Monbretia- does it spread by seed?

seefin

Monbretia is starting to take over my garden. upto last year,i didnt have any interest in gardening so was probably glad to have some colour with no effort but am getting worried now. Thing is, ive one shady border where i dont mind it taking over but want to eradicate from the sunny border.i know it spreads by corms but does it also seed in which case will have to be ruthless in entire garden? Want to try getting rid of it while still dont have much planting done so can use roundup . .

genuine leather

Hey seefin
No roundup needed, you a re spot on,it spreads by corms. Ive had it for a long time and never spread by seed, although a thriving plant when given the right conditions.Wait until autumn,get the spade out, dig out what you dont need, gift some to friends, all will be good as gold.
GL

bmaxi

Get rid of it by any means you can, it is a weed. Certainly don't give it to your friends if you want them to remain your friends. If you are digging it out, you need to ensure you get every last bit of corm, it travels through the soil like honey fungus and even the smallest bulblet will multiply. I had some success with glyphosate where I could spray it, but it comes up in the most awkward places where you would need to brush it on. Add a little washing up liquid to the glyphosate solution to ensure it sticks.

genuine leather

bmaxi wrote: »

Get rid of it by any means you can, it is a weed. Certainly don't give it to your friends if you want them to remain your friends. If you are digging it out, you need to ensure you get every last bit of corm, it travels through the soil like honey fungus and even the smallest bulblet will multiply. I had some success with glyphosate where I could spray it, but it comes up in the most awkward places where you would need to brush it on. Add a little washing up liquid to the glyphosate solution to ensure it sticks.

Like many garden flowers/perrenials/Weeds.. they need attention,digging, and management on a yearly basis. Imho for a chosen plant to become a problem, one has not given it the attention it needs, many lovely and strong spreading plants can be contained within an area with buried, underground boundries, that contain the plant spreading.

Sadly many wonderfull plants get dismissed for this reason.

looksee

The problem arises, not when they spread from their clump, but when they pop up unasked in the middle of other mature plants so that you have to either keep pulling the bulbs or dig up the original plant to find all the little bulbs. And between paving stones, and between the roots of trees and shrubs and amongst established bulbs of other flowers. Pretty, yes, but leave it in the hedgerows.

bmaxi

genuine leather wrote: »

Like many garden flowers/perrenials/Weeds.. they need attention,digging, and management on a yearly basis. Imho for a chosen plant to become a problem, one has not given it the attention it needs, many lovely and strong spreading plants can be contained within an area with buried, underground boundries, that contain the plant spreading.

Sadly many wonderfull plants get dismissed for this reason.

You mean wonderful plants like bindweed. Japanese knotweed, oxalis, all very pretty in their own right but would you want to cultivate them? IMO, Montbretia is right up there with these favourites.

wildlifeboy

strange thing about this is i have had three of them in my garden for the last 6 years and they arent spreading at all. wonder why that is? they come up every year in the same spot but have never multiplied. anyone any ideas why. i like them.

looksee

I have a yellow montbretia which is very biddable and just makes a single, though expanding tidily, clump.

solas111

Natural History of Sligo and Leitrim

Alien species

The iris genus Crocosmia is native to grassland habitats in the Cape region of South Africa. Aunt Eliza (C.paniculata) is the less common species, but Montbretia (the hybrid between C. pottsii and C. aurea (C. x crocosmiiflora)) was bred as a garden plant in 1880. These plants grow from a corm that is able to survive the Irish winter producing fresh leaves in the spring. They flower from late July through to the end of October, then die back for the winter. The bright green leaves sprout vigorously in March.

Montbretia is a seriously INVASIVE ALIEN plant that has become widely established in parts of the USA, New Zealand, Great Britain and Ireland. In Ireland its orange flowers are wrongly believed by many people to be a part of our native wild flower flora. It continues to be spread by gardeners deliberately planting the corms. Once in a place it out-competes the local flora and forms large stands along hedgerows. In more recent years the more robust Aunt Eliza with red coloured flowers, has become more widespread as people plant it in hedgerows. If these plants are dug up the roots are likely to survive and care must be taken to prevent any further spread with the soil. Spot treatment with weed killer may be the only reliable means of destroying it.

solas111

There was a thread on this last year. Not sure how to post the link but try clicking below:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79216856

genuine leather

bmaxi wrote: »

You mean wonderful plants like bindweed. Japanese knotweed, oxalis, all very pretty in their own right but would you want to cultivate them? IMO, Montbretia is right up there with these favourites.

No,of course not plants like bindweed,knotweed etc
Examples of plants i maintain and keep in check yearly in my garden are, clematis-alan bloom,anemone-H jobert,Phygelius,Solomans seal, all others every 2-4 years.
I just mentioned that Montbretia had not caused me any problems.
Apologies for the confusion
GL