Bright Orange Flowers of Crocosmia Are Like A Beacon To Hummingbirds
The bright orange flowers of Crocosmia ‘Emily McKenzie’ are like a beacon to nearby humming- birds. I replaced some old, tired annuals in one of my containers with pale pink pentas and these vibrant crocosmia. I’ve already seen a few humming- birds visiting, but I have not been quick enough to snap a photo.
Crocosmia should be planted in full sun and in well-draining soil. If you have issues with drainage, container planting may be the ideal solution. ‘Emily McKenzie’ grows to about 24″ – 30″ tall so it’s a good middle of the border plant. The sword-like foliage is an interesting accent in any garden. It looks great planted with other mid to late summer bloomers such as Achillea, Coreopsis and any of the purple-leaved Heucheras.
Orange flowers not to your liking? Would you prefer a scarlet red crocosmia? Then you might like ‘Lucifer’. Or try ‘George Davidson’ for a yellow flower.
Crocosmia ‘Emily McKenzie’ is actually a corm which is hardy in zones 7 – 11. So that means it most likely will not survive the winter here in my zone 6 garden. I planted a few corms in the container and a few others right in the ground in a perennial bed to see if they survive.
My plan for the fall is to leave the corms that I planted in the perennials bed right in the ground and overwinter the ones in the container. Here are the basic steps for overwintering Crocosmia corms:
- Lift the plants in the fall after the first frost, or as soon as all the leaves yellow.
- Cut the stems back to about 1 inch and allow the corms to dry. Laying them out in the afternoon sun on some newspaper typically does the trick.
- Remove any old, shriveled portion of the corms and keep just the new corms.
- Store the corms in peat moss over the winter in a cool, dry place.
- Plant in the spring once the ground has warmed up.
- Sit back and wait for the bright flowers to bloom and the hummingbirds to start visiting again!
‘Emily McKenzie’ is beautiful! I must admit that I’m a somewhat lazy gardener – if it has to be dug up for the winter, I don’t grow it. So I grow ‘Lucifer’ instead. Its beautiful red blooms look great next to a red and yellow helianthus and it comes back reliably every year here in zone 6 without overwintering.
Garden Junkie,
I can definitely relate to the lazy gardener comment…this is the first plant I’ve ever owned that needs to be overwintered. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the ones that I leave in the ground this fall will survive the winter because then next year I’ll plant the corms from the container in the ground and forget about them.
Ooops! I’m behind on reading, and I just asked in the last post about the growing conditions of corcosmia, and here it is
Looks like it will be a good choice. I’ve never overwintered before, but these are beautiful enough to make me want to take the plunge.
Mangochild,
I think Emily McKenzie would look awesome in your garden with some saffron flowers. If you do decide to buy some crocosmia corms you might want to leave one or two in the ground for the winter just to see if they survive. I think they might if you plant them in a sheltered spot and cover them with lots of mulch.
I bought a crocosmia for the first time this year in a pot. I am late getting things attended to on my patio. (no garden). I don’t know which variety it is. When I pulled it out of the container, it was completely rootbound. Do I just let them dry out also, or pull them off as much as possible? Also, can I bring it inside to dry off? My bedroom I keep as cold as possible, so can I overwinter it in there?
Thanks, Barb
Sorry, I just realized that I should have addressed this to you, Mangochiild
Hi Barb, Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I’ll try to answer your questions as best as I can since I am lacking some key pieces of information. For example, which zone do you garden in and which cultivar of crocosmia did you buy? Crocosmia is actually a corm and some cultivars of croscosmia, like Lucifer, are hardy to zone 5. Others are only hardy to zone 7. Most gardeners here in southwestern CT (zone 6) leaves Lucifer corms in the ground year round without any issues.
If you do need to dig them up and store them over the winter, you should dig them up after the first frost (or when the leaves turn yellow). Cut stems to 1″ and allow the corms to dry. Throw away any shriveled up portions of the corm. Store the healthy corms in peat moss or sand for the winter.
Good luck.