On 24/09/2019 12:24, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 24/09/19 11:17, Jim S wrote:
On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:32:25 +0100, Graeme wrote:

Morning all,

Just been given Montbretia by a neighbour, thinning her patch.Â* I have
the corms, complete with greenery and even a few orange flowers.Â* No
earth on the corms.

When should I plant them?Â* Now, or spring?Â* Should I cut off the growth,
or just leave it to wither and die?

Thanks!

The latter although it's almost impossible to kill them.
BTW I think they are now called Crocisma if you need to look them up,

+1

If they are the true Montbretia they are a noxious weed, listed as a
Schedule 9 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. I'm not
sure how accurate this is (from
https://www.invasiveweedsolutions.co.uk/invasive-weeds/non-native/montbretia/),
but they state:

Â*- It is an offence to plant or allow to spread onto adjacent land and
into the wild.
Â*- Possible fines and prison sentence under the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981.
Â*- It is not an offence to have Montbretia on your land and you do not
need to notify anyone on the presence of this species.
Â*- Soils containing Montbretia are classified as controlled waste and
should be disposed of at licensed landfill.

TBH I'm a bit surprised that it is in this list. It survives OK on my
clay soil but daffodils and narcissi are both more invasive.

They spread by cormlets, and sometimes by seed. In my experience, even
glyphosate has difficulty killing them (as it does with many plants
which have a storage organ such as a bulb, e.g. Spanish Bluebell). If
your neighbour still has them, keep an eye out for the leaves suddenly
appearing in your garden. :-(

I have never seen it escape from gardens around here. Daffodils do!

--
Regards,
Martin Brown