Planting Crocosmia Lucifer Bulbs

Video Transcript

"YOLANDA VANVEEN: Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen on behalf of Expert Village. In this series, we're learning all about fall-blooming flower bulbs. And some of my favorite flower bulbs are the Crocosmias, and within the crocosmias, the Lucifer. I love Crocosmia Lucifer. It's a native to South Africa, so it does very well in the Pacific Northwest, and it almost grows as a weed. It really likes full, hot sun and good drainage, and hummingbirds love it. I mean, once you've got a group of Crocosmia, you'll have thousands of hummingbirds in your yard. And they're easy bulb to recognize and easy bulb to plant. They look like a Hershey's Kiss candy, and there's a root side and bullseye side. So the bullseye side goes up. When in doubt, go sideways as another rule, and they multiply quickly. But I found with all bulbs, they like to be in groups just like people do. So if you put three in a triangle, it'll do much better than one by itself. They'll do a lot more water, too. I put 'em in some of the boggier areas in my yard and they've done well, too. And it'll do well in drought conditions. They're a plant that probably never needs to be watered and you'll never lose 'em. Just a beautiful plant. Sometimes they're called Montbretia. So Montbretia is the same as a Crocosmia and these were hybridized, the Lucifer, in England back in 1966, and I like to think that was the same year I was born. So they've been around for not a long time really in botanical history, but they're really a smash. The next fall-blooming bulb that we'll talk about is Crocosmia Carmine Brilliant."