Crocosmia Ground Cover
You are here:
Home » Ground Cover » Crocosmia Ground Cover
Crocosmia (Montbretia)
A wonderful adaptable plant, the Crocosmia family offers a wide selection of varieties to add height and impact to your garden. This distinctive plant dies back to below ground level each year in Autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in Spring. Flowers appear in August and September among handsome, pleated, mid-green leaves. This vibrant bulbous perennial is perfect for a mixed or herbaceous border in a sunny, sheltered site. For maximum impact plant in bold drifts in moderately fertile, well-drained soil. Try planting in a ‘hot’ colour scheme with Rudbeckia or Helenium or amongst architectural plants such as Cordyline or Phormium, they also make excellent cut flowers.
Showy and exotic looking, Crocosmia deliver tall, graceful arching flower stems of bright, funnel-like flowers. This clump forming perennial provides a long season of interest in beds and borders – starting in late Spring with the rich dark to mid-green sword like leaves and followed later in the Summer with eye catching sprays of flowers in rich hues of reds, yellows and oranges, often with contrasting colour in the throat of each flower – great news for bees!
Types of Crocosmia Ground Cover
Crocosmia grow from corms at the base of the plants and are naturally clump forming, multiplying regularly – some varieties more so than others. The best time to divide and replant congested clumps is in Spring. They prefer to be in full sun or partial shade in moderately fertile well-drained soil. Cover the crown of the plant in Winter with mulch or bark chippings to protect against frost.
As a rough guide when planting Crocosmia as ground cover – 4 plants per square metre is adequate with a little patience, 6 will give better coverage, and 9-12 will make a weed supressing carpet very quickly.
How to grow Crocosmia
Position: Sun/partial shade
Foliage: Perennial, leaves appear from early Summer with flowers following mid-late Summer to mid-late Autumn
Soil and site: Moderately fertile, well drained
Flowering time: Mid-late Summer
Growth rate: Moderate
Ultimate height and spread: Between 60cm and 150cm depending on variety, with an average spread up to 60cm
Hardiness: Fully hardy
Aftercare: Water well until established, avoiding soil becoming waterlogged. Cover the crown of the plant in Winter with mulch or bark chippings to protect against frost. Divide and replant congested clumps is in Spring.
