Montebretia
(Crocosmia, Autumn Gold)
Crocosmia X crocosmiiflora (formerly Montebretia X crocosmiiflora) (IRIDACEAE)
Planting and Growing Montebretia
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow montebretia in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of montebretia
- Season of bloom and planting time for montebretia
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for montebretia
- When, how deep, and where to plant montebretia
- How to plant montebretia
- Watering, fertilizing, care and pests or diseases of montebretia
- Landscape and indoor uses of montebretia
- Comments about montebretia and its features
Growing Montebretia
Summer corm. Deciduous. Many hybrids. Stands to 4 ft. (1.2 m) tall. Swordlike, long green leaves.
Native to southern and eastern Africa.
Montebretia Planting and Care Guide
Flowers
Summer. Orange, red, yellow. Multiple funnel-shaped flowers, 1‑1/2–2‑in. (38–50‑mm) wide, with widely flared petals, in tiers ascending vertically along one side of multiple angled, branching spikes, from mid-summer to mid-autumn.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 6–11; ground hardy, zones 8–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil. Fertility: Average. 5.5–6.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun to partial shade. Space 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) apart, 2–4 in. (50–100 mm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist spring–autumn. Drought tolerant. Fertilize in spring. Mulch, zones 6–7. Lift and store for winter, zones 5–6. Propagate by division, offsets, seed.
Lifting and Storing
Dark, 50–60°F (10–16°C), in net bag or open basket of dry peat moss.
About This Species
Good choice for accents, beds, borders, containers, drifts, edgings, mixed plantings in cottage, formal, meadow gardens and landscapes. Excellent cutting flower. Attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds. Heat and humidity tolerant. Naturalizes. Invasive of watercourses and wetlands. Disease resistant. Slug, snail susceptible.