Crinum 2013

[ArnoldT]

Here's a reliable Crinum spends winters outside buried deep in the ground.

Crinum bulbispermum.

[bulborum]

Nice ones Arnold

Mine are just above the soil
To late started watering 

Roland

[jshields]

Our bulbispermum out in t

Jim

[ArnoldT]

If you look closely it's growing in the middle of a paeonia emodii.

[François Lambert]

Blooming for the first time as early as now, my crinum bulbispermum 'roseum' (at least, that's the name under which I bought it).  Also not sure it is a real bulbispermum because it does make one offset each year.  Self fertile and this spring I have planted a number of 2-year old seedlings in the open.  But I did not plant deep because those offsets are not much larger than a cigar.  So, I will need put a heavy layer of straw to protect them from the freezing cold.  I'm curious to see if they will by any way naturally pull their bulb deeper or not.

[François Lambert]

And I noticed yesterday evening that a third flower stalk is popping up on the same bulb.  It's also the first time since I have this bulb that I will get 3 flower stalks in one year  .  Perhaps because last year the bulb kept most of his leaves until late fall (usually the snails have eaten all the leaves towards the end of the summer) or because I transplanted the bulb from a 10 liter to a 20 liter container this spring.

[jshields]

Francosi,

The larger container definitely promotes growth and flowering.  Where are you located? These ought to grow outdoors in the ground; they do here in Indiana.

Very nice color, my the way!

Jim

[François Lambert]

Hello Jim,

Belgium has a climate that could be classified as an 8a zone, but the last 3 winters we had colds down to - 18C where I live.  As for the lattitude, it is the same as the South of Canada but we get the warm Gulfstream to make it still a temperate climate.  Due to the global warming, the Gulfstream has lost some power however, and because the solar activity is also rather low we also miss some extra heat from this source.  Just to give an idea, the only cold hardy palms or banana's that can be grown outdoors reliably here are Trachycarpus & Musa Basjoo.

I expect to have some seeds from this Crinum, that is, in previous years I always had a nice crop of seeds.  If you want some I can send you a dozen or so, I already have enough seedlings to plant a big patch of these in my garden.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Crinum moorei f. album is putting on a good show.

[jshields]

I have the same trouble with bulbispermum in my garden as Francosi has -- seeds by the bucketful!  I think I need to focus more.  My collection grew so big that it became self-limiting.  Large batches of seedlings shrank drastically under the rigors of fewer staff, too many weeds, too little water, etc.

So right now I am inventorying, rescuing, and resuscitating.  I find I really had a lot of losses in the past couple of years.  The number of species is still increasing, but the average numbers of individual plants per species is going down quickly.

Jim

[jshields]

Crinum carlo-schmidtii is blooming again.

   

This one bloomed last year for the first time.  I hope the other few plants of carlo-schmidtii will start to bloom one of these years!

Jim

[Maggi Young]

In the midst of your busy spell  " inventorying, rescuing, and resuscitating" it must be delightful to have these plants flowering  ( and the gorgeous Cyrtanthus you show here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10820.msg282274#msg282274 )

I do think the shape of the Crinum blooms is very pleasing.
Thank you for sharing, Jim.

[jshields]

Here is another Southern African species of crinum that bloomed a week or so ago:  Crinum carolo-schmidtii:



I usually keep this pot in a saucer of water in summer, but this individual managed to bloom without the sauce this year.  It does not seem to be setting any seeds, unfortunately.  Native to Botswana and some neighboring areas.  The ancestors of this one came from Namibia, collected by Dave Lehmiller.

Jim

[Maggi Young]

Here is another Southern African species of crinum that bloomed a week or so ago:  Crinum carolo-schmidtii:

(Attachment Link)

I usually keep this pot in a saucer of water in summer, but this individual managed to bloom without the sauce this year.  It does not seem to be setting any seeds, unfortunately.  Native to Botswana and some neighboring areas.  The ancestors of this one came from Namibia, collected by Dave Lehmiller.

Jim

   Very dainty form to the plant and flower, Jim.   Will you risk another year without the saucer or would that be pushing your luck?

[jshields]

Maggi,

I found three other bulbs of this species that survived last year's drought and neglect.  They are not quite so large as this one, and they are all standing in saucers kept filled with water!  They have not yet bloomed, but still could.  I'm more concerned with getting them in good enough shape that they might bloom next summer.

Jim