Crocosmia crocosmiiflora Mistral

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora 'Mistral' is a large variety of montbretia that produces abundant iris foliage, from which emerge large, arched flower spikes until September, densely adorned with elongated trumpet flowers of a beautiful fiery red-orange and perfectly uniform. This plant is certainly a bit sensitive to cold, but it is incredibly generous and easy to grow in the sun, in moist soil. Its shiny flowers stand out in flowerbeds, but also in pots or in bouquets.

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora is a herbaceous perennial plant with corms, of South African origin, from the Iridaceae family. It shows many similarities with gladiolus.

The 'Mistral' variety is distinguished by its vigorous growth. The plant forms in spring a tuft of flexible basal leaves, 60cm (24in) tall, and produces from July onwards an arched stem, 80 to 90cm (32 to 35in) high, bearing a horizontally branched spike, with nearly 50 red-pink buds, which bloom into flowers about 4cm (2in) in diameter, in the shape of long tubular trumpets. These flowers are a uniform and intense red-orange colour and are composed of 3 inner petals and 3 outer petals. The dark green leaves are sword-shaped. Their surface has a folded appearance and is strongly veined, and they spread out in a dense fan or cluster from the base of the plant. Their storage organ is a corm, which is an underground pseudo-bulb that looks like a bulb but is actually formed from a swollen stem surrounded by scales.

Montbretia symbolize better than any other plant the splendour of summer, with the abundance and cheerfulness of their flowering. Easy to grow, vigorous, and not very demanding, they can be planted in the sun, in fertile and moist soil. Their bright colours, yellow, orange, or red, form very cheerful spots in gardens. They are splendid in combination with annuals or bushes and are well-suited for natural gardens mixed with perennials or grasses. When they thrive in the ground, in a sunny exposure and well-drained soil, they multiply over the years and become more beautiful each year. They are also excellent plants for your flower bouquets.