With tall spikes of flared flowers in bright colours, these plants are reminiscent of gladioli, but with much more refine, smaller flowers. They soon make good clumps, each corm replaced yearly by several new ones, so that they give good splashes of colour, against the background of tufts of slender leaves. It is good to lift and split clumps after about four year, to encourage flowering.

Crocosmia 'Mistral' has up to 30 of its bright orangey red flowers arrayed along each arching stem, the open flowers facing upwards, showing their bright colour to all who pass by.