question on criunum lilies

i saw some for 20.00 a bulb. is this normally what they cost?? if it is then i will never get the milk and honey or any other color. i can not buy a bulb at that price wow.

are they cheaper somewhere else or is it the type and color that makes them so high in price. thanks marie

First ones I bought were from Men's garden club, priced on size, largest one about size of cantelope for 50 dollars down to 20 about 15 years ago. These were "Orange River Lily" Grey green foliage and lavender and white bloom. Crinums seem to be not as common as many bulbs, this probably has something to do with prices. Since then I have several named bulbs at 13 to 20 dollars.Long story to short answer, Look for gardners in your area growing them and ask for pups. They grow fairly quickly and can get invasive.

I lucked out and found some 1 gallon cans of c. moorei on sale. I bought 3 that were bursting at the seems and ended up with 16 bulbs for about $10. I agree, too expensive. Watch for the bargain closeout or tap the local garden club.

Crinums seem to be one of those, "You snooze, you lose" items. A couple of years ago I came across a house for sale in my area which had a large clump of Crinums in the front yard. I never followed up, and after the house was sold they dug them up and disposed of them somehow.

I also belong to the OTHER site and lately I hadn't checked in there for a few days. When I did, I found someone there offering Crinums FOR FREE as long as you picked them up personally. They had dug them up because they didn't want them anymore. And they happened to be in my area! Because I wasn't paying attention, I lost out. Sigh!! That'll teach me!

Like Larry said, keep your eyes open in your area for some large clumps, and make some new friends of the homeowners. You'll have more than you need in no time.

Seems like the OTHER site is sort of like "He who must not be named!" I think we can speak the name here, but we dasen't use DG over there.

They are an expensive bulb, and will go from $1.50 to $2.50 on the wholesale market, to commercial growers. We're looking at bringing in 4 or 5 varieties from Thailand next season, and though we don't have the final price, they'll probably be priced at or below the $5.00 mark. A lot depends on what these oil prices do.

Chris

BT,
I would love some of crinums from Thailand . Please let us know when you get them.
Patti

I would love to find one with burgandy leaves. They a gorgeous.

I believe Jerry's Jungle in Houston has them. I call mine "Aggie" or "Big Red" Don't know Latin name, but mine grow very tall and bloom is beautiful. North Side Nursery In Seguin and Barton Springs Nursery in Austin has them. I forgot to say Jerry's is semi private. Three sales a year, but call and he will open.

This message was edited Nov 11, 2004 8:22 AM

A couple of years ago i offered crinums for sase just because i had so many of them. Some of the bulbs are larger than grapefruit. I'm down to about 50 of them and may one day have the energy to dig them out.
At the florida swap i had a box full that i was forcing people to take, lol.
Some of them are sterile and the only way to get them are through divisions. Most of them are heirloom so people do tend to be a little protective of them.
Jen
You do have to be careful tho because even at $20 a bulb, it may be years before they bloom.

Is that why the majority of mine don't bloom? Mine are the white with a pink stripe down the center. Is that called Milk and Honey? I planted three of them about 3 years ago before I had any idea I'd ever want to remember the names of plants. lol

The ones that i have the majority of are called "gulf pride". The foliage is quite a bit glossier than that of milk and wine. the flower is white with a very faint pink stripe.

some people say that they are very finicky, but i dont find that at all. i dont fertilize them, never water them and have been known to dig them up and forget about them. i've had them bloom laying on the ground, on their side, in buckets and in forgotten boxes.

Jen

Lordy, at those prices I must have about a million dollars' worth in my yard! I have the regular pink ones (sorry, don't know the real name) and the red Ellen Bosanquet. They're mainly neglected but bloom reliably if there's plenty of rain in the early spring. If anyone wants some, I'm willing to send them out for postage.

Here's the Ellen Bosanquet.

Wow! How beautiful!! I'd love to have a few of each for postage. They are both so great. Thanks so much for the offer.

Carmen

You got mail!

Amaryllisgal - I would take as many as you can spare of both the pink and red. Particularly the pink! You are going to have quite a response to your offer. But please put me near the top of the list! Thanks.

Peter

Amaryllisgal---I would love to have 2 or 3 of your pink/lite pink crinums. I have been hunting for some pink ones for a while now. Please let me know if you still have some left to share. Thank you bunches!!

MsJen--if you ever decide that you want to find a home for 1 or 2 of your "Gulf Pride" crinums, I would love to try them in my crinum bed too. I love crinums and they grow so well here in my GA. country gardens.

I will be more than happy to send postage or trade. Thank you both for your consideration.

Monica,
I have plenty enough to trade, but wanted to add that postage can be high on these. I've had some that have weighed over 10 lbs. Maybe 2 will fit in a flat rate box, lol.
Are you going to the Florala plant swap in the spring?

I'm going to do my best to accomodate everyone's requests within the next week. As MsJen mentioned, these bulbs are heavy and postage will not be cheap! Meanwhile, I came across this link in a previous DG thread. There are some gorgeous specimens in the world of crinums...
http://www.crinum.org/crinpics/crinum_toc.html

hey, just wanted to add that they are a pain to dig out. the best way that i found is start digging a trench about 1 ft from the bulb (you gotta be careful to not cut it in half) after you get that dug, fill it with water and dive in with your hands. you need to try to get under the bulbs to lift them.
I usually need 2 showers after i'm done, lol.

Thanks for the warning, MsJen! It's been a while since I've lifted any of these, and I recall that it wasn't easy. DH and I plan to have our son and son-in-law over this weekend to help with some yard cleanup. Little do they know what I have in store for them.... ; ~)

Amaryllisgal, That is great site.







This message was edited Dec 3, 2004 8:31 AM

Hey MsJen and Amaryllisgal--Thank you both for offering to share your crinums with me. I know they are alot of work to dig up. I helped one of my neighbors down the road a few years back dig all her crinums up because she wanted to thin them and get them away from her foundation. They had been in the ground for years and never disturbed. When I offered to help I was new to crinums and never dreamed they would be so big and down so far in the ground. When I finally got them all out of the ground, the hole looked like I had removed a huge tree stump or like someone had dynamited a hole out of the ground. lol I didn't think I would ever get them all removed from that spot. My back told me about it the next few days after that. lol
If you happen to get yours dug (and there is no hurry on my end), I would love to have a couple of the medium to smaller ones to get them started in my crinum beds. I know the bigger ones would bloom quicker (1-2 years) but I don't mind waiting on the blooms on the smaller bulbs because I enjoy watching them grow bigger each year and the foliage is so stately looking in the gardens.

When does the foliage of the crinum lily die back? Mine hasn't done that yet. They would be so much easier to ship in a dormant state. I hate to cut back green foliage since the bulb uses that for energy.

pins, the foliage on mine never completely dies back unless we have a severe freeze. Usually they just look kinda ratty for a couple of months then the new leaves start coming out. I think this time of year they've already begun going as dormant as they're going to be so hopefully it won't be a problem.

We are 7b, and my one crinum's leaves already croaked with the frost. Yours in 7a can't be long!

I think mine stay green (if you can call it that, lol) yearround. They never really do die.

I am in zone 7b. My crinums will die back for the winter but come back out in the spring. The 3 frosts we have had so far have already laid my leaves down for this winter. I usually keep a mulch around my crinums year round. I have a couple of crinums in pots in my greenhouse that are not hardy in my zone. They stay green year round.

Hi all!

I am packing and shipping bulbs today and tomorrow. Luckily, I was able to get a number of smaller offsets from the pink crinums, so I'll be able to send more of them out than I thought. Before heading to the post office I will calculate postage using a digital scale connected to a postage meter, then double-check with the USPS website. This way I can give everyone a very close estimate before I ship. You will each get a DG email from me regarding this and I'll let you know when the boxes get mailed.

Thank you so very much Amaryllisgal for sharing your crinums with us. I look forward to getting your email. :)

Thank you, also, Norma. I am raring to go. You have mail!

Peter

Thank you, also, Norma. I am raring to go. You have mail!

So now that they are coming, what would anybody recommend: (1) store dry and slightly cool in the house, like caladium or elephant ears? (2) pot them up and keep in the cool greenhouse, looking for early rooting, and a jumpstart for next year?

I am going to wait to see things growing next spring before setting mine out.

Peter