Gardening Journal August 2021: Plant of the month – Crocosmia Lucifer
August 1st, 2021
August is a great time for relaxing and enjoying the fruits of your labour in the garden, with the heat bringing a stop to growth for a lot of plants and the drier soils halting the constant germination of weeds in the borders. It can be a time of abundance with fruit & veg ripening, providing extra food for the kitchen and our borders bursting with flowers provided by the late summer perennials. Maybe it’s time to contemplate those spring bulb planting combinations too, it will be bulb planting time before you know it…
Whilst many perennials are starting to go over in August, Crocosmia is just starting to come into its own. Probably the most widely grown cultivar of Crocosmia, the RHS award-winning ‘Lucifer’ produces decorative clumps of erect pleated leaves and brilliant wands of scarlet red tubular flowers which bloom for 5-8 weeks from mid to late summer. Extremely showy, this South African native is a magnet for butterflies. Its vibrant blossoms give way to seedpods that persist into autumn and attract hungry birds too.
It’s a great perennial for the late season garden as it provides weeks of colour when many other perennials have starting to fade. Resembling the foliage of sword-lilies, Crocosmia’s narrow, bladed leaves also provide interesting vertical accents in the borders and create interesting textural contrast with some of the other “moundy” looking plants around at that time of year.
It may be grown in containers (make sure you select a large pot with drainage holes) and makes wonderful cut flowers and will last up to 2 weeks in a vase. Crocosmia is easily grown in moderately fertile, humus-rich soil and thrives in full sun or partial shade where it will multiply rapidly and readily. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity, it is also drought tolerant, salt tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant – you couldn’t get much tougher than that.
When it comes to care resist the urge to tidy up straggly or faded leaves in the autumn as a number of insects use these for shelter over winter, and the old leaves also help protect emerging shoots from spring frosts. Remove old leaves in early Spring. If a clump of crocosmia becomes too large or congested, dig up the entire plant in the Spring and divide the plant into smaller sections.
This vibrant bulbous perennial is perfect for a mixed or herbaceous border in a sunny, sheltered site or as part of a ‘hot’ colour scheme. For maximum impact plant in bold drifts in a sunny, sheltered site with moderately fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil. It looks spectacular amongst dark leaved dahlias and cannas or next to blue-flowering plants such as Agapanthus or Echinops. Wherever you plant it Croccosmia wont fail to light up your garden and will be sure to provide you with a dramatic display worthy of any award wining garden.
Jobs to do this month include:
Ornamental Garden:
• Continue to deadhead, especially dahlias which should be looking great by now.
• Weed!!! – shouldn’t be too much of this but its best to keep on top of it.
• Keep the lawn mown and edges cut – due to dry weather you may need to raise the height of the cut if you want to keep your lawn green.
• Trim hedges – now the birds have finished nesting now’s the time to get your hedges back in order
• Water – Any plants that are looking a bit tired and are wilting, are in need of a drink. If they look really bad, then water immediately and then top up later in the day when its cooler.
• If you have any meadow areas, then these should be cut, and the hay raked asap.
• Spray and feed roses.
• Plant out autumn flowering bulbs eg colchicum.
• Remove lavender stalks and trim bush leaving some green fresh foliage.
• Order spring flowering bulbs.
• Ensure camellias have sufficient water to ensure flowers for next year.
• Clip evergreen shrubs
• Prune current seasons growth of wisteria back to 5-6 leaves.
Vegetable Garden:
• Harvest Garlic
• Sow oriental greens such as mizuna and mibuna, pak choi etc.
• Harvest early apples.
• Start lifting main crop potatoes.
• Summer prune trained fruit such as espalier apples, pears etc.
• Trim non-flowering stems of grapes cutting back to one leaf from the main branch.
Whilst many perennials are starting to go over in August, Crocosmia is just starting to come into its own. Probably the most widely grown cultivar of Crocosmia, the RHS award-winning ‘Lucifer’ produces decorative clumps of erect pleated leaves and brilliant wands of scarlet red tubular flowers which bloom for 5-8 weeks from mid to late summer. Extremely showy, this South African native is a magnet for butterflies. Its vibrant blossoms give way to seedpods that persist into autumn and attract hungry birds too.
It’s a great perennial for the late season garden as it provides weeks of colour when many other perennials have starting to fade. Resembling the foliage of sword-lilies, Crocosmia’s narrow, bladed leaves also provide interesting vertical accents in the borders and create interesting textural contrast with some of the other “moundy” looking plants around at that time of year.
It may be grown in containers (make sure you select a large pot with drainage holes) and makes wonderful cut flowers and will last up to 2 weeks in a vase. Crocosmia is easily grown in moderately fertile, humus-rich soil and thrives in full sun or partial shade where it will multiply rapidly and readily. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity, it is also drought tolerant, salt tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant – you couldn’t get much tougher than that.
When it comes to care resist the urge to tidy up straggly or faded leaves in the autumn as a number of insects use these for shelter over winter, and the old leaves also help protect emerging shoots from spring frosts. Remove old leaves in early Spring. If a clump of crocosmia becomes too large or congested, dig up the entire plant in the Spring and divide the plant into smaller sections.
This vibrant bulbous perennial is perfect for a mixed or herbaceous border in a sunny, sheltered site or as part of a ‘hot’ colour scheme. For maximum impact plant in bold drifts in a sunny, sheltered site with moderately fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil. It looks spectacular amongst dark leaved dahlias and cannas or next to blue-flowering plants such as Agapanthus or Echinops. Wherever you plant it Croccosmia wont fail to light up your garden and will be sure to provide you with a dramatic display worthy of any award wining garden.
Jobs to do this month include:
Ornamental Garden:
• Continue to deadhead, especially dahlias which should be looking great by now.
• Weed!!! – shouldn’t be too much of this but its best to keep on top of it.
• Keep the lawn mown and edges cut – due to dry weather you may need to raise the height of the cut if you want to keep your lawn green.
• Trim hedges – now the birds have finished nesting now’s the time to get your hedges back in order
• Water – Any plants that are looking a bit tired and are wilting, are in need of a drink. If they look really bad, then water immediately and then top up later in the day when its cooler.
• If you have any meadow areas, then these should be cut, and the hay raked asap.
• Spray and feed roses.
• Plant out autumn flowering bulbs eg colchicum.
• Remove lavender stalks and trim bush leaving some green fresh foliage.
• Order spring flowering bulbs.
• Ensure camellias have sufficient water to ensure flowers for next year.
• Clip evergreen shrubs
• Prune current seasons growth of wisteria back to 5-6 leaves.
Vegetable Garden:
• Harvest Garlic
• Sow oriental greens such as mizuna and mibuna, pak choi etc.
• Harvest early apples.
• Start lifting main crop potatoes.
• Summer prune trained fruit such as espalier apples, pears etc.
• Trim non-flowering stems of grapes cutting back to one leaf from the main branch.
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