I don't do anything to mine until the leaves turn completely brown and
loosen from the corms. In my case here in Eastern Tennessee, that can
sometimes take as long as late winter. These things tend to flop all over.
That's why I purchased a grid support ring this year and positioned it over
the area where the crocosmia were at to support the newly emerging leaves
and later the flowering stems. And yes, the leaves feed the corms. One
year I got energetic and was going to clean up the Lucifer crocosmia. When
I pulled at the tan leaves, the corms came out of the ground and I
discovered that I had a stack of corms growing on top of each previous
year's. When I replanted them, they never resprouted. The ones down in the
woods box on the other hand are just fine and I never remember to clean the
stems up. These are just some of those plants that take awhile to tidy up.
madgardener who has the Montbretia orange ones and the Lucifer's and is
hunting for those yellow ones with the name George in them............

--
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect." Chief Seattle
"Fleemo" wrote in message
om...
When can I cut back my spent crocosmia? The flowers are long gone,
but long iris-like blades remain, still green, but flopped over
looking terrible. Can I cut them back now, or are they like irises
that must be left alone until they turn brown and shrivel?

Thanks.

-F