Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is the deserving recipient of an RHS Award of Garden Merit – both the BBC Gardening site and the Kemper Center share horticultural details about this cultivar.
Some references suggest that this cultivar is a hybrid between two genera, Crocosmia and Curtonus. However, a UBC forum member (David in LA) points out that the two genera were lumped together in a 1971 paper by Peter Goldblatt: “Cytological & morphological studies in southern African Iridaceae” in the South African Journal of Botany. If one agrees with Goldblatt, then this hybrid becomes merely a cross between two species within the same genus, a fairly common occurrence (even in nature for some taxa). A cross between two genera occurs rarely, and often adds weight to proposals that the two genera should be either re-examined or taxonomically lumped together under one generic name.
Photography resource link: A satirical look at image critique from Mike Johnston's The Online Photographer weblog: Great Photographers on the Internet and the follow-up Wicked. Discovered via a thread on Nature Photographers Online.
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' - Z6-9 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' - hardy - BBC Gardening site
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' - Z5-9 - Kemper Center
I love crocosmia! in this climate (western Washington) they grow like crazy and look lovely through most of the summer. great photos, too. :)
I should note these photographs were from two years ago, around June 24. While photographing this morning, I observed that the plants were at least a week away from flowering this year.
My crocosmia has been blooming for well over a week now in the last week of June. The hummingbirds are quite fond of them.
Lovely through most of summer if they escape mites. Many here do not. I have seen migrating mites form a ball at the end of the leaf of a 'Lucifer' specifically, from which they were dribbling away like lemmings at the sea cliffs. Buildups so heavy the plants are scorched by the sucking are not a rare site in this region. Thin-leaved plants from cloudland climates seem to be a particular draw for mites during dry conditions, these are no exception.
Hi! I'm an italian guy . I need help with my Crocosmia Lucifer plants. This year I' ve planted them for the first time. They've bloomed and now i' ve many seeds. Anyone could tell me how to obtain new plants of crocosmia from them ?Like how and when plant the seeds, about the ''ground'' where to put them for growing, about the water ?
Thank you very much !
Italian Guy,
I don't know about the seeds, but Crocosmia is easily propagated by dividing the plant. The recommendation is to dig them up and divide them every 3rd year, in the spring. The clumps multiply every year so small ones will soon be big ones.
Oregon State, USA
Hi Italian Guy,
Let the pods dry and then break them up and orange seeds are inside. sprinkle them around hillsides or areas where you want them to grow and don't think about it again. Between the rain the grasses and birds a good percentage of them usually survive ;-)
Where can I be able to buy a Crocosmia plant or bulb.
I JUST RECENTLY HEARD ABOUT CROCOSMIA. CAN IT BE GROWN IN MINNESOTA?
Theresa: I live in southern Michigan and mine are doing fine. The cold killed one of them over the winter, but I had not insulated it with leaves.
I'm not an expert, but I'm sure they can grow in Minnesota.
Great if you want to attract hummingbirds.
We bought 3 plants at the beginning of the summer. The woody stems are strong enough to hold the weight of small birds. Now that the flowers are in bloom, we have hummingbirds visiting throughout the day, particularly in the early morning and evening. They feed on other flowers in the garden, but first appeared when we got the crocosmia.
saw flower in an arrangement today: looks like crocosmia, but flowers are purple, & flowers & stems are fuzzy. what could this be? we are in a quandry! thanks for your help!
I live in Eastern Washington- or North Central Washington. It's hot and dry here, but with irrigation this plant is thriving and is beautiful in my zeroscape! I was so surprised when I found this plant growing wild at the ocean beaches a couple of weeks ago! Shorter and oranger in color, but the same plant none the less! Thanks for the tip on cultivation.
Lorna - Crocosmia have naturalized over wide parts of the West Coast of North America - anywhere with a winter rain/summer dry climate. We have them pretty much everywhere here in San Francisco - planted as well as naturalized.
You'll probably find Amaryllis belladonna along the coast, too.
when does one cut down the foliage of the crocosmias,I am sure I read somewhere that you leave the foliage until very late in the year as it protects the new shoots from any bad weather,or is it the following year that you cut the foliagg
I purchased a house with these wonderful flowers. am needing to transplant/divide. Do I crack the corms apart? they are growing on top of one another
have never seen or heard of this plant until mentioned on the Garden Hotline this morning....WOR radio 8-10AM with Ralph. Snodsmith
Would like to Try growing this, live in zone7 but have never seen the corm for sale. Is it too late to do this as it's now November?
Can I grow crocosmia lucifer underneath my tree roses in a huge container and overwinter them in an unheated garage?
I bought my first Lucifer plant (3), the red
flowers have already dried up, is this normal?
Will I have more flowers for the rest of the
summer?
Not getting many blooms on my plants, I have had them for 3 to 4 years. Any suggestions?
I love the photo of this flower I just got this plant at the market this morning . I can hardly wait for it to bloom
I live in Utah, just south of Salt Lake City. Can 'Lucifer' be planted in the ground here or should I plant it in a pot as I do with agapanthas?