CROCOSMIA AUREA; Falling Stars;
Waaierlelie; Montbretia; umLunge (Z)
Article by Geoff Nichols
One of the most striking of our bulbous plants
that makes a great show at the end of summer. When I see the flowers I know
that autumn is about to begin. Although you would not believe it here on
the coast with our high humidity and temperatures.
The delicate bright orange flowers are very visible in the green backgrounds
of forest and bush clump edges along the coast. This is one of the bulbs that
will withstand some frost. It flowers the usual six to eight weeks after us
in the inland parts of the country. The open flowers bring a multitude of
pollinating insects including moths in the early evening. The flowers seem
to become brighter as the light starts to fade.
This is an easy plant to grow in gardens. Collect a few corms in the winter
and put them in the ground and you’ll be rewarded with a great show later
in the late summer. Plants set seed well and with a few plants about five
years ago I now have many tens of plants growing a small patch in my own garden.
|
|
They will grow in pots but need plenty of fertilizer for best results. If
grown in a black plastic nursery bag the growing shoots are so sharp and strong
that they easily pierce the side of the packet. This is a real plant on the
move. Imagine yourself as a plant beginning life on the edge of a bush clump
or even a forest. As the edge trees and shrubs get larger they begin to shade
you out so to compete with this shade you have to develop a strategy of sending
your new growths out to the light. A good story and I’m sticking to it!!
Use clay or concrete pots and the suckers seem to climb out the sides of
the pot till you have a dense ring of foliage around the rim of the pot.
There are two other species found in cultivation but they are restricted
to the inland areas of the country, they are Crocosmia paniculata and C. pottsii.
