Crinium Lilies

Can someone explain to me why these are so expensive? I would love to have some but Sheesh at that price I can't afford them.

Not completely sure, but I do know that most crinum liliy bulbs are large when they reach flowering size. They also don't like being moved and won't usually flower the first year after being moved. And mine, well they're a bear to dig up, lol!

flowerfantasy, Maybe you could post on the plant trading forum that you would like to trade for crinums. I would trade with you, but I just planted the last ones I had been keeping in pots into the ground. Tggfisk is right about them being a bear to dig up. It was quite a chore to dig the hole deep enough in the ground to get them planted. The ones I have planted have been at least 10 long!

That's ok I found some online. Got 12 of them . They are young bulbs. The largest wil be the size of a half dollar and the smallest is around quarter size. I really have 2 different kinds of them coming. I have spidery type and then the others look somewhat like a regular lily but yet they are different.

Nice that you found some. It may take them a few years to get to flowering size. Make sure that you plant them where you want them. Moving them again may delay flowering even more. On the other hand, once they get established, you'll love them.

I think that's going to be a problem for me cause right now I don't know where I want them LOL Oh well I will get it figured out by the time spring gets here.

There's another reason for planting them where you want them. You really don't want to have to dig them up. It's a real major project. I have some in a flower bed and I wonder what I'm going to do when they start crowding out the other plants. There are asiatic lilies on one side and ginger on the other. The ginger I need to move anyway because it's too hot in that spot. I hope the lilies will be easier to dig than the crinums. The crinums I just planted are not in a bed. They are next to a shrub that will probably expand, so I'm just going to let them fight it out. I don't remember exactly what it is called, some sort of aloisia (sp?). It's not the kind of shrub that smothers, so I think they'll be good companions.

Funny silverfluter...crinum vs shrub. Smackdown! Your lilies have got to be easier to dig. I asked the dh to dig a small outer bulb-or so I thought-from Ellen Bosanquet. He ended up almost bending his spade and came out with a clump. Some were, ummm 'smaller'. One was a flowering sized bulb that was probably almost twice softball sized. I gave that one away locally to LavinaMae. No way I was mailing it, lol!

I know lilies are much smaller, but I don't know how deep they go. I planted them about 6 inches deep, but as I understand things they can pull themselves down deeper if they need to.

I have an Ellen Bousanquet too (probably butchered that spelling too) and I need to move it, but I'm putting that off as long as possible. It's probably easier to dig up a pecan tree.:)

Probably so, lol!! I don't envy you that task. I'd rather move everything else and leave that beautiful monster be.

You're right I should leave them, but they are in a spot that I forget to water, so they don't bloom. It's a terrible waste to have such an awesome plant planted where it won't bloom because of my negligence.

I have some c. Hannibal's Dwarf that needs to be moved for that very reason. Of course it won't be nearly the chore that you're anticipating. Think I'm going to try a piece of the HD in the pond. Now that got to be enough water to make it happy, lol!

I never thought of putting crinums in a pond. Will any of the varieties grow in a pond or just some of them?

Not really sure about that..maybe someone with more experience will pop in with that. I checked PDN's website since Tony grows many types of them and he lists some of them as liking bog type conditions, but not all of them. I'm not even sure that the HD will grow in there, but seems like someone mentioned that on one of the forums last year. Thought that I'd dig a small piece and experiement with it.

Now that I've been thinking about the headaches of digging crinums, I think it's a better idea to plant other stuff near the Ellen B so I have more of reason to remember to water there. Hmmm. Yes, I like that idea better.

Regular lilies aren't hard to dig up, just that they might not bloom for a couple years. My regulars aren't very deep in the ground cause I got into some of them when I was planting some other bulbs this past fall. I hope I didn't disturb them to much cause I really enjoy their blooms and I might not have any on some of them this year. I like sticking my nose in them for a smell and get it covered in yellow pollen LOL

I planted so many lilies this fall and cannot wait for them to come up! One in particular that I'm looking forward to is the Lavender Gem that I got from buggycrazy. The ones that I got in the co-ops last year were stunning.
Love the idea that you might save your back silverfluter;) Wonder if those watersorb crystals would help any.

Do any of you know when they usually have the lily co-op? I would like to get in on one of those.

Seems like it was in the spring with bleek...Bert Leek from eflowergardens. I got lilies and glads as I recall. Good stuff! There may have been another, too. Maybe bloomingbulb.
Lisa (buggycrazy) usually has some good ones that are great sized and freshly dug listed on the marketplace. Also check her website for cool stuff. Never disappointed in anything I've gotten from her.

Oh I know I have bought several things from her and she has great stuff, and her bulbs are the greatest, I just got 2 huge lily bulbs from her here a week or so ago. Biggest ole bulbs I have seen in a long time.
Gotta go to bed am falling asleep here at the computer LOL. Night all.

I can't remember which coop I got mine from, but they were amazing and did bloom the first year after I planted them. Then I got more the next year and they stayed in the fridge for months because I was sick and couldn't do anything. They got moldy and mushy, but Bleek told me to plant them anyway. I think all of those came up, but didn't bloom because I planted them too late. So I'm really excited this year to see what they do. Some of the second batch that didn't bloom last year were Stargazers.

I love the co-ops! Gets me to try things that I ordinarily wouldn't, then that success leads to more impulsive gotta haves, lol! Then come the lists of things I gotta have...my, oh my.

Oh been there done that!!! I think when Ilook at something new to me and really think OH I HAVE GOT TO HAVE IT !!!! LOL When I saw the crinums I fell in love with them and I am one that keeps going until I get what I want and it has taken me almost 6 months to find crinums but I got them now !!!!!!!

Isn't it amazing how something that used to seem so impossible to grow because you didn't know anything about it suddenly becomes a must have because you find out that somebody else grows it in a similar climate and tells you how to do it. Until DG I didn't have a single hosta, asiatic lily, canna or daylily. Now they're everywhere.:) And daffodils, I have so many I can't keep up with where I planted them. Not that I'm ready to stop of course. If it hadn't been for coops and RU's I would still have a really boring yard.lol

I have, iris,tulips.hycinth,daffodils.lilies.roses and hostas and Lord only knows what else , but now I have the crinums, hosta,cannas,and caladiums coming! Now what to do with them HUMMMMMMMMM !!!!

Lol, flower! My neighbors have quit asking...Last winter one of them asked if I was starting a nursery with all my wintersowing jugs out. And so it starts again this year...

I have one flower bed with nothing but hosats in it and then another with about everything in it and then one as long as the drive way with iris ,tulips I believe. There maybe something else there but can't remember what LOL

See, now you can start interspersing things with your hostas...say heucheras...Another thing to obsessively seek;)

Oh I have seed of the heucheras to get started. I had one in one of the beds and it pretty well got smothered by my yuccas . when I dug the yuccas out there was a small piece of it left and I left it and hope it comes up good this year. just have to wait and see. If not I will have some anyway hopefully.

I have fallen in love with hecheras, unfortunately they don't like the weather down here apparently. I have a few but they have not spread, don't bloom much and don't look very happy. I guess some things you just have to enjoy from afar. One thing that does like it here that I never thought I would be able to grow is plumerias. I have to bring them in for the winter, but other than that they are easy so far. At least the ones I have are, which isn't many. I would never have tried them if it hadn't been for DG and an RU. I really hesitated because I hate killing poor defenseless things, but CJ in Houston talked me into it and now I'm hooked. I even planted plumeria seeds and didn't kill all of them.

Congrats on your plumeria success! I have resisted that so far since I have brugs to lug into the house and no more room! I actually have one blooming right now. Can't keep a good brug down, I guess. But you're right, I never would have tried them if not for other enablers!

I have 2 brugs and they are not healthy. I'm considering giving them away, but I'm going to give it one more try this year if I can figure out a better way to keep them watered. Our humidity is very low and last year was a very difficult year health-wise and at work, so they didn't get very good care. This year I hope will better

I have a couple brugs started and I have had a terrible time of getting them started. The ones I have right now are the 2nd batch I have tried, and out of 6 I got 2 to take off. Everybody talks about how easy they start , well not for me!!!!!

I used watersorb crystals in my brug pots to help with the water situation. It was over 100 some days here and we have terrible problems with humidity, too. I found that part sun was better than full sun, too.

Yes, they cook down right crispy here in Tx in full sun. I tried putting them under a pecan tree for shade and that didn't work because I couldn't remember to water them everyday where they were. So I moved them to the back patio under a redbud and that worked a little better. I think I need to put them in pots that have lots of holes in the bottom so the roots can go into the soil. When they get put in gh for winter of course those roots get cut, but that's ok. That keeps them to a manageable size.

I want a lot of them but it goes down to the point I have no place to put very many, and I would be dragging them in and out every spring and then back in for the winter. What a job that in it's self would be.

Yes that's true. That's a hassle that makes gardening a chore and I don't need another one of those.:) I have a nice gh but the problem is "Have gh, will fill.":) You don't realize how many plants you have until you try to get them all in a 9 x 12 room. Last year I managed to plant some in the ground that had been in pots, but I forgot that I accumulated more. So the gh is even more full than it was last year. Most of them are things that can't be planted in ground here. I am beginning to eye the porch longingly, but I know DH will not want to enclose it. It's so small that we wouldn't be gaining much anyway and there's no money now to make it bigger. DG is a great place to find great deals on plants, but not a great source for self-control.:)

OH my self control just flew the co-op . I have bought from 3 different co-ops in the past few weeks and I am going to have bulbs out my ears that I am going to have to DIG UP this next fall. Yikessss!

Oh dear. That's one thing I don't do.:) Every time I order something I get it planted so late it doesn't bloom when it's supposed to, sometimes doesn't bloom til the following year. If I had to dig it up in the fall...well it just would never happen. Once I get something in the ground it's going to have to stay there for at least a few years.

Well in your area you have to worry so much about it but here in Indiana the bulbs would freeze and I can't afford to let them do that ,cost to much money to waste them like that.