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.

Winter Care for Butterfly Bushes
Question: We put in some butterfly bushes this year and want to know if we should trim them back for the winter. Is there anything else we should do to them?

Answer: In regions where they are marginally hardy, butterfly bushes (Buddleia) can be winterkilled quite badly, some years even to the ground, so it’s a good idea to take some precautions. Wait until spring to cut them back — leaving the top growth seems to help protect the roots during bad winters. Also, once the ground is frozen, mulch around the shrubs fairly heavily. In the spring, you can prune back the tops to remove any dead wood, and then trim what’s left for shape.

QUESTIONS: I want to grow my own plugs indoors. I had a greenhouse a while back but don’t have it any longer and I’d like to grow some plugs indoors.

Ans 1:
For many years now, I started nearly all my garden plants indoors. I used a 2′x4′ metal shelf system with wooden (wood chip boards) shelves. The shelves posts are steel as are the side struts to support each shelf. I drilled 2 half inch diameter holes into the side metal supports (the 2 foot wide ones), to hold some small chains. I bought 4 foot long twin bulb shop lights, and attached chains to their tops and the chains are placed hrough the half inch holes, and held in place my
a piece of stiff wire. In this way, I cam move the lights away and closer to the plants. I use approx 11 x’19 inch plastic trays with 2 inch square pots. The trays hold about 32 pots each, and 4 trays can be on each shelf. I also use heat mats under each tray, for just to get seeds to germinate, then turn the heat mats off once I see green shoots. The trays also have clear plastic domed lids to help keep
moisture in for the first few weeks. Once the seedlings emerge and reach the clear lids, the lids get removed and the flourecent lamps are fairly close at all times. Once the plants grow the lights are moved up, by pulling on the two side chains, and reattaching the stiff wires through a link in the chains. The shelf system comes with a total of 6 shelves, but because I have 8 foot ceilings and the top most shelf would be too short to waste, I bolted all the two piece side pieces a little closer together (they are 4 foot lengths, and butted to each other originally). Because the top most shelf has no lamps, I added a wooden frame that holds just one fixture there. Its at the top, where its a bit warmer, so it doesn’t need much more. I
have all the lights on a timer, and they are on a 6am, to about 11 pm. Once the plants are growing beyond he height limits of the shelves, they get moved to another location where they grow under 500 watt mercury vapor lights. At about the time they reach the max heights on the shelves, they are watered every day. I use a high quality seed starting soil from Garden Alive, called Natural Beginings. Also use
some mild seed starting fertilizers. I grow peppers, herbs, tomatoes, brocolli, flowers, asparagus, and many other things this way. I do NOT use any peat pots as they do not work well for me. I do have a 6×8 foot greenhouse, where in mid May everything gets moved to ‘harden off’ the plants. Most get planted the end of May. My success rate from seed to outdoor plants is about 97% so far, the few lost are usually failed germinations, broken stems, or stunted seedlings. If I were to
buy one of these lighted shelf systems, it would have cost me about $900. I figure my efforts cost me only about $250. I do use plant grow lights in each fixture too. Home Depot sells the for about $3-4 each, fixtures run about $10 to $20 each.

Ans 2:
What kind of Heat do you have up there? If it is steam or a hot water radiator type then your half way home. But if not there are always grow mats. the soil temp for needs needs to hover in the upper 60s and use one of those seed starting mixes. It is really fine in texture and makes it easy on the seeds for germination and it is easy on you cause this stuff is so fine you can use a tablespoon in it. I use a big baking sheet I picked up at a thrift store and put the grow mat in that. The grow mats are water proof so I put my growing trays on the mat and the baking sheets sides are just tall enough to form a reservoir in if I get a little zealous with the watering. A south window is perfect if you don’t have one, hey that’s why they invented grow lights. Now grow light manufactures can charge an arm and a leg for a complete set up. So go to Home Depot and go to the lighting section and get one of those 48 inch shop florescent light fixtures that run for about 10 or 12 dollars. Then go buy some 48″ grow light replacement bulbs and you will have saved your self upwards oh about $40. One more thing get a timer that plugs into the wall then plug the grow light into that. Now if you have the southern exposure, then set the timer to come on when it starts to go dark and set it to run the lights for about 4 and 1/2 hours. So if it comes on at 5 pm it would shut off at about 9:30 pm. Now if you don’t have the southern exposure then set the timer for 5 am to 5pm. Position the lights so they are about 18 inches above the plants and to focus more of the light I tape a 10 inch strip of aluminum foil on the outside edge of the florescent fixture.

Keeping Houseplants Healthy in Winter

Keeping your houseplants healthy during winter months may seem difficult. Light from windows is reduced, days are shorter and humidity may be lower due to heating. But by making a few changes, you can help keep your houseplants healthy.

Keeping things light
In winter, your plants receive sunlight for less time and in less intensity. Houseplants native to rainforests that are used to lower light will be fine with that, but most plants need more light. Try to move your plants near a brighter window (S/SW exposure) to get them more sunlight.
If you have no brighter windows (due to shade trees or apartment living), you might want to consider the purchase of plant lamps that are designed to provide the full spectrum light your plants need. They can be mounted under shelves over plants or on specially-designed plant stands. Leave them on about eight hours a day, and they’ll give your plants the light they need.
You can also use cool fluorescent bulbs as close as 6 inches from the top of plants.

Temperature
Most plants do not do well when subjected to rapid fluctuations in temperature. Keep them away from hot air sources and cold drafts alike. Run ceiling fans on low if the house is closed up. Fans break up stagnant air; that’s healthier for both you and your plants.

Humidity
Some symptoms of low humidity are brown leaf tips and wilting. Low humidity makes your plants work harder to get moisture from the air and soil, as well as keep what they have inside.
One way to give your plants some extra humidity is to mist them two or three times a day. The water will evaporate off the leaves and provide a cloud of higher humidity around the plant. For a less labor-intensive method, put a layer of pebbles in the bottom of a tray and fill the tray with just enough water to cover the bottom of the tray (below the top of the pebbles). Place potted plants in the tray.

Other
Fertilizing should be done less often for most plants in winter.
Give your plants a good washing. Dirt, dust, grease, and other particles can settle on leaves. Dirty leaves can’t absorb as much sunlight as clean ones. Gently wipe clean the leaves with a soft sponge or cloth dipped in plain water. Sturdier plants can even be given a quick shower in the bathroom with tepid water.

Caladium–Dig up after first hard frost. Place in warm, dry location 1 to 2
weeks. Cut off dry foliage, and bury tubers in dry peat moss. Store (60 to
65 degrees).

Calla Lily–Cut foliage after hard frost 1 to 2 inches above soil surface.
Dig up rhizomes. Dry in warm, dry location 1 to 2 weeks. After drying,
bury rhizomes in peat moss and store (50 to 60 degree temps).

Cannas–Cut back 4 to 6 inches above soil after a hard frost. Leave a small
amount of soil around cannas. Dry for several days. Store in box (40 to 50
degree temp).

Dahlia–Cut back foliage 2 to 4 inches above soil a few days after hard
frost. Shake off soil, cut the stems back to the crown. Wash tuberous
roots. Allow to dry to the touch. Place dahlia clumps upside down in
boxes, cover with peat moss. Store in 40 to 50 degrees temp.

Elephants Ear–Dig up after first hard frost. Cut off foliage. Dry tubers
for 1 to 2 weeks. Bury tubers in peat moss (70 to 75 degree temp).

Gladiolus–Dig up in later summer or early fall. Shake off soil. Cut back
foliage 1 to 2 inches above corms. Dry corms for 2 to 3 weeks. Place corms
in mesh bags or nylon stockings and hang in cool, dry location (35 to 45
degree temp).

Tuberous Begonia–Dig up tuberous begonias a few days after hard frost.
Leave a small amount of soil around each tuber. Cut off stems 1 inch above
tuber. Place in cool, dry area 2 to 3 weeks. Shake off soil; bury tubers
in dry peat moss. Store (40 to 50 degree temps).