Crocosmia's

The Crocosmia is grown from a corm, native to South Africa.  It is a cousin of the Gladiola and part of the Iris family.  We have been growing them now for about five years and really enjoy them.  The corm is hardy to zone 5 - 7, so they have to be lifted in the fall and stored for the winter.  We treat them exactly like our gladiola corms, lifting the corms after frost has killed the foliage, allowing them to dry and storing in an onion sack hanging from the roof of our cold room.
They are great for cut flowers growing to 3' tall, with sword like foliage.  They require full sun.  Throughout the years growing the crocosmia, we found they do best in our climate, if they are started in pots in March.  This gives them a head start in the growing season and therefore they flower earlier.  When planted directly in the garden, the plants may not have enough time to produce flowers, if we have an early frost.  So we plant 3 bulbs in a 5-6" pot and once all danger of frost is past we plant them in the garden.
This year we have extra corms that we will be offering for sale through the Saskatoon Farmer's Market.  They will be available beginning the 2nd week of May.  We will have two varieties, Lucifer and Emberglow.

Emberglow - burning glow of orange, very prolific

Lucifer - large tomato red flowers, excellent for pots and cuts.

If you have a little bit of extra room in your garden, try them, you will not be disappointed.