Hi Diane, >>>>>I was just at a friend's house helping her ID some of her crocosmia, .......Emily McKenzie flower is 8 cm across (3.25 inches). There seem to be a couple of forms growing in Victoria: this immense .......one which is very brightly coloured - a very broad band of dark red contrasting with the orange. The one sold in nurseries isn't as big or as intense. Could this be because they are growing in pots? Diane, I think there might be a couple of things going on here. Firstly it has been an exceptional year here for Crocosmia, and flower size of those in the ground has increased. However this year I covered with bark mulch for the first time, and I'm very glad I did, and this has meant that the corms have been kept moist and cool all through the summer. Usually those in the ground have smaller flowers than those I grow for exhibition purposes in pots. This is primarily because those in the ground have to be more adaptable to changes in the weather throughout the year and hence these are more likely to suffer more stress than those which are grown correctly within pots. Here lies the problem with pot culture, warmer summer weather means more irrigation, and the more you irrigate the more fertiliser is leeched from pots, and in the case of slow release fertilisers, the higher the temps the more fertiliser is released also. Hence, if the compost isn't holding on to its water or its nutrient you'll get smaller flowers. However, if grow correctly and well supplied with feed you'll get the larger flowers. This happened to a friend of mine last year with containers and with Emily McKenzie, in peat free compost, with organic feed. Indeed I took one of the plants away with me because it looked much different to what I grew. This year, on planting it next to EM, I found it was the same plant. It was noticably different last year, much smaller and quite inferior to what is normally grown. His problem was compost and irrigation. Crocosmia are gross feeders and will grow and flower well if Miracle-Gro is applied every couple of weeks in the growing season, watering is also very important, as they need to be well irrigated in dry spells of weather, to get the best from them. Best Wishes, Dave David Fenwick NCCPG National Plant Heritage Collections of Crocosmia with Chasmanthe and Tulbaghia The African Garden 96 Wasdale Gardens Estover Plymouth Devon England PL6 8TW Websites http://www.theafricangarden.com/ http://www.crocosmiaheritage.com/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diane Whitehead" <voltaire@islandnet.com> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 12:49 AM Subject: [pbs] Giant crocosmia > I was just at a friend's house helping her ID some of her crocosmia, > using the pictures on Dave Fenwick's website and matching the flowers > with her list of plants bought in Scotland, England and the U.S. > > Her Emily McKenzie is immense. You could serve sandwiches on the > flowers. (well, a tea sandwich maybe). I've just measured and the > flower is 8 cm across (3.25 inches). > > There seem to be a couple of forms growing in Victoria: this immense > one which is very brightly coloured - a very broad band of dark red > contrasting with the orange. The one sold in nurseries isn't as big > or as intense. Could this be because they are growing in pots? > > > -- > Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada > maritime zone 8 > cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) > sandy soil > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com/). Version: 6.0.510 / Virus Database: 307 - Release Date: 14/08/03