Amateur Gardening – 10 August 2019

22 AMATEUR GARDENING10 AUGUST 2019

Pick of the very best

̈

Graham Rice chooses his six top RHS Award of Garden Merit winners

Crocosmias

This week it’s

Easy,colourfulandresilient– crocosmiaslookgreatin borders,potsandvases.

Here,GrahamRiceselectshisownfieryfavouritesfromthe 10 withAGMs

Withitsboldredcolouringandarchingspraysof

upturnedflowers,‘Lucifer’is a popular choice for

late-summer border displays

BallyrobertGardens ballyrobertgardens.com 02893440101

CottageNurseries cottagenurseries.net 01507466968

Trecanna Nursery trecanna.co.uk 01822 834680

Where to buy

A

LLoverBritain(withthe

exceptionof TheHighlands

andtheEastMidlands),you’ll

findcrocosmias.AndI don’t

meanin gardens.OriginallyfromSouth

Africa,thesehot-huedflowershave

establishedthemselvesonroadsides

andin ditchesovermostof thecountry,

bringingunexpectedfiery colouring to

oursummerdriving.

Thistellsustwo– no,three– things.

Firstly,they’reeasytogrow.They’ve

establishedthemselvesin situations

wherethere’splentyof competition

andwillhappilyholdtheirownagainst

a rangeof competitivenativeplants.

Secondly,they’reeasytopropagate.

Theseroadsideplantsoftenoriginate

from clumps thrown out from gardens,

buttheyspreadsteadily– sometimes

quickly– whereverconditionssuitthem.

Andfinally,they’resocolourful:we

noticethemaswedrivealong.Once,

I nearlydroveofftheroad,suchwasthe

shockat seeingwhatlookedlikea huge

clumpof ‘Lucifer’ona lonelylanein the

wilds of County Kerry in Ireland.

Justaddwater...

In theirnativeSouthAfrica,crocosmias

tendtogrowin dampgrassland– and

that’sexactlywhattheyfindin the

vergesof westernIreland,wherethey

areespeciallyprolific.Gardensare

oftendrier,especiallythesedays,but

moisture-retentivesoilorsupplementary

wateringis thekeytogrowinglushand

prolific crocosmias in beds and borders.

What’ssogoodaboutcrocosmias?

Forstarters,theyhavefabulousfoliage.

Varyingfrommidtodeep,richgreen,all

varietieshavelong,sword-likeleaves,

whichin someof thelargercrocosmias

areattractivelypleated.Foliagelooks

goodfromsoonafterit emergesin

spring,andin somevarietiesdevelops

attractivesmokybronzetones.

Sometimes,in colderareas,a late

frostwillnipbackthenewleaves,but

plantssoonrecover.Theypartnerwell

withthebroaderleavesof cannasor

theboldlydividedfoliageof dahlias.

Thentherearetheflowers,which

havesixpetalsandarecarriedin sprays.

Thecolourrangeis fairlytight:deepred

andscarletthroughorangestoyellows,

stoppingshortof peachandapricot

shades(whateverthedescriptionsmight

say).Thereis alsoanincreasingnumber

of varietiesin bi-colouredcombinations.

Some,suchas‘Lucifer’,develop

archingspraysof upturnedflowers;

others(including‘Starof TheEast’)tend

to be more upright in growth, their

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited
Montbretiawastheoriginal
Latinnamefortheseplants.
Researchrevealedthatthis
wasincorrect,butbythen
thenamewaswidelyin use
andit stuck.That’swhy
manypeoplestillcall
them montbretias.