Crocosmia (also known as Montbretia) are absolute showstoppers in the summer garden, producing long, elegant stems loaded with vibrant blooms. If you want to keep yours looking healthy and encourage a massive explosion of color, a little strategic pruning goes a long way. Here’s the lowdown on how to trim them back like a pro.
Deadheading During the Season
Throughout the blooming season, you’ll want to keep an eye out for spent flowers. The best part? You don’t even need your garden shears for this! You can simply use your fingers to gently pluck off the withered blossoms.
By regularly removing these old flowers, you’re telling the plant to stop wasting energy on seed production and focus instead on making new buds. With a little luck, this can actually stretch out your blooming season so you can enjoy those colors even longer.
Pruning to Prevent Self-Seeding
If your garden is buzzing with bees and other pollinators, your Crocosmia will likely produce small seeds after the flowers fade. This is one of the main ways they spread naturally, along with growing new underground corms.
If you’d rather keep your garden layout exactly as it is and prevent “volunteer” plants from popping up everywhere, you should cut back the entire flower stalk as soon as the blooms have faded. This stops the seeds from ripening. Just be careful when you’re cutting—you don’t want to accidentally shake any ripe seeds onto the soil!
Pre-Winter Cleanup
As winter approaches, the foliage will naturally start to wither and turn brown. Whether you should cut it back or leave it alone depends entirely on how you plan to overwinter your plants. There are two main ways to handle this:
Overwintering in the Ground
If you live in a climate where your Crocosmia stays in the garden year-round, do not cut back the dead foliage! Those withered leaves act as a natural insulation layer for the corms, which can be a bit sensitive to deep freezes. For extra protection, pile on some mulch, fallen leaves, or compost to keep them cozy until spring.
Overwintering Indoors
If you overwinter your plants in pots or dig them up to store in a frost-free spot, go ahead and trim off all the top growth before moving them. Removing the old foliage helps the plant conserve energy so it’s ready to burst back to life when spring rolls around.
Cutting Crocosmia for Bouquets
Crocosmia make fantastic, long-lasting cut flowers for your home. The secret to a great vase life is timing: wait to cut the stems until the first few flowers at the bottom have already opened. If you snip them then, the stems stay fresh much longer, and the remaining closed buds will continue to open up beautifully right on your dining room table.
