Croscomia or Japanese gladiolus (Montbrecia) is a perennial from the bulbous family. The translation of the name from Greek means the smell of crocus. This strikingly beautiful flower has tall (1-1.5 m) intensively arranged stems with great branching. Its smell can be confused with saffron. The appearance of the stem with buds is similar to gladiolus, which is related to it, as are irises and crocuses.
Small flowers (4 cm), shaped like a funnel, can be observed for quite a long time: from mid-summer to mid-autumn. All gardeners strive to have some unusual plant, but Montbretia does not serve this purpose very often. There are not very many requirements for care and maintenance. When growing crocosmia in open ground, it is necessary to follow certain agricultural techniques that will allow you to have this beautiful flower on your home plot. With its help you can create beautiful unique design compositions.
Description and features of crocosmia
A flowering plant native to South Africa is crocosmia. There are many varieties, but the most popular variety is Lucifer, which is distinguished by its bright red color and tall peduncle. Among gardening enthusiasts, there are different names for the crop, but the most commonly used are montbretia, tritonia and Japanese gladiolus. Dried flowers emit a light and pleasant saffron aroma.
A tropical perennial plant of the Iris family reproduces by bulbs. The graceful long leaves are sword-shaped and grow up to 60 cm in length. The structure is corrugated with longitudinal stripes. Arrangement in spreading bunches. A thin tall peduncle grows up to 1 meter. At the top of the shoot there is an inflorescence of spikes, numbering up to 40 buds, which open gradually from bottom to top.
The variety of varieties shows variations in petal colors from light yellow to brick red. Each flower, when opened, reaches 5 cm in diameter.
Crocosmia is often confused with freesia due to the similarity of the stems or with lily due to the shape of the flower.
The first buds begin to open by mid-summer and continue to delight the gardener until frost. The fruit is a round box filled with rather large seeds of a rich brown color.
Possible difficulties
Small flowers - this often happens in poor soils. When a plant lacks nutrients, lush flowering is out of the question.
Dull and short flowering is a common problem. Due to lack of light, tritonia loses some of its decorative qualities.
Growing crocosmia in your garden is not difficult. This exotic, but easy to grow plant has already won the hearts of many domestic gardeners.
Types of crocosmia
In nature, Montbretia is represented by more than 55 varieties; only a small part is cultivated. Let's look at the most common of them.
Massonorum
It is highly resistant to cold and is optimal for growing in northern regions. A low-growing bush 0.6-0.8 cm high with sword-like leaves with a ribbed structure. The stem of the peduncle grows upward and, at the point where the inflorescence begins, turns horizontally, that is, parallel to the ground.
Golden
The species is the ancestor; it was brought from the South African tropics. Flowering time is September. Flowers, depending on the variety, can be colored in orange, yellow and red shades.
Potsa
It grows in the marshy soils of the African continent. In the garden, choose shaded areas with poorly drying soil. The leaves of the plant are thin and smooth, the flowers are small.
Paniculata
The bush, one and a half meters high at the base, is decorated with a bunch of corrugated leaves of a light green hue. Compact inflorescences of bright orange color appear in the second half of June. This species is the earliest of all members of the family.
Ordinary
One of the first garden hybrids created at the end of the 19th century. The height of the plant reaches a meter. The greenery of a light shade consists of erect plates, narrow and graceful. The inflorescence includes small funnel-shaped buds. The first brushes appear in mid-summer.
Caring for crocosmia in the garden
You need to care for crocosmia in almost the same way as gladioli. Watering should be plentiful and carried out once every 7 days. When the water is absorbed into the soil, it is recommended to loosen it to break up the crust that has appeared.
For normal growth and development, such a flower must be systematically fed. If you planted crocosmia on soil rich in nutrients, then you can do without fertilizing. But if the soil is poor, then feeding the plants should begin after the second true leaf has formed, and this procedure should be carried out once every 1.5 weeks. To do this, it is recommended to use mullein infusion (take 1 part mullein for 10 parts of water), as well as complete mineral fertilizer (2 grams of product per liter of water). During budding, such a plant needs fertilizer containing a large amount of potassium.
Caring for crocosmia is not at all difficult. As for diseases and pests, if you follow all the rules of agricultural technology, you will not have problems with this plant.
How to propagate
It was already mentioned above that such a flower can be propagated by seeds, and the vegetative method is also used for this. You can read above about how to grow crocosmia from seeds. For vegetative propagation, gardeners use division of corms. Every year, about one adult corm grows to 5 children, which begin to bloom the next year. At the same time, the parent corm continues to grow children. In this regard, when growing such a flower, it should be taken into account that it will be necessary to systematically divide and plant the corms.
Division is usually done after the planting becomes very dense. To do this, in the spring you need to dig up the corm and carefully tear off the children from the parent bulb, which are then planted in a permanent place. At the same time, it is recommended to plant children in the same time period as planting seedlings, namely, in the last days of April or the first days of May. If you wish, then to begin with, the separated children can be planted in individual pots, where they will grow until May or June. And then they will need to be transplanted into open soil.
Pests and diseases
Crocosmia is highly resistant to diseases and harmful insects. But if you care for it incorrectly or allow fluid to stagnate in the root system, then it can be affected by diseases such as:
Fusarium
The leaf blades of an infected bush begin to turn yellow, they gradually dry out and fall off. There is also curvature of peduncles and deformation of flowers, and a change in their color is observed.
Gray rot
A fluffy gray coating appears on the surface of the corms.
Herbaceousness (jaundice)
First, the tips of the leaf blades turn yellow, and then the leaves appear straw-colored. As a result, the bush dies. This disease is viral and is carried by leafhoppers.
If the bush is infected with fusarium, then it should be treated with a fungicidal agent. It is recommended not to fight gray mold, but to prevent its occurrence. If a bush is affected by jaundice, then it will be impossible to cure it, because an effective remedy for this kind of disease has not yet been found. For preventive purposes, in order to prevent infection of crocosmia, it is recommended to plant it exclusively according to the rules of agricultural technology. Before sowing or planting, it is also necessary to carry out mandatory treatment of planting and seed material with a solution of manganese potassium (1%). It is also necessary to systematically change the planting location of such a plant.
Crocosmia can especially suffer from harmful insects such as thrips, mole crickets, and spider mites.
Medvedki
Such insects eat corms, and they lay their offspring in the ground at a depth of ten centimeters. In order to destroy them, it is recommended to make special traps. At the beginning of the autumn period, you need to dig a hole half a meter deep and put fresh horse manure in it. In order not to forget where this place is, put a sign. After some time, the mole crickets present in the soil should hibernate in the manure. All you have to do is dig a hole and destroy them.
Thrips
They suck plant juices from crocosmia. In the affected specimen, discolored spots, stripes or streaks form on the leaf blades. The shoots become crooked, the leaves fall off, and the flowers become less attractive. To get rid of such insects, you should treat the bush with such means as: Fitoverm, Karbofos, Agravertin, Actellik or Confidor, and you must follow the recommendations given in the instructions.
Spider mites
They settle on plants only during a long period of drought. These pests also suck out the plant juices from the flower. You should also remember that such pests are carriers of viral diseases that cannot be cured. To destroy such insects, you should use the same drugs that are recommended to combat thrips.
Popular varieties and use in garden design
Crocosmia is popular among hobbyists and landscape designers. Airy inflorescences of bright colors decorate the flowerbeds of almost every plot, so the work of breeders does not stop. To date, more than 4 hundred varieties have been bred.
Let's look at the best of them:
| Variety | Height, cm | Description | Application |
| Emily Mackenzie | 60 | Low growing bush. The flowers are brick orange with a bright spot in the center. | Used in group compositions in mixed flower beds. Combines with crops that bloom in late summer. |
| Lucifer | 150 | Frost-resistant variety. Large blood-red flowers are deservedly recognized as one of the most beautiful. | Cut, used in bouquets and in exterior design as background plants. |
| George Davidson | 70 | Juicy flowers of an amber-yellow hue look good against the backdrop of dark greenery. | Ideal for tabletop compositions. |
| Red King | 90 | The buds are red-orange with a bright center. | Grow as a houseplant. |
| Spitfire | 60 | Orange inflorescence on a delicate stem. | In gardens and on window sills. |
| Tangerine Queen | 120 | They are grown in flower beds. |
Given the long flowering and bright color of the buds, the crop is widely used for the design of exterior compositions. As a rule, the bush is planted in the background, where the lower green part serves as the background, and the inflorescences on graceful legs add air and completeness to the design.
Mr. Summer Resident recommends: combining crocosmia with other plants
Tall perennial crops are optimal as neighbors. Among them, we can especially highlight rudbeckia, popovnik, catnip, speedwell, and Rogers.
A combined composition of perennial shrubs is assembled taking into account the flowering time and in such a way as to please the eye with the splendor and brightness of colors. Modern hybrid varieties demonstrate diversity that allows you to create flower beds only from crocosmia.
Flowers are indispensable for landscape decoration. It has shown itself well in wall cascades decorating cracks and dilapidated parts of buildings. Shrubs are widely used in decorating artificial reservoirs.
Growing methods
Like all plants of this family, croscomia can be cultivated using two ways: from seeds or from bulbs. The first method of reproduction is quite lengthy, because... The time from planting to the appearance of the first flowers takes about 3 years. The second way is shorter by about a year, because you don’t have to wait for the bulb to form.
Growing crocosmia by seeds
This method is not complicated and is accessible to almost everyone. The main condition is compliance with a certain order:
- Prepare suitable dishes: small plastic cups or special containers. They must have drain holes.
- Take the necessary soil (buy or create it yourself). Composition: turf, humus, peat and coarse sand. Proportion 2:1:1:1.
- Fill the container: the first layer is expanded clay, the rest is ready-made soil.
- Stimulate seed growth by placing them in a special solution. Dry and press not deep into the soil.
- Wet the surface and cover with film. Place it where it is warm and light.
- Ventilate constantly and moisturize as it dries.
- Remove the covering material when shoots appear.
- Place in a separate bowl if there are 3 leaves.
- Harden off before planting in the garden, periodically taking it out into the air.
Growing crocosmia bulbs
The bulbs are planted in mid-spring after the likelihood of frost has disappeared directly into the ground. Soil temperature +10 °C. You must follow this order:
- Separate the bulbs from the children and place them in a warm place for a while.
- Dip into manganese solution before planting. The depth of penetration into the soil is 4-5 cm.
- Leave 12 cm between the bulbs.
You can change this procedure slightly. At the beginning of spring, plant the bulbs in pots and place them near the window. Planted in the garden after sprouts appear. In this case, flowering will begin faster.
Planting seedlings and crocosmia bulbs in open ground
Transplantation directly into the garden is carried out in mid-spring. It is advisable to prepare the place in advance, in the fall. Add 2 buckets of humus, 100 g of hydrated lime, 40 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium chloride per m2. In spring, be sure to apply 30 g of nitrogen fertilizer per m2. The planting pattern is 10x10 cm and the same depth. The distance can be reduced if you take very small bulbs. Each hole with a plant is filled up, watered and covered to get used to the new conditions.
Preparing for winter
If the winters are cold in the area where crocosmia is grown, then it is advisable to dig up the bulb for this period. This is usually done at the end of October so that it is fully ripe. After this, dry in a room at +10 ° C and with good air access. They are stored in winter in the same way as gladioli bulbs, at a temperature of +3...+7 °C and a humidity of 70%, ensuring sufficient air exchange, in the basement, laid out in boxes and covered with moss or sand.
If the winters are mild, then you don’t have to dig up the bulbs, but you need to cover them with a layer of mulch and add shavings or dry leaves on top.
If the areas are warm, then it is enough to collect dry leaves and cover the area with flowers with them. Cover the top with film. It is removed after frost and last year's leaf blades are cut to the ground.
Secrets of success
In order for tritonia to bloom well, you need to choose open, well-lit areas with loose, fertile soils .
Regular but moderate watering is the main component of proper care; You should not neglect the application of fertilizing.
What other names does the flower have?
The plant received several “names”. Montbrenzia, tritonia, Japanese gladiolus. Crocosmia - the name has Greek roots (crocus, smell, saffron). The dried flowers of the plant are very similar in smell to the aroma of saffron, and the structure and appearance are both crocuses and gladioli.
Is it possible to grow crocosmia in a pot?
Yes. You can grow flowers in large pots, containers, decorative boxes and keep them on a glazed balcony (loggia) or on the terrace. With this content, the corms overwinter well in the ground; mulching with organic materials is necessary.
