Crocosmia Lucifer

Day 285: You admire a plant in someone's yard, determine to get one for your own garden, and three years down the road, you discover that while lovely, it exhibits traits which make you wonder if it's considered a weed in its native environment. Crocosmia is one of those. Its showy, its brilliant inflorescences shining at the tips of graceful, slender stems; it quickly fills those boring spaces in your landscaping, and it propagates both by seed and bulb...vigorously, as if given half a chance, it would take over the world. Once established, it is almost impossible to eradicate, a feature I learned the hard way after planting the red variety "Lucifer" where its foliage soon came to block the sidewalk. I dug it out, sifted the soil through my fingers to remove even the tiniest of bulbs, but I'm still pulling Crocosmia five years later. Aggressive behaviour aside, it is an attractive and colourful addition to the garden. Just be sure to locate it somewhere it can sprawl. The hummingbirds will love you.