Crocosmia, or montbrecia, is considered one of the most exquisite exotic garden decorations. From early spring, she attracts attention with lush and long linear leaves, and in summer she does not look away from the beauty at all. In July, crocosmia blooms with bright colors of sunny hues, which are fragrant with saffron aroma. The plant remains in its festive attire right up to the cold weather, which is why they like to use crocosmia in landscape design.
Where to plant Montbretia?
Crocosmia is also called Japanese hyacinth, although it does not come from the Land of the Rising Sun, but from South Africa. It belongs to the iris family and is directly related to saffron, it even smells like it. This bulbous plant, growing to 1.5 m in height, blooms in yellow, red and orange. Japanese hyacinth is not an overly capricious flower, but you should still know some of the nuances of caring for it. Therefore, gardeners need to carefully consider the choice of a place where the crocosmia would feel good.
Planting and care suggest the choice of a sunny area, because the plant comes from the south. Crocosmia sunlight is needed to form buds; it may not bloom in the shade. Montbrecia feels great on any soil. The plant tolerates drought, but still loves to be regularly watered, while not allowing water to stagnate. A site for planting a flower should be prepared well in advance in the fall, and bulbs are planted already in April or May, when it gets warmer.
How to care for crocosmia?
Montbrecia is an unpretentious plant, but still, if you want the flower to live luxuriously and not exist, you need to make complex mineral fertilizers. Thanks to top dressing, it will gain a healthier appearance and increase the budding of crocosmia. Planting and care require regular watering, weeding weeds. In regions with a harsh climate, bulbs must be dug up, but in the southern regions they can be left in the ground for the winter. In this case, the crocosmia must be insulated, covered with fallen leaves. Having survived the first winter, the plant is tempered and frosts are no longer afraid of it.
How to plant a plant?
Crocosmia planting is carried out both by seeds and bulbs. In the first case, you need to wait a long time until the plant forms and blooms. When planted with bulbs, montbrecia blooms in its second year. If you surround the flower with attention and care, you will appreciate the healthy look of the crocosmia. Planting and care require the timely removal of wilted flowers. Also, do not forget about maintaining the required distance between montbrecia. When the plants multiply with bulbs, they need to be planted. Thus, it is possible to achieve excellent flowering over several seasons.
Crocosmia wintering
South Africa is considered the birthplace of Montbrecia, therefore it belongs to heat-loving plants. Despite this, flower growers leave most of the small-flowered varieties in the open ground, because even severe frosts can withstand crocosmia. Growing a plant involves covering the bulbs with a thick layer of shavings or fallen leaves, the thickness of such an organic blanket should exceed 20 cm. In addition, you can put a film so that the crocosmia does not get wet during thaws. It should be noted that if the bulbs are not dug up, the plant develops much better and annually pleases with plentiful flowering.
But, of course, far from all crocosmies are able to withstand severe frosts. Planting and caring for large-flowered varieties are somewhat different from caring for small-flowered species. Such plants are more thermophilic, in the southern regions they can still be somehow preserved in the winter, but in the northern latitudes you only need to dig. Bulbs can be obtained at the end of October in dry weather. They should be thoroughly shaken off the ground, cut off the leaves at a height of about 5 cm. The crocosmia flower forms entire nests, it is not necessary to separate them. Bulbs should be dried and packaged in paper bags or boxes, sprinkled with dry peat. They are stored at a temperature of 5-10 ° C, for this a cellar or refrigerator is suitable.
Crocosmia - garden decoration
Designers are very fond of working with montbrecia. The plant looks great on mixed flower beds (mixborders), it is planted on the second or first row in large groups. In "dry", "tropical" and gravel gardens , crocosmia is also very common. Photo of blooming Japanese hyacinth in combination with cannes, daylilies, dahlias, salvia, rudbeckia and other flowers enchants with its colors. Montbresia is naturalized in natural gardens. The flower grows rapidly, so its greens can cover a large area in just a few years. Crocosmia can grow in the shade, although it is unlikely to bloom, but it will adorn it with its long green leaves for sure. Montbrecia is also grown for cutting.
The best varieties
The most common hybrid is Crocosmiflora. Emily McKenzie is also very popular, it is a late-flowering highly decorative variety growing up to 60 cm tall. The flowers are straight-planted, brownish with orange spots. The Star of the East is a very beautiful orange-apricot crocosmia. Photos of this variety will not leave anyone indifferent. The flower is large, late flowering, resembles the shape of a star, grows up to 1 m tall. Such varieties as Norwich Canary, Solfatare, Walberton Red, Golden Fleece grow up to 60 cm. They bloom in red, apricot, lemon flowers.
Crocus Lucifer looks the most representative. It blooms with bright erect flowers of a tomato red hue. It grows up to 1.5 m tall, boasts high frost resistance. The crocosmia Masoniorum also has similar characteristics, only it blooms with bright orange peduncles. Panicled early flowering montbrecia, blooming with orange flowers in June, is very popular.
Crocosmia is a natural decoration of any garden and flower garden. More and more gardeners are paying attention to this beautiful plant, burning with bright colors. The number of Crocosmia fans is constantly growing every year.