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No Flowers, Only Green Buds
Marilyn Braswell
Posts: 4
in Talkback
I'm in Colorado Springs, CO. I brought a Crocosmia Lucifer in July. It had pretty bright red flowers. Is it normal for them to stop flowering at a certain time? Because now, I only see they have green buds on the stems. What's my problem?
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I think what you're describing is the aftermath of flowering Marilyn. When the flowers drop, little green 'buds' are what's left. They're not flower heads, they're the seed heads
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Do I need to cover them in October, to prepare for the winter?
Thank you so much for your help!
Marilyn
I can only speak for gardens in the UK - I'm in central Scotland, Marilyn - but crocosmia is very hardy here and we wouldn't need to do anything to them over winter.They die down naturally and you can tidy the old foliage away in late winter/early spring to let the new foliage come through cleanly.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you Fairygirl for your quick response.
It my 1st year at them.
No problem Marilyn. I'm not usually up at this time of night - or early morning really- but I'm going walking at about 6 am and couldn't sleep!
I'm sure your plants will be fine. Lucifer makes a great display in summer
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The seed heads last well and look good for quite a while. Mine don't set set seed, but they increase fast enough from their corms. You might find you get seedlings too, in different conditions.
I love the way the flower buds grow, sneaking up the sides of the leaves. There is something reptilian about them, then they start to expand and show colour and then: WOW!
My only problem with mine is they have increased so much that I am finding it hard to find homes for them. The red is too dominant to blend in with the gentler shades in most of my borders and my 'hot' beds are limited in size and I do want to grow other things as well!
No need to cover Lucifer, with us here in South Wales, it returns each year, I pull off the old flower stems, leave the rest to nature.
Great to have someone who loves these beautiful flowers.