Crocosmia Lucifer
I've recently dug up a huge patch of Crocosmia Lucifer as they had outgrown their space and really didn't do very well in the drought. I have other patches of them in different parts of the garden that did better which I have just cut back. But I now have hundreds of bulbs that I don't know what to do with. Mostly they form linked towers of bulbs ranging in size. I'm assuming that they have flowered from the biggest ones and the smaller ones would flower when more developed, but I'm not sure. At the moment they are all stuck together drying out in my garage. If I want to replant some of them, do I break them apart and replant the larger ones, or is it better to use the smaller ones. Alternatively, do I plant the linked towers again as they are. I'd happily give most of them away but don't want to waste anyone's time if the small ones are useless or maybe wouldn't flower for years, or if the big ones have outgrown their usefulness. If someone could give me some advice I would be grateful. Thanks
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The smaller corms in the chain are the newest ones. There will be one new corm for every year the plant has grown. You can separate them or plant them back as a tower. The older corms get nutrients from the corms that they are connected to up the chain. The smaller ones will be more vigorous if replanted so I would split them. However, there may be life left in the older ones and often if planted they will grow but if you have too many stick with the new smaller ones. Remember to plant the new corms about 4 inches deep to give them room to grow.
I dump them completely as if you put them in your compost bin they will grow again on your borders.
I found this from Carol Klein
’quote’. .....This is exactly what I do
Crocosmias are corms; each year, a new corm builds up on top of the old one, taking its energy from this year's foliage. If you dig up a clump, you will find a mass of conjoined corms in great chains like big, brown fibrous beads (I seem to remember wearing some like that in the 60s). The top corm can easily be removed from the rest of the chain by twisting it sharply. Plant them in a new site: dig out a broad, shallow trench in a wavy shape, enrich it with homemade compost and replant the corms a few inches deep and apart, gently backfilling and firming the soil. In spring, add achilleas, grasses and their ilk to mix and mingle with the refreshed crocosmia. When you have gathered all the topmost corms, dig up the rest. They can be separated and replanted, and will eventually produce new corms, but the best idea is to put them in the green waste bin: a domestic compost heap could not produce enough heat to break them down, so you may well find yourself with a gardenful on your hands.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border