2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Crocosmia (lat. Crocosmia) - a light-loving, flowering perennial from the Iris family. The second name is montbrecia, although this name is considered outdated.
Description
Crocosmia is a spectacular plant up to one meter tall, endowed with thin and straight branched stems. Erect light green leaves of this plant can be either narrowly obvious or broadly linear. All of them are collected in rather dense bunches and reach a width of two and a half centimeters.
Crocosmia flowers are not too large - as a rule, their diameter does not exceed three to five centimeters. Each flower has a funnel-shaped shape and is colored in yellow or orange-red tones pleasant to the eye. These incredibly pretty flowers form small paniculate apical inflorescences, and you can admire the bloom of crocosmia only in July and August. By the way, the aroma of dried flowers is very reminiscent of the smell of saffron!
In total, the genus of crocosmia includes about fifty species.
Where grows
In wild natural conditions, crocosmia can most often be found in the endless South African expanses, and South America is considered to be its homeland.
Usage
Most often, crocosmia is used in decorative floriculture - this highly decorative garden hybrid was successfully bred back in 1880 by Lemoine, a famous breeder from France.
This plant will look especially impressive in mixed plantings in mixborders, as well as in mixed flower beds, in which lush growing annuals like Tagetes thin-leaved, Lobularia or Lobelia are regularly planted. And in this case, it is recommended to place crocosmia in a checkerboard pattern - ideally, its stems with leaves should rise in the middle of the plantings with an incredibly spectacular second tier.
Crocosmia is also suitable for cutting, as well as for composing elegant dry (winter) bouquets.
Growing and caring
Crocosmia should be planted in sunny and well-heated areas, while taking into account the fact that it does not tolerate stagnant moisture at all. As for the soils, the most preferable option for this plant will be the soil enriched with all kinds of organic substances. It is best to prepare a place for future planting in the fall by adding 100 grams of slaked lime for each meter of soil, as well as potassium chloride (20 g), superphosphate (40 g) and a couple of buckets of humus. And in the spring, just before planting, it will not hurt to add nitrogen fertilizers (for each square meter - one hundred grams). Do not forget about the organization of good drainage.
All care for crocosmia comes down to systematic watering and periodic loosening, as well as top dressing carried out every two weeks with high-quality mineral fertilizers. And for the winter, this beauty must be covered with fallen oak leaves or spruce branches.
Approximately in mid-October, all corms are dug up and, having dried them thoroughly, are sent to storage at a temperature of five to seven degrees. And in open ground they are transplanted with the onset of April, after keeping them for some time in a 0.1% warm solution of potassium permanganate (it should be pale pink).
Crocosmia is usually propagated by children, and this procedure is carried out in the spring. As for diseases with pests, this plant is quite resistant to them, however, in the case of excessive moisture, gray rot can sometimes appear on the plants. And even in conditions of too pero-moist soil, rotting of the bulbs is sometimes found.
