Summertime

Pulled out of the trial area last year and re-located in my garden for a final inspection, this large flowered beauty has illuminated a shadier part of the garden. Currently nameless, just tagged as Oranges and Lemons, it's a keeper and I will be bulking this one up. I can scan a trial area of Crocosmias these days and can pick the stand outs immediately.

Most of my trial Crocosmias are second year plants. The rain has really brought them on and most are intent on flowering, but all the plants with C paniculata, i.e., the taller plants in their make up will not realise their full size until next year, but I will be posting some beauties over the next couple of weeks.

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Breeders palette

One of my favourite pieces of equipment is a small plastic board with holes drilled through to support the detached flower heads. I tend to colour theme my breeding evenings, shuffling around selecting the best and comparing more closely their attributes.

Orchid like

Sometimes the various breeding elements come together and you have on your hands a real hotchpotch and it invariably end up in the compost bin. The old adage it's not what you keep its what you throw springs to mind. But this one has the height of a Gladioli, but the flowers of a Primulinus. The striking plus points are the incredibly strong stems, thick flower petals, amazing colour and almost Cymbidium style flowers. All in all an amazing cutflower.