Jim, C potsii and masoniorum are VERY hardy in the UK. so that means that in the ground they will happily go to -20 C. C aurea is not hardy even in mild winters for most of the UK. My C aurea is now kept indoors for the winter. So I expect the yellow hybreds will be more tender. Lucifer and what is loose in the West of Scotland as C paniculata- which is probably missidentified, are not as hardy in colder parts of the UK in pots, though no trouble even in colder spots in the ground. I have never managed to grown Chasmanthes here though I think some may have been in my fathers garden which was much milder. It may be I did not treat them correctly. They are quite easy from seed. Many hybreds are very stoloniferous which means INVASIVE, but not all. I had never heard of virus in crocosmia before but I see that there has been a debate here before. I have to agree with Alberto that if I am suspicious of a plant -It goes. Peter On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 6:44 PM, J.E. Shields <jshields@indy.net> wrote: > Alberto raises many interesting topics! Combine the warning below with his > comments on toughening up Rhodophiala montana with a few generations in > cultivation (raising them from seed), and we have a roadmap for getting > more Crocosmia into our colder climate gardens. > > Someone should start growing them from seed. You will probably have to > treat them the way I treat almost-hardy crinums here in Indiana: Start the > seed in pots, grow for a few years under protection (at least in winter), > and only then move the seedling plants out into the garden beds. > > Only one Crocosmia has persisted in my garden here: one of the two distinct > clones that I received as 'Lucifer'. the one with larger flowers proved to > be winter-tender after 3 or 4 years here. The second clone, with more but > smaller flowers, has survived on down through the years, both planted in > 1999. They went directly into the garden upon receipt. Both had the same > brilliant red color in their flowers. > > Other Crocosmia tried here (their names are forgotten now) survived up to a > couple years before disappearing, but all others are gone save this last > 'Lucifer'. It's time folks in the Midwest took it upon themselves to breed > hardier Crocosmia hybrids. Who else will do it? > > Having retired from the plant business, I'm not going to dig and ship > samples of this hardy plant. But feel free to stop by my place for a > visit; maybe I'll let you dig a piece of it for your garden. > > Jim Shields > > At 05:26 PM 6/26/2011 +0000, Alberto wrote: > > >In any case, keep your newly introduced plants away from your other ones. > >Several Crocosmia cultivars are heavily virused that is most evident in > >the flowers. You will not want to introduce into your valuable collections > >a virus that affects irids ....... > > ************************************************* > Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 > P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ > Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA > Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >