need help crinum

I had the opportunity to dig some crinum from a houseplace. Should I cut the tops back at planting? they are droopng to the ground. I also have some seeds from my Zephyranthes flavissima and don't know how to prepare them for planting. Cindy

Hi Riverland - Crinums can take incredible abuse. I moved some last Oct. Cut off the foliage, left them sitting around for two weeks and mailed them around the country. Some I tossed in the compost heap because they were too gross to mail. They all are doing fine, even the ones in the compost heap (I did move them as I figured they deserved it). So, do what you like to the crinums. Cant help with the Zephyrs other than to say that mine reseed around the mother plant where they fall. Good luck.

Crinum foliage should be cut back to about 5" in length--they will grow back. They need a little time to restablish deep roots.

Zeph's can be planted in good quality potting soil, rather shallow--keep moist. They will germinate within 14 days. Can I talk you into anything for a trade of some of those seeds? I got some really good stuff. I have Zeph primulina (don't look at PlantFiles--that info is all wrong) seeds. I am assuming yours are blooming orange-yellow blooms, right? dmail me--let me give you a better link to what Zeph primulina are like. I also have a lot of Cooperia penduculata--a spring bloomer (PlantFiles is wrong about this one too). Cooperia penduculata is a Texas Native too.
Debbie

I would like to take a moment to reflect on my inability to grow crinum.I haveboth amarayllis,and crinum,some have been in the ground for years,some I have moved,but all I have ever seen is folage.Now don't get me wrong,I love lilies over most all plants,but I must be doing something wrong.Is it depth of bulb,over shadowed by suronding plants,or are they just not going to grow for me??? Oh,some I've paid top dollar for,and even baught them in bloom,but they showed me...Mike

I have always had problems with spelling......Sorry. Mike

This message was edited Sep 27, 2006 5:34 PM

Mike I can't spell either but I can grow crinums--lol. They are much heavier feeders than most people think. I feed mine at least once a month with an organic 8-8-8. They like a rather rich, humusy soil too.

Thanksdmj1218,I can fix that,and that could be the problem.Where I have these planted there is too much red clay,but I have compost!!,and that is just what I shall do.Mike

Don't want to hi-jack the thread from Riverland but I'd like to respond Mike's posting:

I would second what dmj1218 says about humusy soil with good drainage and regular feeding. I would like to add that most of them need a good deal of direct sun to do well. (Certain of the tropical ones will prosper in part-sun to light shade). Give then at *least* 6 hours of *strong* sunlight.

And I would also recommend heavy watering on a regular basis. An established Crinum has roots that go WAY down and it takes a lot of water to sink down to where those roots can dig. There are prolly a lot of finer feeder roots nearer the surface and these can be watered a good bit each day once it gets hot to keep them from drying out. A nice mulch will help keep things evenly moist.

Certain ones like C americanum will want a *wet* boggy soil to do well.

If your foliage droops badly, as if the leaf had been bent suddenly down toward the ground somewhere along it's length, one or both of the above things could be the cause. Not enough sun to produce strong growth or not enough water to keep up the turgor pressure to keep foliage "stiff". They bend when they wilt and won't recover their former position the way a lot of plants do when they get more water, so it's best to prevent that from the start.

Too dry for the amount of sun can be seen in the foliage getting pale and going yellowish.

Would be interested in knowing which Crinums you're growing.

Robert.

Feel free to hyjack, I am learning as you go. Cindy

Thanks raydio,what you have said fills a lot of voids,in my knowledge of crinun culture.Yes the foliage weeps,and yes,they are in too much shade,and I wish I could tell you all the crinums ,but I can only tell you the name of one(elizabeth traub).The oldest amaryilla I have has been handed down from the civil war.I think the story my mother told was,My great grandfather brought the bulb back from one of the battles in Tenn.,because she was a real flower lover,and he liked the lily.for sentimental reasons I want to keep it going,and when I moved here 24 yrs.ago the shade wasn't there.I have just resently started an appreciation for the bulbs,and I guess I take after my great grandmother.My desire is to learn what I need to know,and you have some master pieces.I am going to start a bulb garden,in a place that gets at least 6hrs.sun light.I need to know when is best time to move them,and depth of planting the bulb,coverd or top at surface.Thank you for your help,and I'm open to sugestions. Mike

Mike~

That's a great story of an heirloom Crinum. Thanks for sharing it.

The "rule of thumb" about planting depth is to have them deep enough so that the top of the neck is even with the soil or just a touch above it. Of course, that will put different sized bulbs at different levels depending on the neck length. So, I'd suggest, for most of the hardier types, that in zone 7b, you have about 6 inches of soil over the "shoulder" of the bulb. The shoulder is the top of the bulb, where the neck meets the body of the bulb itself.

Make sure you cultivate and enrich the soil below the bulb so that the roots will have at least 6 inches of loose soil below the bulb to root into, not hardpan.

Some of the less hardy ones can go deeper and the borderline ones, like scabrum, might have 12 inches of soil over them. Whew!

Here's a list of hardy types that are supposed to stand 5 degrees F, and I would think that would include some mulch too:

http://crinum.iconx.com/html/hardiness.html

Be sure to look at all the great Crinums on Marcelle's site!

I think the best time to transplant Crinums is in the spring after the last frost when the growth has just started. That way they have a long season to get re-established and bloom, if all goes well. They are so tough that you could still transplant at anytime you *had* to before it got too cold, but earlier is better. Just cause they can take rough treatment doesn't mean they'd prefer it............

The later you transplant, the more important watering becomes because of increasing summer heat, so it's better to get it done bfeore it gets too hot-- for *you* and the bulbs!

Robert.

I have a bunch of her hybrid seeds going too--they are doing great. Nearly 100% germination this year on them. She is a very nice person.

I hope she is "back up and running" soon after her accident. Her garden is really a wonderful reference garden in IMHO.

I'm lusting after 'Amelia Garza' in a terrible, terrible way.........

Robert.

She is.

Oh, good. Is she selling again?

Don't know about that, I'll call my brother tonight. I've gotten a lot of plants either free or really cheap from her, my brother is one of her neighbors.

Great. I guess as long as she's selling again by spring, it'd be OK. So late now to try to add anything. But to avoid losing out on a "Sold Out" item, I'd go ahead and get them. Keep me posted/Dmailed.

Thanks!

Robert.

Please let us all know if she is healthy and selling again. I have been lusting after a few myself. Does anyone know what the cultivar of crinum that we have everywhere ,pastures ,old homesteads, here in LA? It is pink and white striped, fairly heavy bloomed on established clumps with downward facing blooms. It is quite odorific (pu). Flowers stand about 36" on med green straps that bend over to the ground. I know a picture would be better but they are not blooming now. I have googled and haven't come up with an answer.

, Confederate Lily, Milk and Wine I think this may be what we have here. Should have looked in Daves I thought I had.

There are so many down south where you are, so without a picture, ID is *very* iffy.

That said, let me tell you about one common Crinum often seen in the Gulf States. Appropriately named 'Gulf Pride', this Crinum has, at least in one report, been around since the early 1800s.

If you look in Dave's Plant Files, under Crinum zeylanicum, the top picture by TiG very closely gives the look of 'Gulf Pride'. I hear that there is some variation in the intensity of the pink stripe, but it is supposed to be on the pale side. The ones I posted about here http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/622507/ might well be 'Gulf Pride'.


BTW, the only pictures there that resemble zeylanicum are the two by gel70. The others are other species and hybrids, possibly xherbertii and crosses with bulbispermum and macowanii. Just a case of mis-identification of some very pretty Crinums.

{C. zeylanicum is a species and has a well defined deep wine-red stripe on both the inside and outside of the tepals, much like C. scabrum. It is *very* cold sensitive, and is difficult to overwinter north of zone 8 without extra winter protection, including keeping the bulb as dry as possible. So those who easily grew their Crinums in zone 7 and didn't have them *very* deep, couldn't have been growing zeylanicum.}

There are many other passalongs in the deep south other than 'Gulf Pride', many of those being raised from seed and differing from others in flower color and form, number of blooms etc. They may have originated on someone's yard long ago and got passed around as offsets form that unique seedling. It is *very* hard to nail some down precisely, but you could ID it as one of a certain heritage or cross.

You said yours if "quite odorific--PU". Is that to say it isn't a peasant scent at all and is strongly so? The ones I posted about are lightly sweet-scented and 'Gulf Pride' is said to be sweet-scented as well.

It might help if you browsed all the beauties at Marcelle's and chose one that most closely resembles yours. It might be the same hybrid or a variation of it.

Let us know which one it looks most like.

Robert.

Crinum fimbriatulum This is the one it mostly resembles in daves plant files. I has a strong odor that I don't like. I would not call it mildly sweet. Thanks for the info

OK. Like the tiG picture under zeylanicum.

In that picture under fimbriatulum, the left blossom looks to have a couple dozen blooms on it! Wow.

BTW: Look at this for how fimbriatulum really looks: http://www.crinum.org/crinpics/fig_52.html

Robert.

that looks like it

I just got some crinum powellii................. hope they flower next year............. never had them before.

Was reading the great info on Crinums... I have Queen Emmas planted in pure volcanic cinder, they are huge, pupping, bloom like crazy. What happens if I feed them????? Will it be the plant that ate Cleveland? OH, we get about 150" of rain per year.

Yesterday I followed a link to a wonderful Bulb Seller and now I can't find the link NOR the name. Can someone help? It was like Easy to Grow, or Nice and Easy...they had a number of Crinums and Scilla. ?????

Carol

You're probably thinking of
https://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/

Alst as mentioned there is
http://marcellescrinums.com/

Thanks so much!!! I will go there today. I DO love Crinums and they do well here!! The break my heart when they start to bloom and it rains a lot...