Crocosmia pottsii

This August to date we have had 172.2mm of rain. The average August rainfall in Edinburgh over the past 18 years is 54.9mm. The wettest day was Tuesday 5th when 63.6mm was collected in the Gardens rain gauge. The wettest month we have recorded to date was November of 1963 with 184.4mm. With one third of August remaining and no settled spell predicted I believe the record will be broken.

All this water is weighing heavily on vegetation in the garden. The benefit of staking and supporting herbaceous plantings early in the year is now paying dividends.

The clump of Crocosmia pottsii collected by the late Bill Burtt in Temperate South Africa, in the southern Drakensberg Mountains of Natal Province is a colour splash amongst green foliage.

The linear leaf growth hangs slightly with the flower shoots supported above growing to 850mm. Multiple deep orange tubular perianths are presented opening sequentially to the tip of the shoot. These are narrow at the base widening and dividing apart at the mouth. There are delicate yellow blotches on the underside which are usually overlooked. On petal fall the embryo seed pods are visible. When ripe these divide and split into three shedding many seeds.

Crocosmia pottsii

Crocosmia pottsii