After finally getting some long overdue rain, the crinum lilies have put on quite a show. The crinum flower season at JLBG runs from March thru October. Here are a few of the July flowering cultivars to enjoy. These amaryllid family members form huge underground bulbs, making them difficult for most nurseries to offer in containers. Based on the parentage, their northern winter hardiness ranges from Zone 5b/6a to Zone 8.
They bloom March thru October? As much as I’ve read about crinums, how I did not know this? That’s good for us in the South with a long growing season.
Just to be clear, there are some crinum in our collection in bloom from March until October. Some clones flower for 4 weeks, some for 8 weeks, some for 12 weeks, and a few that flower for 25 straight weeks. Some flower only in spring, other flower only in summer, and some flower in spring, and again in fall. I hope this helps.
I’m generally lukewarm on crinums (mostly because of the bloom to foliage ratio), but a few of those are absolutely spectacular.
Agreed that most crinum breeders have not addressed the foliage to flower ratio.
I love all Crinums. I am really waiting to see you have some for sale at Plants Delight. Please keep us informed as to when we can buy some more. Thanks!
Our red crinum lily was a pass-a-long plant from a neighbor, It has done OK but nothing spectacular. Lots of tall green lanky foliage with limited large red/pink flowers and a higher number of quickly fading small flowers. I think it may be in too wet a location, though it does get full sun for approx 6 hrs. and then light shade in the pm. I plan to lift the bulbs in the fall and rebuild the bed, raising it a few inches and adding hardy oleanders and cannas in the same bed. I plan to use a lean well-draining soil mix (2 parts soil conditioner-1part sphagnum/coir-1part pine bark fines- 1 part permatill). I’ll fertilize crinums and cannas with Espoma Plant Tone/ Flower Tone, while not giving the the oleanders any supplemental fertilizers. Any advise on keeping these and possibly other hardy tropical-like plants happy in the same bed?
Thanks!
Thanks for showing off some of the amazing bloom on your crinum! It was a blast to get to see the fields with you earlier this summer.