. North of Zone 6, lift the corms after cutting off the tops that have been frosted. Since the corms never become completly dormant, lift several together with the soil clinging to them. Allow them to dry for a few days in an airy place out of the sun, then store them at 55 to 60 degrees in dry peat moss, perlite, or vermiculite, without removing the dry soil, until planting time in the spring. Where they are hardy, dig them up and divide the crowded corms every third spring. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity.
     Propagate from the small corms that develop next to the large ones. Crocosmias can also be grown from seeds, but take about three years to reach flowering size.

	'Lucifer' Deep red flowers and is the hardiest crocosmia.
	'Bressingham Beacon' Orange and yellow bi-colored.

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Site launched January 1, 2000.
Site updated September 1, 2007.