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Post by debbiem on Jan 15, 2008 14:58:40 GMT 1
If only I'd known people were selling their Montbretia on Ebay I could be living in the Seychelles now! We are overrun with it. I used to think it a nuisance but now I respect it now as it is one of the few things that goes mad in our garden. I've just bought some Crocosmia Lucifer corms from eBay( I've got some in the shed from last year's B&Q sale but can't find them, really annoying) and I'm getting excited now that they will get as rampant as the Montbretia. I'm going to get one of the yellow ones too - I have a vision of them all happily growing into nice big clumps.
Am I being over-optimistic that they'll all be as productive as the Montbretia? I expect that the different kinds of Crocosmia vary in their toughness and 'rampantness', but I think Lucifer's a toughie. Does anyone know? Also, has anyone got any of the yellow ones?
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Post by Sweetleaf on Jan 15, 2008 16:43:18 GMT 1
Sleepy bought several types last year at the Kings Heath show I think, did you get yellow, babe? I have it everywhere, too "beware generous gardeners and their gifts " should be the watchword where this is concerned  |
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Post by Sleepy on Jan 15, 2008 16:45:34 GMT 1
Sleepy bought several types last year at the Kings Heath show I think, did you get yellow, babe? I have it everywhere, too "beware generous gardeners and their gifts " should be the watchword where this is concerned I did. I got lucifer at the Kings Heath Show and a yellow one at Barnsdale |
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Post by canarycreeper on Jan 15, 2008 16:48:59 GMT 1
"beware generous gardeners and their gifts " should be the watchword where this is concerned Oh, no,no,no Sweetleaf ... a friend gave me a small clumb of the bog-standard one when I started the garden, now I have a few clumps and I want more .... it is the most vibrant, graceful plant and looks good with just about everything ;D ;D ;D ... cheers ... |
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Post by Sweetleaf on Jan 15, 2008 16:57:01 GMT 1
"beware generous gardeners and their gifts " should be the watchword where this is concerned Oh, no,no,no Sweetleaf ... a friend gave me a small clumb of the bog-standard one when I started the garden, not I have a few clumps and I want more .... it is the most vibrant, graceful plant and looks good with just about everything ;D ;D ;D ... cheers ... How much do you want? ;D |
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Post by canarycreeper on Jan 15, 2008 17:14:26 GMT 1
Ooooh ..... you can never have too many .... some of that yellow and the red Lucifer, and I read recently that there's a new one with purplish leaves coming our way soon ;D
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Post by owdboggy on Jan 15, 2008 17:43:41 GMT 1
Montbretia IS Crocosmia. There is no such plant any more as Montbretia.
We have one with sort of purple leaves, cannot remember the name though.
We have about 20 dfferent (in their opinion) ones, but labels long gone.
Try Cotswold Hardy Plants in Badsey for a lot of varieties.
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Post by debbiem on Jan 15, 2008 18:23:09 GMT 1
Wow, OB - 20? I bet they look great in your garden, and you will never have the problem of them encroaching with all that space, fantastic!
I'm developing a thing for them too, canarycreeper - incidentally, there is a yellow one called Canary something, isn't there? The slugs don't eat them, the chickens seem to leave them alone, they have lovely flowers that last for ages, you can plant them anywhere and off they go and the clumps attract a lot of wildlife. I culled a lot of mine through necessity when we first moved here. I think you need to divide the clumps now and again anyway to keep it vigourous. They're popping up already.
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Post by owdboggy on Jan 15, 2008 18:48:15 GMT 1
Canary Bird.
They don't do that well here and rarely clump up and do not produce the number of flowers other people get. We only have as many as we do becasuse a friend collected them and used to sell until she became too ill. She needed somewhere to put her stock plants and voila!
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Post by maggyd on Jan 16, 2008 0:25:00 GMT 1
If they would stay in a tidy small clump I would love them :  but I cant stand anything that spreads and overtakes other plants!! I'm afraid I pull it out mercilessly but it still comes back ;D which is OK till it does it again. |
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Post by debbiem on Jan 16, 2008 10:58:16 GMT 1
I'm afraid I ended up doing the same, maggyd - I tried putting them in pots but they overtook the pots - I hated doing it but couldn't think of what else to do with them all(Ebay did occur to me but I thought it was a daft idea, until I saw how many others were doing it!). And it grows well in the compost bins too! I love the stuff now. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 16, 2008 21:24:23 GMT 1
I can remember my mother cursing all the Montbretia in the garden when I was a child - she thinks of it as a weed even now. She warned me not to get the Crocosmia 'Lucifer' a few years ago but it hasn't misbehaved at all. I think it's prolly too dry for it here. It's a glorious colour isn't it?
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Post by Sleepy on Jan 16, 2008 21:29:43 GMT 1
I can remember my mother cursing all the Montbretia in the garden when I was a child - she thinks of it as a weed even now. She warned me not to get the Crocosmia 'Lucifer' a few years ago but it hasn't misbehaved at all. I think it's prolly too dry for it here. It's a glorious colour isn't it? It's gorgeous, and one of my favourite flowers. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jan 16, 2008 21:43:42 GMT 1
I love the dark green seed pods too - I really should sow some. I wonder if they grow easily - must do, as they spread so easily.
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Post by debbiem on Jan 17, 2008 12:18:09 GMT 1
I would think so too - I can't wait for my eBay corms to come. |
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Post by Sweetleaf on Jan 18, 2008 13:09:18 GMT 1
I can remember my mother cursing all the Montbretia in the garden when I was a child - she thinks of it as a weed even now. She warned me not to get the Crocosmia 'Lucifer' a few years ago but it hasn't misbehaved at all. I think it's prolly too dry for it here. It's a glorious colour isn't it? I wish I'd dug some up from my last garden and brought them here - I love Lucifer. Ooooh careful what youre saying, The witch  |
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