Crocosmia?

I have this in my garden. It has clearly seen better days. Wandering around a garden centre today I came across a crocosmia firefly. Is that what this is? Is it possible to save it? As you can see there is still some good flowers and some fresh buds also.

G.

 

Yes, it is a crocosmia, but probably the wild type, commonly known as montbretia. It is pretty tough, but yours looks a bit dry and starved. If you like it, maybe dig it up in the Autumn and improve the soil before replanting it. In the short term, it probably needs a good soak.

 

Tidy it up by pulling out all the dead leaves for a start then you could divide it and as above give a good water.

 

Montbretia grows like a weed.......well, it IS a weed down here......and usually we try to get rid and let mother nature grow it. In our gardens it is difficult to eradicate quickly......you have to get every corm or it will colonise again. Looks good in the wild landscape and thrives in poor impoverished soil but is not a garden plant.
If it is montbretia.....orange flowers Gary?......then I would dig it up and plant something else there.
There are some delightful garden worthy hybrids now, Crocosmias (look identical as far as foliage goes) .......Lucifer is an amazing red for example.

 

Agree with @Verdun . I grow lots of different Crocosmia with a colour range from a really good red through burnt orange to yellow. They all spread but here they aren't that vigorous especially the lower growing pale orange and yellow varieties. I'm lucky to have a huge garden so vigorous is good for me!
Below is a photo of Lucifer which is quite spreading but not really so much so it would be a nuisance in smaller gardens. I took it just to show what a great colour it is....I'm no photographer!

 

Lovely silu.....no other colour quite matches Lucifer

 

Lucifer is a real wow plant.

 

Hi, all. I'd dig it up and inspect the corms. They can form longish chains, and often you find something has been eating them. :0.

Since they're basically like bulbs, they won't hurt for being disturbed, and you can certainly divide them if you want, and maybe improve the soil in that area

 

Totally agree, Zilly, I've used it in so many gardens! It looks brilliant- but best in a corner a bit protected from the wind as it loses a bit of its splendour if it's battered by the elements

 

Do you find Lucifer has quite a short flowering period? I was a bit disappointed that it finished quickly. (It also died out quickly for me...) I find Spitfire lasts in flower quite well, though not as good a colour.

 

Yes it is earlier than most others and shorter flowering .....its vibrancy is worth it though

 

Hi, Caroline L, I've not noticed that, I have to say, but that might be because I generally grow it in large clumps. I find that combining it not only with other lower growing crocosmia varieties but with schizostilus helps to keep colour continuing in the area. Diorama too (angels fishing rods) are useful to combine with it, particularly if you have a pond nearby as they like to be beside water.

 

Hi Dendy - thanks, you have reminded me that I really need to move my dieramas somewhere moister - they aren't flowering. Not sure they'd go with my crocosmias - the colours are all in the 'orangey' end, whereas the dieramas are 'bluey' pinks. (Or would be...). I have C.George Davison flowering for first time this year. Nice colour, but squinny little flowers.

 

I have large to very large clumps of lucifer....definitely shorter flowering than some but also the earliest for me. Limpopo flowers much longer....and later
I wonder if lucifer has been surpassed by the younger upstarts!

 

@Jack Sparrow the plant needs splitting up and the old dead leaves need removing so it will look more pleasing to the eye.I often chuck my washing up water on my front garden ones as it saves me going round to the waterbutt in the back garden.If you have any tomato fertiliser you could mix some of that with some water and give it a good feed.

As the clump gets bigger the flowering will slow down so you will need to split the clump every few years,and the flower buds might be seed pods and not more flowering buds but I can't tell from your photo