Crinums in Georgia

The crinum bulbispermum white pawn bloomed today. 2 buds open and 2 or 3 more that will open the next few days.

I have a pink crinum NOID that Wholyhosta's DD gave me last year at the RU. I have no idea if something special is required to make it bloom It looks happy. Are crinums heavy feeders or can they naturalize?

Elaine, that is a beautiful flower.

Well I'd have to see it in bloom to ID. lol I got it last end of June. What is the bloom range time on crinums? Maybe I should do some research. Maybe if I wasn't planting vegetables twelve hours a day I'd have time to do that. :)

Thanks for the advice.

the crinum white pawn which was the one above flowering. now into day 5 of flowering.

you can see a flower just opening over the top of one fully open

The crinum bulbispermum chessboard opened last night with 2 flowers.

The shape of the petals on this bulbispermum are somewhat different than the white pawn.

Day two for crinum bulbispermum Chessboard.

The 2 day old flowers have turned pink, and there is a newly opened white flower in the middle for contrast.

Laurel, Sandy gave you the Ellen Bousanquet crinum.

Rick, your crinums are so lovely............well worth the wait on some of them!!! That is a neat feature of Chessboard, to have blossoms of different colors at one time!
Perhaps you can help me.
I have a crinum type plant blooming right now. The blossom is pure white, there are at least 10 buds on it, and the stalk came up from the bottom of the plant to bloom in just about a week- very fast. The foliage is bluish green, not bright green and the leaves are more sword-like and pointy, not blunt like the green leafed crinums. The fragrance of the blossoms is very pungent-- my son said they smell like a minty or carnation bubblegum. I got this as a single start 4 years ago. Tag long gone!
Does this ring any bells for you? I do have photos, if you need to see them.

Randy, thanks, that is what I thought based on your photos of your White Pawn but none of the plants in that family showed photos with that kind of foliage when I did a search. Are they rare?
And yes, it does have one offset...........my son Tobias has put his dibs on it. When is the best time to divide it?

Brenda

Oh, yes Brenda. I meant your DIL. I thought though that you or she said it was an unnamed variety. Guess I can put a stone with a label down.

Brenda,

Bulbispermum are common. They are the hardiest of the crinum (to zone 5) and are large, so are used a bit in making hybrids. If its making an offset bulb then its not a pure bulbispermum. Native or species crinum only propagate via seed. Hybrids by offsets. In general, but there are exceptions. I would leave the offset in place for at least a year. It will grow faster connected to the mother bulb. Then dig down next to the mother bulb by the offset and gently pull the offset away. The less you disturb the mother bulb, the better. They will be connected at the basil plate (bottom) only. I have a bulb with an offset attached that I bought to plant. I'll post a picture of it here so you can see what it looks like.

If you didn't cut off the flowers, then you should get seed which can be used for growing new crinum. Fill a gallon pot to the top with loose potting mix. lay the crinum seed on top and gently push them 1/2 way into the mix. keep moistened & warm.

Randy

Thanks for the info, Randy.

Have you ever crossed crinums with other "members" of the species?

Bloomed last night. Crinum Pink Flamingo.

I have 4-5 other crinum with scapes started up after the heavy rain we've had. So next week should be exciting.

And, started 11 pots for crinum seeds obtained from several sources, including some from Australia.

I'll note that McMahon's nursery in Clermont, GA has some nice potted White Queen crinums for a very good price. I planted one from them in late Feb and it has grown very well in my garden. And a friend also got a nice one from them this week.

Pink Flamingo

This message was edited May 10, 2012 8:39 AM

more Pink Flamingo after 2 days. The origonal flowers are holding their shape and color unlike the bulbispermum.

Beautiful blooms there Rick!

They are beautiful, Randy. Wish I could add more but don't really know much about them.

I'd be glad to share plants. The veggies themselves are pretty slim pickins until mid to late July. I was at the Atlanta Botanical Garden for a meeting and saw several Crinums in bud there. Unfortunately there was no time to check on the id's. Perhaps if you have some free time you could visit the garden and check them out. They also had very large Amaryillas.

The common 'Milk and Wine' Crinums planted in full sun are blooming now in my area. I've Two variety, the M & W and Ellen Bousequet (I think), they're in partial shade thus haven't shown any blooms as of yet.

Blooming today, May 19, 2012. Three crinum. Imperial Guard (powellii), White Queen (2 scapes), Wm T Drysdale. (left to right).

Had a few bulbs left over from the crinum bed along my side driveway, so put in a bed of crinum along the street north of my house that are supposed to be shade tolerant, and a couple I'm hoping are...

If my memory serves me well. left to right

Pink Powellii
Mexican Pink
Moorei (no leaves yet)
Mexican Pink
Cecil Houdyshel (Powellii)
Schmidtii
Bulbispermum
Moorei
Bulbispermum
White Prince
Moorei (no leaves yet)

There are a couple more shade tolerant vars I want to add to this bed, maybe next spring.
TBD, JC Harvey, Cape Dawn



This message was edited May 19, 2012 11:48 AM

Remember the first crinum that flowered for me on April 29th? var c.White Pawn

Its flowering again, 3 weeks later. I hope this is normal, because I just started some seeds for this type crinum.

And the second pic is for anticipation. Two very jumbo crinum Cecil Houdyshels, each have 2 scapes up about to bloom. I keep walking by them once an hour to check on them.

Crinum Herbertii (one of the Milk & Wine types) blooming now.

I bought 3 Milk & Wine crinum bulbs from an ebayer last summer. The first and largest one has a scape started up. The 2nd and 3rd were bought & planted together a month later. One of them has blooms now.

Herbertii has the pink stripe fade towards the edge of the petal.

I have several other crinum Herbertii planted, but this one is the first to bloom. Probably because its next to pots of my amaryllis which get watered every day.

Thank you Rick for sharing your experience. Yesterday I was delighted to have found out that my Allen B. puts out a scape. I've moved it to the back of the garden where it gets partial shade, and I was afraid it wouldn't bloom this year. But it did!!! Love all these crinums. My Queen A. sits in a big pot. She hasn't bloomed yet this year.

Thanks, I had mine E.B. in a large container last year. It promptly bloomed the first season after planting. Which to my delight. Then I wanted a permanent spot for it in the garden. I transplanted it right away after the blossoms spent. Now I've the reward. My 'Milk & Wine' crinum is sprouting out its second scape, the first one was couple of weeks past.

Here is a picture taken today of two pots of white Crinum jagus in bloom. NOTE: I had been sold the bulbs as moorei, but they are jagus.

second picture is of the pots of seeds I have started. All various types of Crinum except 1 pot which is some zephyranthes seed.

One of the Cecil Houdyshels is putting up another bloom scape and a Milk&Wine Herbertii is blooming now also.

This message was edited Jul 1, 2012 10:50 PM

A milk&wine herbertii picture taken this morning. This is the third scape(bloom stalk) for this plant. Its also created some offset bulbs. No seeds from this variety crinum.

I've had up to 4 Crinum Cecil Houdyshel blooming at once. here's a picture of them late June 2012.

OMG, you're a Crinum farmer, Randy! Beautiful flowers.

Randy, my mature (finally) Ellen Bosanquet has sent up another scape........seems late but I'm not complaining. Love this one..............I seem to have been given three plants over the years...... I have never purchased a crinum bulb. Or plant. All mine came from swaps and trades. A few I took from people because I rarely turn down a plant when it is thrust into my hands. Or a huge naked bulb that I had no idea what it was.............. but I took it and planted it!

I had a preconceived idea of crinums that has been shot down since my crinums have been blooming this year.
Crinums were a landcape plant used in California landscaping where I was raised as a girl. The plants were untidy and the blossoms were all white......... okey...... but I was not too impressed. The intervening years have show lots of new plants available due to hybridizing.

My plants are big and healthy and have thrived under my neglect!!! Can't complain about a plant like that............. that produces big scapes of beautiful blossoms all summer long.


This message was edited Aug 29, 2012 3:44 PM

Randy, can you please post the names of the seedlings you shared in June, please!

Thanks, Brenda

Rick, thanks for the information..........i do have a bulbispermum, mature, white, that bloomed this year, that you identified for me earlier, in June, I believe.
I will make sure these two youngsters are protected this winter.
Thanks for everything!
~Brenda

Can't wait to see these beauties again. Some of my foliage did not die back as we had a mild winter. I am thinking of adding a few more this year.............and I know the guy to consult!!!