When to sow crocosmias in Algiers

Why these dates

Plant corms while dormant, in autumn or early spring, 8cm deep. Divide congested clumps every three or four years in spring - flowering falls away noticeably once the corms are crowded, which is the usual reason an old planting stops performing.

Hardy to about -15C, and the common orange montbretia rather hardier than the large-flowered named forms. Mulch in the first winter after planting; established clumps need nothing.

Crocosmias are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Algiers is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.

Algiers sits in zone 10a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.

See every crop timed for Algiers →