Crocosmia Facts

Crocosmia come mainly from South Africa but they also exist in Malawi, Zimbabwe,
Swaziland, Mozambique, Lesotho, Madagascar and Tanzania.

The Common Montbretia, (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) was the first hybrid Crocosmia
and was bred in France in 1879 by Victor Lemoine of Nancy, this plant was placed in the genus Monbretia.

The genus Montbretia was named after Antoine François Ernest Conquebert de
Monbret, a botanist who accompanied Napoleon on his Egypt campaign in 1798.

Crocosmia, (kro-KOS-mee-ah), is so named because the dried leaves smell of saffron when rubbed, and after the Greek words, krokos for saffron and osme for smell.

The Common Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) was bred by crossing
Crocosmia pottsii (a species that grows near streams) with Crocosmia aurea (a woodland species). This is why most Montbretia prefer a little shade, lots of water, organic matter and nutrients.

Most hybrids bred before the second world war were Montbretia Hybrids and hybrids of Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora. Over 123 Crocosmia hybrids have been bred in the county of Norfolk, England.

Montbretia bear much larger flowers if grown in pots with plenty of organic matter and feed, and they make superb specimen plants for containers on the patio.

Some Crocosmia are pollinated by South African sunbirds in the wild. On the west coast of the USA they have become an invaluable plant for attracting hummingbirds
into peoples gardens, they provide hummingbirds with a rich source of nectar.
In the UK the bright colours of Crocosmia also attract hoverflies to the garden.
Hoverflies are a natural predator, and like the ladybird, eat aphids and greenfly.

Crocosmia leaves should be left on after flowering and not cut back to the ground as the old leaves will protect new emerging shoots from frost and hedgehogs will also
hibernate in the old leaves which they roll around themselves to form a ball.

The Common Montbretia and a few other varieties have given the genus a bad
reputation because they spread so vigorously and have become weeds throughout the world. Other vigorous spreaders are some horticultural forms of Crocosmia pottsii and include 'Red King' and 'Red Star', 'Meteore' and Crocosmia 'Marcotijn', the latter is usually sold as Crocosmia masoniorum. These should be avoided with a barge pole unless you want a jungle or are landscaping a lake.

There are quite a few hybrids that look exactly like each other, usually smaller reds and yellows akin to Crocosmia pottsii, those similar to a plant named 'Citronella' and a plant named 'Princess'.

More Crocosmia hybrids are extinct than survive in cultivation and very few older
hybrids carry any sort of provenance. The problem being is that plants require a name to be attractive for sale and unqualified people have largely been allowed to give names to older hybrids without provenance for the purpose of sale and without scientific bearing, argument or reason. Mind you Crocosmia are not unique in this respect, it is common where many hybrids within a genus were bred before the Seond World War and its Dig for Victory Campaign.