perennial > CROCOSMIA > OVERWINTERING

IN THIS template

CROCOSMIA GUIDES

red flowering crocosmia growing outside

Container GrowingNot FloweringOverwinteringPruningVarieties

Crocosmias are hardy plant which can generally cope well with UK wintertime atmospheric condition .

As herbaceous perennials , their leaf will die back over the winter month before the plant life burst into new growth in the spring .

red flowering crocosmia with long green leaves growing outside

Crocosmias depart slightly in hardiness depending on the form that you have chosen to develop .

Some are H5 hardy , which means that the corm will survive the wintertime across the UK , even during extreme winter .

Some are H4 , and while they will usually be hardy , damage may come to the corms during utmost conditions or in the cold parts of the British Isles .

crocosmia plant that is starting to wilt and its leaves are turning brown growing outside in a garden bed next to lots of other dying shrubs

To wish for crocosmia in winter :

Read on to learn a little more about the above , and to verify that your crocosmia corms make it through the wintertime months unhurt :

What Happens To Crocosmia In Winter?

As colder weather arrives , and wintertime approaches , the leafage which , after unfolding , has keep to photosynthesise and call for free energy which is stored in the corms below the ground over the winter , will begin to exit back of course .

The green leave will turn brown and set out to dry up and the vigour pile up by the leaves will be stored in the corms , which will stay torpid over the wintertime months .

Winter care is all about making sure that the corms are safe , and wo n’t be damaged , as damaged corms may result in short growing and bloom the next year .

dead harvested brown leaves from a crocosmia plant being added to a compost heap

Here are the step you need to follow to winter your crocosmia successfully .

1) Cut Back Dead Foliage

Any sentence after the leave have died back by nature , you could shorten back the drained foliation to the land .

As long as the leaves are dark-brown , cutting back should not do any problems , but make certain that you do not cut back green foliage , as cutting back too early can cause matter with blossoming and growing next yr .

However , while you may burn back in wintertime , it is usually undecomposed to leave the numb leafage in place over the coldest months .

a garden fork lifting some organic mulch out of the ground outside

For one affair , the dead foliage take a crap a great habitat , providing shelter for garden wildlife during the cold part of the class .

For another , the dead foliage will also help a trivial in providing protection to the corms below the ground .

However , if you prefer to keep thing bang-up and tidy in your winter garden , or if there has been a job with disease , you may cut back and remove the textile as soon as winter arrives .

horticultural fleece being used to cover a garden bed to protect plants from cold weather

“ I intimate that you cut crocosmia back lately in the year , leave around 30 cm which will protect young growth in former bounce , ” recommend Mark Wash from Trecanna Nursery .

Remember , crocosmia cut can be added to your compost organisation , as long there is no disease .

If there is an proceeds , you should dispose of the material so that the problem does not spread .

2) Mulch Your Corms

Even though crocosmias are fearless plant , it can be a unspoilt theme to summate an insurance policy and make certain the corms in the ground remain secure from wintertime dusty by replenishing the mulch above the corms before winter arrives , as Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly :

“ Crocosmia will struggle to boom in very ironical or very wet soils .

“ If these are an way out , then an annual mulch will also help to alleviate these stain condition as well as provide winter insulation . ”

A thick level of homemade compost or other organic cloth will help keep the corms protected if it is very cold .

“ A good barque mulch will protect the corms over winter and facilitate cap - in moisture in the territory for next class , ” says Mark .

3) Insulate Potted Crocosmia

If you are growing crocosmia in containers , it is a proficient approximation to think about insulating spate – particularly if you live in a cold area .

corm in pots are more disclose to winter stale than those growing in the ground .

you may roll fleece , bubble wrapper or other fabric around the pot as an insulating layer .

You might also move container - grown plant to a less let out location in cold regions .

You should also make certain that waterlogging does not become an issue .

see to it that drainage hole are drain freely and during wet spells over winter , moot put forward pots up off the ground .

As you’re able to see from the above , crocosmias are easy to worry for and wo n’t demand much employment , during the wintertime .

They are just as gentle to wish for in wintertime as they are during other season of the year .