Swamp Lily, açucena-do-brejo

What is pictured is Crinum procerum var. splendens.

In Funchal, Madeira, Portugal the plant is in bloom in late September and early October.

The Blooms are on stems which gro...Read Morew from ground level, the spiky leaves come later. In Funchal the plants are seen growing in the wild amongst the Agapanthus,

" Swamp Lily, is here in my garden since my child hood, 25 to 30 year old specimens, one flower ranging form 10 inch to 17 inch diameter,...Read More they love the after cold early warmth in february, Early pre-spring to the late spring, only if watering is managed with trimming of its mamonth leaves, the stem grows to an 8 inch diameter with many baby plants, best is to divide them in monsoon or excessive rainy season. Its a lilly bulb so it requires plenty of water but with plenty of water it needs the eqvi-valent amount of heat aswell, my Swamp Lilies are in full sun light, (here in lahore -Pakistan it reaches up to 50 degree centigrade easily in summers) so if watering is managed it never gives up,

there is a sometimes problem when the bud sprouts fall towards the ground, this happens because the leaves take all the energy, (the plant is in need of more nutrition) so a regular leaf scrapping has to be maintained, egg crust in autumn enables the Swamp Lily to have a shine in the flower petal and also have its hidden fragrance become somewhat more notice-able. If regular leaf maintainence is done it can reach up to a height of 5 feet, ( its like the travellers palm, after non replacement & reaching maturity ), it should be maintained in one place, and regularly stripped of longer leaves from the lower stem, (cropping) (no stripping). Stripping damages the stem surface, water sprinkling in bloom (February to April { Pre Spring to late spring }) really boosts the bud culture, although one bud consists of 20 to 30 flowers, it is seldom that they all bloom on the plant, its best to let the bud bloom half way and then add manure so it gets enough energy to bloom in full.

If one budding stem is placed in a vase, it stays excellently consistant and blooms for 15 days, one aspirin weekly supports with regular daily water refreshenning - jawadkundi "

In fall 2001, I dug what was then a huge specimen of this plant up from the yard of a house I was helping to remodel, having no idea at t...Read Morehe time what it was, and planted it in my back yard. (St. Petersburg, FL). At first it seemed to do well, and even bloomed the following April (see uploaded photo). But after the summer rains began, it started having problems, as the ground in my back yard can stay very wet throughout the summer.

By this time I had planted an off-shoot of the plant in a dryer, full-sun area in my front yard, and it quickly grew huge and thrived, blooming several times last summer (2003). Therefore, I decided to move the original plant before it completely died.

Although very near death at the time, it has actually started growing again in its new location, but is now only about 18 inches tall. The 2nd plant is now about 4-5 feet tall, and I'm hoping for blooms again soon! (It hasn't bloomed yet this year).

The flowers of mine are extremely fragrant, almost to the point of being wrechedly sweet!