Crocosmia,

can i lift and seperate it now or is it best to wait until spring?I have 5 clumps of it along whith gladioli and fucias.Is it too late?.It`s just that we`re on re-aranging and i have to find a new place for them.I would imagine all the roots are tangled up together so maybe i`ll loose the gladioli and fucia.Am i right in thinking they should be lifted and overwintered inside?

 

The RHS says do it in the spring re crocosmia
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0905/crocosmia_dierama.asp

I've done it successfully in October, but that was down south - I wouldn't do it later than September up here - and where you are, I'd err on the side of caution....

RE gladioli and fuchsia - I've left gladioli in the soil, and they've been ok, but with fuchsias, it depends on whether they're hardy ones or not. If not, then yes, take them in, and I always take some cuttings too. Hardy ones I prne back once they've stopped flowering, to stop them being straggly.

 

Awweee! Don't be a wimp Dendy :D Crocosmia is indestructable and any piece of corm will soon throw up new leaf no matter when you plant it. I threw some on the compost heap in December and it still rooted!

Glads will ususually make it through a winter providing it's no too wet. They can be attacked by tiny worms and/or rot though. Rather than lift them I just replace a few each spring with a 'happy bag' from a supermarket. I think they are about �£5 for 30 or so corms. If you have any that are particularly nice colours or named varieties then lift once the leaves die back and store in a cool dry place over winter, You can also pick off any tiny offset bulbs and grow on. Otherwise it's really not worth the effort.

I do go with the belt and braces for Fushia though. Take a load of cuttings, root them, then overwinter in frost free place. Keep them only just moist until new growth starts. Hardy ones will survive in the ground but the tender ones (mostly the big blooms) will either get levelled or die off. I have had one survive a deep frost but it took ages for it to grow back so it really is best to treat them kindly. Pellagoniums are much the same - the hardy Geranium will be OK but tender Ps you can forget it.

 

I'm not used to being back up in cold, cold Scotland, Froggy! I've had 25 years away from it - so I'm treading cautiously....... :rolleyes:

 

Och! You'll be wantin' thermal bagpipes next!

The last few winters have been fairly mild but I do tend to treat things a bit hard. They're either tough enough to make it or they don't. The cold wet spring was the killer this year but I left one of the Dahlia (Edinburgh) in the ground last year (it got missed) and it's survived OK.

 

thankyou kindly dendrobium and frogesque.

 

We split crocosmia in October after they have finished flowering............ If you wait until spring they corms will be sending out new shoots that you have to be very careful of or they will snap off!!