Crocosmia invasiveness

My pa was wanting for some red summer bulbs and I purchased Crocosmia x crocosmiflora "Emily McKenzie" which looked quite lovely. I did some research then, but somehow missed that... theyre classified as invasive. Probably wouldnt have purchased them, but now ive got them. His garden is pretty dry and it says they dont thrive there, so might it be safe to plant them anyway? Idk how aggressive they actually are. we are somewhat rural too so...

 

Hmm we do actually have a crocosmia already in the garden right under a horsechestnut... where its bone dry for 90% of the year. Its never flowered though. Still we dont know where it came from, perhaps suggesting it did spread here from somewhere.

 

Only a very few Crocosmua are classed as invasive … Emily Mackenzie isn’t one of them … I wouldn’t hesitate to plant it.

More info here
Crocosmia Flowers Are a Treat for Hummingbirds and Butterflies

 

That would be a relief! The RHS page does say its invasive under the cultivar page but that might just be copy pasted from the species page. Ah so confusing.

 

I’ve seen it in loads of good gardens … as I’ve said, I really wouldn’t hesitate .

i know the species type we used to call
Montbretia can spread around a bit and pop up in a neighbour’s garden occasionally. But as I said the cultivars never seem to be a problem.

i live near to the area of Norwich where much of the breeding and development of new cultivars ceased fine in the past … and we’re certainly not over-run with them

Info here … you need to scroll down to find the Norfolk years History of Crocosmia - Crocosmia from Trecanna Nursery - UK

 

Thanks so much! Glad I asked here, didnt expect such a good source!

 

Yes - E. McKenzie isn't invasive at all. I grow it here, and if anything, it can struggle at times.
Montbretia, as @Dovefromabove says, is a different beast altogether, and can be very hard to eradicate.
I built an extension over some, 10 years ago - it still managed to creep out now and again

 

I agree with all the others about the orange 'Montbretia'. I have been fighting this beast for several years and now have only a few strays and one clump left in a very wild part of the garden where it has lots of competition. That will go too eventually. I bag up the corms and take them to the tip, it would be fatal to put them in the compost!
I also have several other Crocosmia varieties, including Emberglow, Carmine Brilliant and some pretty yellow flowered ones. These are all perfectly well behaved and the yellows even need some encouragement. I also have C. Lucifer which does need watching. It puts on a wonderful show but grows fast and I have split the clumps several times until I have run out of suitable spaces for them, so from now on they too will need culling.

 

Sorry to be contrary but I've yet to find a Crocosmia that isn't invasive.

This is 'Carmine Brilliant', planted last summer.. bearing in mind that a month ago I pulled up a lot of wandering stems that appeared further away than these, right into the rose at the back..
The planted clump is on the right..


I tolerate its invasiveness for now as I find them such wonderful flowering plants, but do be warned. They will not flower well in dry conditions.

The ones I have grown in the past are..
'Lucifer'.. 'Star of the East'.. 'Zeal Tan'.. 'Coleton Fishacre'.. all now gone.

 

Emily McKenzie is a lovely variety, one of my favourites, and in my experience very well behaved in fact she struggles in my garden. I suspect she doesn’t like too much competition, my beds are very full as I have lost of self seeders so plants have to be able to hold their own.

 

Okay well thanks everybody! I think we will have to find somewhere we could dig it up. Honestly im mostly worried about it self seeding and escaping the garden rather than it being a nusiance in the garden.

Hmm perhaps somewhere mowable, then if it spreads we can just cut it down several times?

 

I doubt you’ll have any problems from Emily, she may spread a little if very happy in your garden but she hasn’t any imperialist ambitions to take over the neighbourhood

 

I have 4 clumps in the garden that spread like crazy. Every autumn I lift the 4 clumps and discard half to two-thirds. That way they stay around the same size every year.

 

Lucifer spread in my garden, but Emily Mackenzie has struggled a bit, most seem well behaved with me. Paul's Best Yellow a lovely yellow, but prone to spreading. Hellfire and Cally Sword were new last year in my garden may be a bit on the vigorous side, most of the others I've got Milkmaid, Dusky Maiden and Severn Sunrise are well behaved in fact Severn Sunrise is a struggler.
The Monbretia of childhood memory was prone to spreading and popping up all over.

 

I'm afraid I had to dig Lucifer out. Big, spreading and flowers didn't last long. IMHO there is too much leaf to flower. Star of the East is supposed to be vigorous but doesn't do much with me.