Crocosmia Corner

My son-in-law told me about a plant that attracts hummingbirds like a magnet: Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. It is a relative of the Iris and also features erect, spear-like foliage.

In the autumn of 2018 I ordered 15 bulbs (corms, actually) from the internet. They arrived in mid-March of this year, much too early to plant. When I finally did plant some in a nice cozy location with a southern exposure, they did not come up. The day I bought two potted plants, I saw two of the three I had planted poking through the soil.

When I finally decided that I could not wait for the ground to dry enough for planting, I went ahead and planted 9 bulbs along with the potted plants in an area I am calling Crocosmia Corner. On a plant shopping trip the next day I found more at Telly’s nursery and bought 3 more.

So here they are in the corner plot of my “vegetable” garden; 5 plants and 11 bulbs. The observant reader will notice that I previously said that I planted 9 bulbs. As part of my haste to get the bulbs growing, I had planted 3 in pots. I de-potted two bulbs and found that they had not sprouted or changed in any way from when I planted them. So I added those two to the garden.  The remaining pot is a story for another day.

I am carrying on in the tradition of my parents. When I was young they had an enormous vegetable garden. As they got older they replaced parts of it with lawn and then perennials. Notice next to my Crocosmia Corner I have planted a section of Dahlias (I know Dahlias are not perennials but, ... whatever). 

A Late Bloomer

It has been an extraordinarily cool and wet May and June here in the Detroit Metro area. My little rain garden where I grow my swamp milkweed has been underwater much of the time. About 10 years ago we had a similar spring and I, in a fit of goofiness, planted cattails (they died out after about 2 years because the area was not consistently wet).

The swamp milkweed, in the best of seasons a late starter, is barely 1 foot tall. My wife, Miss Peggy, reported seeing a monarch flitting around these little plants last week. I am not even going to look for eggs as there is not enough plant growth to nurture caterpillars.

I would not normally do this but after the above photo was taken, I used a small submersible pump to remove the water so that the root area can be as warm as possible to encourage growth.