Crocosmia

An imposing selection fitting perfectly in the garden style of Big, Bold and Beautiful. it is not often one extols the merits of Crocosmia leaves but these wide blades with pleated ridges stand en garde against other substantive companions such as Canna or dark-leafed Ligularia. To 5' tall with narrow tubular orange-red flowers. This is one we brought to the US from a visit with the late Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland.

This exceptionally large flowered selection is going to be a star in any sunny garden where it's unrivaled flower size leaves most other Crocosmias wishing they hadn't been mired in ethical dilemmas and just gone ahead and done the testosterone injections. Introduced in 1910 by George Davison and was a sensation at the time garnering every accolade and award available at the time. 100 years old and it is still showing the newcomers a thing or two as it has few rivals for size of flowers and stoutness of stem. Timeless excellence. Our plants came from NW icon Russell Graham some years back.

Aptly named, a Crocosmia of truly majestic proportions and grandeur of flower. Arguably the finest large-flowered cultivar, this indeed has the largest flowers among the dozens of varieties we grow. Wide open rich orange yellow faces with dark red-orange backs on 40" stems. It totally rules. It's no despot but a kindly monarch who just likes to party hard in late summer. It needs a little room to spread so grant it the space and allow it to bestow upon your garden a late summer bonfire of color. A George Henley introduction from 1918.

This is an Alan Bloom selection from Bressingham Gardens which he introduced in 1970. 'Spitfire' is a feisty little plant making a dense clump of thin leaves with flared open fiery red-orange flowers held closely together in which the many presents as one to great effect. A smaller mounding plant than some of its kin.

Everything good about this yellow hybrid from David Tristan in the UK. Densely clumping and quite respectful of its allotted space in the garden. Flowers are a rich clear yellow with a good open flared aspect and rounded petals of distinct substance. There is a lot of flower for a compact 24" plant!

We would have been thrilled to have Paul's second or third best yellow judging by what he regard's as his best. This is an awesome plant with very large flowers of excellent substance clustered in dense heads which compounds the visual impact. Tall stems to 40" just to make sure you won't miss seeing this in bloom. A good even rich yellow that is not brightly strident but very capable of mingling with other colors and more than enough self-confidence to carry the display load on its own if required.

We believe Rhett, this Crocosmia is no lady. Really, are you looking for some refined creature when you buy a Crocosmia? I think not - it's hussies, hotties, tramps and trollops that get's it done in the garden during the dog days of summer when we need some over the top flamboyance - save the demure for spring 'cause it clashes with Mojitos! This has big heads of bright red flowers which are spaced closely together amplifying the floral impact. Nicely compact just 24" tall at best and remains in a tight clump. This is from David Tristram of Walberton Nursery in the UK.

From the breeding work of Bob Brown comes this crazy good plant. On very stout stems, the big flowers with broad rounded tepals are bunched together in nice fat heads and the flowers are a melange of peachy apricoty pink hues. One of the very best of the recent introductions. Expect this to get 36"-40" and it is a slow clumper so it will be awhile before you need to divide it.

One of the better of the clear yellow hybrids with nicely presented flowers that while of good size are not so overly large that they bow down the stems. We've come to like the clean yellows as they bring something refreshingly uncomplicated to the garden bed and the fewer issues in bed, the better.

Big cheerful yellow flowers which open widely on stems to nearly 30" tall are the reason for growing this selection. This can help make some of the late season fiery colors seem even more intense by comparison or if asked to carry the floral load on its own, it is more than up to the task.

One of our favorites - and we know you have seen this on other Crocosmia labels here - but it is even more true with this one! Not to say the others are less favored, mind you. Large, wide open orange-yellow flowers with a vivid dark orange ring in the center surrounding a slightly paler throat. Well-displayed to nearly 3' tall.

Quite a magnificent selection from Fernhill Gardens in Dublin, Ireland. Broad pleated leaves somewhat arching are simply perfect with the fat spikes of closely spaced yellow-orange flowers. Our plants came from the extraordinary garden of Linda Cochran and the best planting we have seen of this was at Nita Jo Rountrees luscious garden.

As neither of us were lucky enough to be debutantes ourselves, growing this 'Debutante' is ample solace. The flowers are small but tend to face upwards opening orange but fading rapidly to a soft pink in the interior which is accented by a yellow eye while the exterior retains a deeper orange-red coloring. To 30" of tidy habit with conservative values until it blooms with a rate of increase that might be best described as restrained with the weight of past generations measuring the suppression of potential impropriety.

We got tired of folks asking for Jenny after seeing her in our border so being savvy entrepeneurs we potted some up. This is a dandy Crocosmia of smaller habit with tasty flowers of butterscotch infused yellow. Not a piercing yellow but of a gentle hue. Jenny has class after all.

This is a fine plant and another of the Bressingham Gardens introductions. Good ripe tomato red flowers arrayed nicely on the stem and held out to maximize viewing. Very accommodating those Brits. The flowers are nicely ranked with some overlap on each side which creates a showy floral synergistic effect. This is a compact grower to just a couple feet tall and very useful where you need a shorter plant that can still pack a punch. No doubt a sister seedling to 'Bressingham Blaze' from the same cross of C. masoniorum x C. paniculata as both were introduced in 1970.

A bright flare of rich red flowers makes this is an excellent garden plant which puts on a good show and was named for a woman of no small means and substance. To bestow such a namesake upon a plant of anything less than the first rank would be folly in more ways than a simple flatlander such as myself could conjure so that alone should speak to its merits. The spawn of breeding Crocosmia xcrocsmiiflora x 'Lucifer' in the late 1980's by A.J. Hogan in Cornwall resulted in some excellent seedlings. This was the cream of that crop and was named in 1993 and bears little resemblance to 'Lucifer'. A robust plant to 3' tall or so.

The enigmatic iconoclast Pete Ray of Puget Garden Resources, brought this perky selection back from the UK. Smaller than most varieties both in height and flower size, this has that cheeky something that the others would give their right anther for. Flowers are a perfect bicolored symmetry of red and yellow on stems to 2 feet or so.

One of the truly elegant cultivars and one that will be the toast of the garden. This is one of 5 surviving C. xcrocosmoides bred by Max Leichtlin of Baden-Baden Germany before 1895 that is still in cultivation. A true heirloom cultivar. Tall stems with fingers of flowers held out like a ladies hand extended to be kissed. Refined orange tepals nicely spaced reflects its obvious confident sense of self and of place which speaks to its heritage of Teutonic thoroughness and simmering superiority.

Smashing yellow Crocosmia with small but multitudinous flared open flowers. A good clumper with nice vigor. Often we favor the larger flowers but this puts on such a good display of a nice yellow (there are bad yellows) that it is impossible not like this one. It was among the top sellers of our Crocosmias here at the nursery last year and it is because it has that special something. There is much confusion in the trade with a half dozen different but similar cultivars and we have to confess that we are as confused as anyone. We have sold this for years as Crocosmia 'Citronella' but now think we have 'Golden Fleece' based on Goldblatt, Manning and Dunlop who state that the the true 'Citronella' gets 3'-4' tall and this is quite compact at 28"-30". 'Golden Fleece' was introduced in 1993 but no one knows who the breeder was so add murky origins to the melange of mystery.

Nice red-orange flowers really puts on a show later in August which comes at a time when some of the other reddish varieties have finished flowering. Named for Phillipa Browne who is a Crocosmia hybridizer in the UK. We're certain she didn't name this after herself and that a fellow nurseryman chose to honor her work in this way.