Perennial crocosmias range from the bright canary yellows to the flashy tomato reds. Plant them bursting out of a group of quieter colours or in a subtropical border packed with hothouse colours. Although Crocosmia are half hardy bulbs they are usually grown as annuals by gardeners. they have leaves that look like swords, these carry inflorescences that have red or orange funnel like flowers. Crocosmia comes into bloom in the summer months. Common names for Crocosmia include Montbretia and copper top. They make ideal border plants.
The name ‘Crocosmia’ originats from a combination – crocosmia from the Greek krokos, meaning saffron, and osme meaning smell, alluding to the saffron scent given off by the dried flowers when placed in water. The alternate name ‘Montbretia’ got its name from Antoine François Ernest Conquebert de Monbret who was the botanist that accompanied Napoleon on his Egypt campaign in 1798.
The foliage reaches about 3 feet in height. The flowers, borne on stems up to 2 feet long, bloom for a long time. Typically, the flower stems branch and curve slightly, bearing two rows of buds. You can tell they are related to the gladiola.
It is perhaps easiest to grow Crocosmia from corms; If you go with corms, set them in the ground 2 to 3 inches deep and 8 to 10 inches apart. The corms are best planted in the fall for blooms the following spring.
If growing from seeds then they should be sown in the spring, just cover the seeds with topsoil. Plants seeds in seed trays, about 1/4″ deep, in seed starting soil.
They grow best in full sun. Plant in in rich, loose garden soil. If the soil is heavy or doesn’t drain well, mix in a generous amount of sand. Plant corms four to five inches deep, and four inches apart. Water if the soil is dry; and avoid keeping the soil wet, keeping it moist is a better bet. Once established, crocosmias require only the minimum of care, but in cold areas it’s worth covering plants with a deep mulch of well-rotted compost or straw in winter. If the plants are being planted into containers, put them in big pots with big drainage holes, and keep them well-watered. However, if the soil is water-logged, the roots will rot.
Plants that aren’t flowering freely can be divided in the spring. Split them into small clusters and replant in soil enriched with compost, and give a sprinkling of general fertiliser.

Planting: Strawberry plants (crowns with roots) should be planted only half way up the crowns. Any deeper and they rot and die. Any shallower and they dry and die. The plants need to be about 10-12 inches apart and, planted either in rows about the same width or a little wider. Because they do well in weedless area, they need to have some sort of protection against weeds.

Types: If they are June bearing types, they produce only a single crop per year, and love very rich soil. If they are everbearing types, they will produce throughout the summer, but usually are smaller and less berries.

Propagation: Most plants will send out runners. These look like long stems and will start to form new leaves and roots at their tips. Usually they should have all the runners picked off and removed in the first season, so the plants can put more energy into the berries. After about two years, the crowns tend to get longer and ‘leggy’. Usually after the third year, these older leggy plants need to be replaced. Because a single plant can send out several runners in all directions, you can have small pots positioned under each small plant runner, so the roots will take in the small pots. The same fall, these small plants can be cut off from the mother plant and transplanted the following spring. You will eventually have an endless supply of plants if you allow them to root the runners. If they grow unchecked, they will soon over take the patch nearby the runners and if planted too closely, these tend to produce smaller berries if crowded.

Pests: Birds like these as do chipmunks, and they can both carry away a whole berry. One way is to paint some small rocks with bright red paint and set these around the plants to act as decoys. Also rat traps baited with grapes can get rid of many of the other pests. You wil be on your knees a lot, so get used to crawling and weeding, picking and thinning.. Spider mites are an enemy of these plants.

Winter care: Usually they need no covering in winter, but do benefit if there is a heavy weight white platic fabric put down over the plants for the winter months. Covering them over in winter with plant mulch or leaves tend to cause rotting, so should be avoided.

Q: What would you do before you bring in the house plants for winter? Does anyone give them a drench?

Ans: Check them good for bugs, maybe even spray them all down with an insecticide and soapy water… This is the time of year that moving them into new containers is also a good idea.

Q: Is there something out there that will melt snow that won’t harm my plants or my dog? I know there are “pet safe” stuff out there, but I don’t know what it is in it! Which means to me, not good. I’d like a non-chemical method to use. We do shovel, but since our lot is so shaded by the big trees it doesn’t melt fast and we are also burdened with city laws requiring us to “clean up” which is understandable, but I don’t want to do it at the risk of my precious plants and animals dying! If you have any ideas I’d love to hear it.

Ans: Pure sand can help to give traction in ice. About the safest there is is calcium chloride which is quite safe around plants. In fact, they make a liquid spray for improving tomatoes that start out with blossom end rot. Calcium chloride is also used in home made pickling and comes in small boxes called ‘Pickle Crisp’. It does have a chloride base, but that usually dissapates quite well, leaving calcium a natural soil nutrient. I would also apply a little calcium chloride to my tomato plant area, which helps them get more calcium. The other option is a bit more costly, as it involves heater tapes and power controls to control temperature.