I really want to grow this plant and have tried unsuccessfully for a few years. Twice bought very healthy (and) pricey plants which grew but didn't bloom and didn't overwinter in a protected area. Last year I bought bulbs which grew but no blooms and didn't sprout this spring so I dug up the bulbs which look fine. I bought more bulbs this spring to pre-sprout indoors but they never sprouted. I've tried an overnight soak before planting bulbs.
I am an experienced gardener but can't figure out this one, How can I get them to sprout, watering needs, etc. I'm determined but my budget can't afford more expensive plants. Any suggestions/help?
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' problem
I grew these for awhile - there were years they flowered and years they did not. Not sure what the difference was - I always lifted mine and treated like gladiola bulbs for winter storage. When I stopped doing that, they stopped coming back.
I grow Lucifer and Emily Mc Kenzie in my alone 6 garden. I have them planted on a slope. I do not lift them for winter. I give them a light leaf mulch in late fall. They have returned for several years. They have been slow to increase for me but return every year.
They seem to like it on the dry side, for me. I have planted them in other garden's and they have never returned. I think they like the sharp drainage on the slope. I have tested the soil on the slope where they grow and it's slightly alkaline almost neutral.
Emily Mc Kenzie seems hardier for me. I started with 12 bulbs of each. I now have twice as much Emily Mc Kenzie as Lucifer.
Good Luck!
I have tried twice with Lucifer and both times the corms did not survive the winter. Emily McKenzie came back once for me but did not survive the second winter. I have had great luck with a crocosmia called 'Distant Planet'. That is the name Ellen of the now closed Seneca Hills nursery gave it because she lost all the paperwork. My clump survived for 5+ years and grew to three feet across so I divided it. Should have left well enough alone. The mother clump never came back but the division did and has grown and flowered for the last three years. I would love to grow more crocosmia cultivars but I am just not willing to dig them up and store them over the winter.
If anybody in zone 5 has luck growing a Lucifer that comes back every years I would sure like to trade for some of those corms.