We’ve always enjoyed the brilliant colors of crocosmias and planted them to attract hummingbirds to the late summer garden. We love to combine them with lilies in our garden because they begin their long blooming sequence after the lilies have peaked, and they continue to beautify the landscape into early fall. Grown from corms planted in the spring, they form decorative clumps of strongly vertical leaves, crested by long panicles of as many as 50 brilliantly colored tubular flowers, similar to freesias in form and size, which bloom for many weeks. Crocosmias are wonderful cut-flowers, too. They grow in less-than-perfect garden conditions, tolerating a fair bit of drought although enjoying summer moisture. They are happy in full sun and can tolerate a bit of shade.
These members of the iris family are generally hardy to zone 5, and in areas outside their hardiness zone, the corms can be lifted in late fall and stored, cool and dry, until the next spring. Using a good mulch will add 2 zones to their usual hardiness zone; if their first shoots are damaged by hard freezes, they are quick to initiate new shoots. They multiply rapidly and readily.
Our friend Niels van Noort began growing and hybridizing crocosmias about 10 years ago. We’ve been fascinated by his progress creating new forms in a wider range of colors, heights, flowering time, and hardiness. Here are some of our favorites, including new and exclusive van Noort originations!
‘Adriana’™(van Noort) is a fountain of bloom, with lovely arching stems that carry a myriad of glowing tangerine flowers with a deeper flash in the center, bordered in luminous gold. It flowers a bit earlier than 'Lucifer' and is a bit shorter, averaging 2 to 3 feet. It forms beautiful flowing mounds of flowers, resembling Exbury azaleas but filling the summer garden with color! It has the longest blooming season of all our crocosmias, too, remaining in bloom for weeks.
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CADR
5 /
$15.00
Crocosmia 'Adriana'™
‘Alborado’™(van Noort) means "daybreak," and it glows with the brilliant gold of the rising sun, tipped and reflected with vibrant red. Averaging 2 feet tall, it is perfect for container culture as well as flourishing in a garden setting. It begins to flower a bit later than 'Lucifer.' Not quite as hardy as the others, it will need a good mulch in zone 5 or colder areas.
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CALB
5 /
$15.00
‘Vera Cruz’™(van Noort) has vivid red flowers with a unique green-gold flash down the center of each petal. It is tall, averaging 5 feet, with exceptionally strong stems and big flowers. 'Vera Cruz'™ is among the hardiest of the crocosmia and a vigorous grower.
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CVER
5 /
$15.00
‘Lucifer’ is the standard by which crocosmias are measured! It has the most intensely brilliant flaming red flowers and is invariably surrounded by hummingbirds in our garden. Begins to flower early/mid July in our zone 6, 3 to 4 feet and often taller once established. We are proud to offer the largest corms you’ll find anywhere --16 cm and larger for a shower of flowers this summer!
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CLUC
5 /
$8.00
10 / $15.00
‘Lucifer’
‘Yellow Lucifer’™
(van Noort) is a vibrant, saturated, deep yellow, beginning to flower about a week later than ‘Lucifer.’
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CYEL
5 /
$15.00
‘Brilliant Sunset’™(van Noort) brings new colors to crocosmias, with a distinctive cream to soft yellow “eye” at the center of each flower, in luscious contrast with petals, which reflect tangerine, mango, or deepest peach as the incident light shifts, and which show an overlay of rosy pink as light shines through the flowers. Foliage is also different, a softer green with a hint of chartreuse; and the shorter height (usually around 30 inches) makes ‘Brilliant Sunset’ a good garden “front runner” or container plant.
SPRING SHIPMENT ONLY
CBRI
5 /
$15.00
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' in Cannon Beach, Oregon garden
indicates our own Lily Garden creations,