Sunday, October 21, 2012

CROCOSMIA - the three year wait

When I planted the Lucifer Crocosmia in the fall of 2009, I had not yet bothered to check what zone the Ontario cottage was, I just figured it was close to zone 6 (Toronto), so it was probably zone 5.  
Silly me.

The Crocosmia are not the only thing I planted at the cottage that was not meant for zone 4, but it is one of the few things out of its zone that has managed to not just survive, but to take off - it just took time.  Funnily enough  my neighbour in the city had a similar experience with his Crocs taking 3 years to really bloom well, and that was in zone 6.  
So maybe it is just the nature of the plant?
For the first 3 years the leaves came up with no blooms, (from about half of the bulbs I had planted). Since I like the foliage so much, I left it and let it grow up around the base of the tree with the hammock attached.  
It was interesting even if it didn't bloom.

2 years ago there were some blooms, but not many and they were scraggly, not like the vibrant ones above.


But this past summer they were there in all their glory.

Crocosmia is something I will miss now that I am in a zone 3, but I have a feeling that I may just try them one day here anyway, afterall people here say it is not so hard to push to zone 4...

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6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your Crocs. Patience is a virtue that gets great rewards in gardening, though I find it a difficult one to practice.

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    1. It was certainly worth the wait, they are such a dramatic flower, both in colour and stature. If I was in a warmer zone I would have them around the base of every tree. Mixed with Iris for some spring blooms of course!

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  2. thanks for your beautiful flowers! :)

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  3. Thats a really beautiful way of using Crocosmia. I had one blooming croc this summer, in a pot standing at a sunny wall. But next summer ... (We had a really cold and rainy summer in Sweden).

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    1. I hope they work for you. I find them spectacular, and I have only tried the red (Lucifer). Cannot wait to try some others next year.

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