Crocosmia: planting and care in the open field, description of varieties, reproduction and photos

Crocosmia is a bulbous plant widely grown in the CIS countries by experienced gardeners and beginners. The culture is unpretentious to the soil, excellent for breeding summer residents. With its help decorate the garden, create marvelous flower combinations. You should first familiarize yourself with the procedure for planting and caring for crocosmia in the open field.

Description and features of crocosmia

Crocosmia belongs to the iris family, its dried flowers smell like saffron. From Greek, the name translates as "weather vane". Paniculate inflorescences have a spreading shape, they are white, orange and yellow, with a diameter of 5 cm.The fruit contains a multi-seeded round-shaped box. In the wild, crocosmia grows in South Africa. It has been cultivated in European countries since the 19th century.

The plant grows from 0.4 to 1.5 meters in height. The stems are branching; leaf plates of xiphoid or linear shape are localized on them. The culture is similar to gladiolus, it is grown in the same way. With the help of crocosmia, open flower beds are widely decorated, flowers are cut to create bouquets. They are stored torn for about 15 days

Growing

Crocosmia does not involve any particular difficulties in growing. The plant requires support, preparation of holes and suitable soil. Tubers are pre-treated to stimulate their successful rooting in a new place.

Place to land

Crocosmia is grown preferably on fertile lands with lots of humus.It is unacceptable to locate groundwater close to the soil surface. If the plant cannot be transferred to a dry place, drainage work and removal of underground currents are preliminarily carried out. It is necessary to plant a plant in well-lit plots where there are no tall trees, perennial flowers or bushes. The place must be protected from the wind.

When to plant crocosmia

Experienced gardeners recommend planting crocosmia in a permanent place in late April or early May. The earth should warm up to 10 degrees Celsius.

Preparation of planting material

Corms before planting are treated in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. You can also dip them for 30 minutes in a growth stimulator like Kornevin, Epin.

Soil preparation

Soil preparation is done in the fall. The land is plowed, 2 buckets of humus, 40 g of superphosphate, 100 g of hydrated lime and 20 g of potassium chloride are added for each square meter.In the spring, before planting, nitrogen-containing substances are added to the soil in a ratio of 1 sq.m. 30 g composition.

Plant pattern

Each bush should be at a distance of 10 cm from each other. The optimal depth of the holes is 25 cm.

Care

Caring for crocosmia is not difficult, you just need to water it in time, cut it, feed it, loosen the ground. It is desirable to grow a crop in the South or in the middle latitudes. Since the plant is southern, it is unlikely to take root in the North.

Irrigation

Crocosmia is watered once a week with settled water. Overflow should not be allowed, as the bulbs can rot. You can spray the leaves in the heat, after 16.00 with plain water from a spray bottle.

Loosening and weeding

After rains and irrigation, loosen the soil, remove weeds. The procedure contributes to the saturation of the soil with oxygen, the penetration of moisture to the rhizome. Weeds interfere with the full growth of crocosmia, absorb nutrients from the ground.

Garter

Most varieties of crocosmia grow tall and require support. As such a structure, pegs are taken, to which flower stalks are tied. If you ignore the rule, the stems can break off under the weight of the inflorescences. Nutrients will be better supplied to the rhizome due to the garter.

Feeding crocosmia

When the leaves appear, make the first feeding of the soil with the help of mineral fertilizers. They are brought into the beds with bushes in 1 bucket. You can water the culture with infusion of cow dung, bird droppings. Fertilize it from 3 times a month. By autumn, crocosmia is fed with potassium. The event will help strengthen the corms, the plant will safely overwinter.

Cutting

After flowering, flower stalks of crocosmia are cut off with a disinfected pruner. The procedure is required so that she does not waste energy on them, but gives her power to feed the bulb, the education of children.You can leave the first 2-3 flower stalks on the bushes to get seeds from them. They are dried, laid out in cloth bags, stored in a dry place.

Pests and diseases

Crocosmia can be attacked by bears, thrips. The first insects gnaw the tubers, they begin to hurt, the leaves fade, rotting occurs. Among the diseases noted fusarium, jaundice, fungi. Resistance to them is average.

Preparing for winter

It is necessary to cover the crop for the winter in regions where the air temperature drops from -20. In autumn, the bulbs are removed from the ground, around the beginning of October. They need to be dried, placed in a cool, well-ventilated room with an air temperature of +10.

If we are talking about areas with warm winters, you can not dig up a flower. It is sprinkled with a mulch layer of spruce branches, wood shavings, and dried leaves.In the South, the site is covered with mulch with a layer of 20 cm. A cling film is placed on top. When spring comes, the shelter is removed, the old leaves are cut to the surface of the earth.

Reproduction

Crocosmia is bred with seeds, babies. Each of the methods involves a separate technique, described below. The first method is more laborious and time consuming. Seedling propagation is popular.

Seeds

When sowing seeds in the soil, shoots of crocosmia may not appear. The procedure is carried out in late February or early March. Before sowing, the seeds are poured for 1 day with water, changing it every 6 hours. They are sown in a soil mixture of peat, sand, soddy soil and humus. The container is covered with cling film, moved to a lighted place.

Babes

Up to 6 babies are formed annually on tubers. Every 2 years, in March, you can dig up an adult bush, separate seedlings from it, planting it in separate containers.In May, seedlings need to be planted in a sunny place in holes up to 10 cm deep. This method helps not only to propagate the culture, but also to rejuvenate old bushes.

Popular types and varieties of crocosmia

There are more than 50 varieties of crocosmia, but only 11 are cultivated in the countries of the former USSR. Their detailed description is given below.

Golden

Crocosmia is distinguished by linear leaves, small inflorescences of golden, red or orange color. Bushes bloom in September.

Massonorum

The plant is famous for its rich green xiphoid leaves. Flowers are fiery orange. Bushes grow up to 60 cm tall, densely covered with inflorescences. Flowering occurs in mid-July. The variety has the highest resistance to frost.

Potsa

Crocosmia grows well in swampy areas, it is widely planted in dark areas. The leaves are narrow, emerald. The hue of the flowers is orange, they are small in size.

Lucifer

The bush reaches 1.5 meters in height. The flowers are painted in pastel colors or rich fiery.

McKenzie

The plant is stunted, reaches 60 cm in height. Inflorescences are orange-brown, pointed at the ends.

Red King

The height of the crocosmia is about 80 cm. The inflorescences are rich orange in color, with a speck in the middle.

Tangerine Queen

The culture grows up to 1.2 meters high, the shade of the stems and leaves is deep green. Flowers orange, large size.

Citronella

The height of the bushes reaches about 1 meter, the leaves and stem are pale green in color. Inflorescences are bright yellow, flexible.

Star of the East

Crocosmia grows up to 1 meter in height, the stems are strong, the leaves are rich green. Peduncles of apricot hue, their diameter is 10 cm. This is the longest flowering variety, the pollen stops with the arrival of the first frost.

George Davidson

The bush has an average height, about 70 cm. A rosette of dark green leaves and amber-colored panicles are its distinguishing features. The variety is often grown for further cutting purposes.

Paniculata

This is one of the most common varieties, bushes grow up to 150 cm tall. Stems and leaves are deep green and narrow. Pollen occurs in June, the shade of the inflorescences is orange-brown.

Possible difficulties

Crocosmia sometimes suffers from fungal infections when grown in flooded lands.Transplanting and treating with fungicides will help destroy the rot. Still flowers can succumb to the invasion of Fusarium. Bulbs acquire a dark shade, they are soft, covered with stripes. It is difficult to cure the disease, it is better to isolate the bush and destroy its affected parts.

Crocosmia can also suffer from jaundice, in which the bulbs turn yellow and become dense. They form a lot of shoots, with thin and yellowish foliage. In the early phase of the pathology, you can completely get rid of it by heating the bulb to +45 degrees.

Fight with Medvedka drugs Medvetoks, Grizzly, Thunder. It is also recommended to put scare traps to help isolate the area from harmful beetles. Thrips are removed by spraying the bushes with chemicals, they are bred in the indicated proportions.

Landscape use

Crocosmia will be a chic decoration for any garden. Flowering bushes create colorful cascades on lawns, near ponds, pools, fountains.

Tall varieties decorate dilapidated walls of buildings or arbors. Tritonia is good in monoculture, or among mixed flower beds. The culture can be planted in discounts, flower beds, rockeries.

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