Crocosmia Scorchio - Montbretia

Crocosmia ‘Scorchio’ is a montbretia from the Firestars series, chosen for its large bicoloured orange and yellow flowers, marked with a red flame at the heart. This perennial quickly forms a neat clump, topped in summer with arching, very floriferous stems that bring a border to life with the slightest breeze. Hardy and reliable, this selection works just as well in the garden as in a large container, and offers beautiful stems for cut flower arrangements. A winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, it has proven its worth!

Belonging to the genus Crocosmia (Iridaceae family), this cormous perennial has distant ancestors native to the prairies of southern Africa. ‘Scorchio’ is part of the Firestars horticultural series, created by English breeder Paul Lewis and launched in 2018 with the Walter Blom nursery. This series offers several compact, floriferous, and less invasive montbretia cultivars. 'Scorchio' is hardy to –10/–15 °C in well-drained soil.
The plant forms an upright, dense clump 80 to 90 cm tall and 40 to 60 cm wide, composed of long, medium-green, lanceolate leaves. Its sturdy flower stems bear clusters of large, widely open, funnel-shaped flowers, with a bright yellow heart, broadly tinted orange and streaked with red. They bloom from July to September. As with all crocosmias, the aerial growth disappears in winter, with the corms resting in the soil.

In the garden, Crocosmia ‘Scorchio’ should be placed in full sun, in the middle of a border, in a loose, cool, but well-drained soil. Its flamboyant colour works wonders with the coppery orange of Agastache ‘Kudos Mandarin’, the pink spikes of Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Red Head’, the ruby-red pompons of Knautia macedonica ‘Mars Midget’, or the airy clumps of Vernonia lettermanii. In a cut flower arrangement, its flowering will be enhanced by a few stems of upright panic grass (Panicum).