The Lucifer Montbretia, otherwise known as the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ or Montbretia ‘Lucifer’, Coppertips ‘Lucifer’, Falling Stars ‘Lucifer’, is a rather well known bulb plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this bulb will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its dark green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Lucifer Montbretia Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Lucifer Montbretia can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Lucifer Montbretia prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Lucifer Montbretia in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Lucifer Montbretia this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Lucifer Montbretia belongs to the Iridaceae family, and the genus Crocosmia, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ (kroh-KOZ-mee-uh).
As with other Crocosmia’s, the Lucifer Montbretia is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Lucifer Montbretia is native to eastern and southern Africa.
You might be wondering why your Lucifer Montbretia’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environmental conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 4 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5a, 5b, 6b, 6a, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Lucifer Montbretia is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Lucifer Montbretia actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ can grow up to 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm) in 2′ – 4′ (60cm – 120cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Lucifer Montbretia a relatively small bulb compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 6″ – 8″ (15cm – 20cm) free so the Lucifer Montbretia can spread to its best extent.
Watering
In terms of watering, the Lucifer Montbretia is a fairly simple plant to take care of. This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Lucifer Montbretia in soil with moist but well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Lucifer Montbretia since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Lucifer Montbretia prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Lucifer Montbretia requires soil with high organic matter, loam (silt), and sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Lucifer Montbretia requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this bulb will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Lucifer Montbretia will die back to the ground every year. But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the summer (mid, late).
Flowers
You can expect your Lucifer Montbretia to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer). In particular, this bulb is well known for its flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Lucifer Montbretia produces some beautiful red or burgundy flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Lucifer Montbretia have a beautiful dark green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a rosulate organization in its leaves. You can expect the leaves from your Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Lucifer Montbretia is well known for being able to attract butterflies, birds and hummingbirds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for salt, drought and animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Lucifer Montbretia will look best in it.
Most Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ owners agree that this bulb will look great in most contemporary and cottage gardens of all types. Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Lucifer Montbretia’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, banks and slopes, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a container, mass planting, border, cutting garden, or a poolside.
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Lucifer Montbretia in your garden or home.
