So many of you are talking about these......sooooo, spill the "beans" - which types, what is their fragrance.....and what vendor do you prefer??!!?
Crinums...so talk to me...
I think these are forgotten plants. I see them growing in older plantation stlye parts of town but not in the newer professionally 'landscaped' parts of town. The old timers put them in prominent parts of their yards where they would have the most impact and their fragrance could be appreciated. Most often around porches or lining walkways.
I think there not more commonly traded because they hate to be moved so most don't want to disturb the blooming cycle of their clump. I have collected many blooming size bulbs in the last couple years from old homes, (with permission) bought, and traded for many more. They will take about a year to bloom once planted in the ground. I'm not sure about pots but I have been told they will grow fine in pots as well. They prefer full sun and rich soil. Most are hardy to at least zone 8 and maybe higher with heavy mulch.
This spring I had my first year of blooms and Oh My! They were big beautiful and so fragrant! All that bloomed seemed to be the same kind of very close. These were collected so they are NOID vars. They did look similar to the Milk and wine lily (Crinum zeylanicum)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/514/ I would describe the fragrance of these as sweetly spicy or close to the scent of a Brugmansia and a lily crossed. Its fragrance is very heavy and carried well on the thick humid air. It seemed heavier at night and mixed well with my night blooming jasmine.
When you are looking for crinum you should expect to pay $20+ for a blooming size bulb. Even a blooming size bulb will take at least one year to settle in your yard and. Smaller bulbs can take a few years to reach blooming size. It is better to pay a bit more if you are in a hurry to see blooms. Either way they are well worth the wait!
I have bought the from many good people lets see...
-Buried Treasures I bought Crinum amabile, and Crinum asiaticum 'Golden Crinum'. The C.amabile was blooming size and should bloom next spring. The golden was pretty small Id give it a few years.
-Brian's Botanicals bought Crinum Amabile the red leaf variety. He says that the blooms have a bubble gum like scent. His bulb was also blooming size. He has a variegated variety I may have to go back for now :)
-Ebay I just bought a several bulbs from seller Bulbsnmore http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bulbsnmore
I'm most excited about Crinum Jagus var. Scillifolia is said to have a vanilla scent.
I did find several sites that must have collectors in mind??? some bulbs were $100+ (not this girl!)
I'm sold on them and have added most of them in to my tropical garden on the south side of my house. I will post pics next summer when I hope they will all be blooming!
Found a nice artical http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1295/
Caren to the rescue as always....hmmm, wondering if you were the first one to mention those to me - now that i think about it. "I would describe the fragrance of these as sweetly spicy or close to the scent of a Brugmansia and a lily crossed. Its fragrance is very heavy and carried well on the thick humid air. It seemed heavier at night and mixed well with my night blooming jasmine." - OMG - THAT type of scent - I would feel as though i'd died and gone to heaven...you know that's my absolute favorite - have mercy!!! Thank you so much for all those sellers and links....something to fill my time while dealing with winter. The front of my townhouse is brick and faces south so i have a bit of a micro-climate going on here - IMHO....so maybe....just maybe they'd do ok for me esp if mulched well....so excited about these....thank you again for the info, Caren!!!! Whaaa whoooo!!!!
Yep they are definately keepers! Cloves and lilies is how I describe them, I don't sense a brug scent. I have Milk & Wine, Mrs. James Hendry and Ellen Bosanquet. They do take up a lot of room tho Chantell, and when not in bloom can look pretty gawky due to their large sprawling leaves. The older they get, the more stalks and flowers you get. My Milk & Wine is probably 3x3x3' high and put on a show from April to late June.
Mrs. James Hendry is one with a more subdued habit and is beautiful with her pink blushed blooms. She is at least 2 years old and didn't bloom 1/4 of what M&W did.
BTW, like brugs, they appreciate a lot of water or can burn.
My Milk & Wine, it was impossible to get all the stalks in!
Those are beautiful Vi!! I just love the Mrs. James Hendry, I don't think Ive seen that one yet. Im not sure what the one I have is but its not Milk and wine if that is what the second pic is. Mine just have a hint of the pinkish color coming down the pedals and they don't hang down like those either. When mine put out some more offsets I hope we can trade??
You are right about the mess of leaves. I wish they would fall more like a daylily or agapanthas.
I'd love to have a yard of criniums, such easy care plants. Would love more varieties if I could just afford them :( I sure don't know how others do it, but it was like wrestling an alligator to get an offset of my M&W last year! Please someone, LMK how to do it!
Here's my Ellen as long as I'm showing off, just one stalk bloomed this year.
I hate, hate, hate the crinums with strap leaves that are droopy to the ground and look like they're having an eternal bad hair day. I love the crinums that have big, stiff, upward pointing strap leaves. I like their fragrance but I think I like them better for their structural quality.
I have a crinum procerum, which had very dark purple leaves. Last spring I chopped it off like a banana trunk and it was extremely easy to detach the offsets. The main trunk is presently as big as prior to cutting. Flower is frag, but again, I don't care so much about it.
While traveling overseas I went to a garden where the crinum offsets were left to grow right by the mother plant and the effect was spectacular. It created a rosette of crinums, if you can imagine. Of course, you have to have the room for such a display. So, in the future I plan to let the babies be and grow a crinum rosette. It will be a while for that effect to materialize.
I recently planted a dward crinum Hannibal, which is also stiff and upward pointing but short. Since it's new, I have no more additional comments.
Lastly, my fave is a golden crinum that I got thru a Buried Treasures coop 2 yrs ago. It is also stiff and upwardly growing, but it is an acquired taste for sure. To many, the plant just looks half dead or chlorotic because of its golden color. I'm in the minority that likes it because I think the yellow color provides light in the garden. It hasn't bloomed for me yet.
Agree w/ everyone that they're "no maintenance" plants. C, have I talked enough??????
Ahhhh Nery....I love to hear your insight on plants - you KNOW that!!! Alrighty ya'll have sold me on these...I'll wait till I see what "Santa" brings and then maybe I can look for a couple....heee, heee
here is my giant purple one. Some people speculate that this is the same as Queen Emma, I sorta think it might be.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/93830/
Here is the flower in dwarf crinum Hannibal. http://marcellescrinums.com/html/crinum-hybrids-other/crinum-hannibals-dwarf.html
BTW, IMO, Marcelle is the goddess of crinums. Ck out her website and drool a while. It is incredible.
Here is Golden Crinum. http://www.buried-treasure.net/productscat.php?catid=31 Also, gothqueen has a pic showing the flower in the PF.
This message was edited Dec 4, 2008 10:08 AM
Great links, Nery...but which one do you like best for scent...form and color are almost always secondary with me.
the giant purple is quite delicious but I find that I need to get close to it to enjoy. Not like brugs, that you can walk by and get a whiff. And I'm not your best source as form and color are more important to me, when it comes to crinums.
hi gang...i'm new here and new to Dave's Garden...and a couple of days ago i ordered my first crinum bulb (Crinum-macowanii from Seneca Hills). as i live in the 'sub artic', it will have to be in a pot. I am getting a lot from this thread, thanks!
I love my golden Crinum too but thought it looked a bit sick at first. I decided to pair it up with some deep blue Salvia and that did the trick! The limey green leaves really pop against the blue. I'm sure it would go just as well with any color on the opposite side of the wheel. Just left in a sea of green it wont look right.
Caren
Big ole welcome to you dabneyrose!!! You'll like it here...we have a wonderful, knowledgeable group here that are very helpful...God knows many of my plants have benefited from their insight!!!
Caren - that sounds gorgeous....you have to take a pic and share when you can!!! ^_^
I missed this thread somehow. I love crinums!! I have probably20-30 ( I guess I should go out and count them) of various kinds although I must say I have lost most of my plant markers. My Crinum Jagus var. Scillifolia does have a vanilla smell to it .
Vossner I too love my golden crinum. But have had quite a few not understand my loving it.
I had 3 different crinums bloom this past year but I must say that none of them were fragrant enough to smell unless you stuck your nose up close to them.
Forgot to add one of the best place to buy crinums is from Nestor at Bulbsnmore.
Marcelle is a very sweet lady and one of the best hybridizers there is out there!!
you all make me very anxious to get mine going! (i won't get it till feb!) how do i care for them through the winter, in a pot? will they want to go dormant on me or does their foliage stay all year? (and i also want to know how to get which zone i'm in...6b...:(.... up there ...but can't figure that out) thanks...and i bet i will see a lot of you on other threads!
Marie - so glad to hear you say that as I was looking at her listings on ebay and couldn't find her in our watchdog - so your input was very welcome!!!!
dabney I wish I could answer your questions. I grow all of mine in the ground and a few of them freeze back but come back strong as soon as it warms up. I am sure someone on the bulb forum can answer questions about them growing in pots. DMJ1218 is a bulb expert!!
Chantell Nestor is great about answering questions and his customer service is impeccable (sp)
I just bought from Nester and I really thought the shipping was a bit high (thinking I was getting a Daff size bulb). When I got the box the seller had paid nearly $10 in shipping! I only paid 6.80 in shipping. The bulbs I actually bought were at least that much in shipping but the box was stuffed with 4 bonus bulbs and one was the size big yellow onion lol! I have nothing but good things to say about Nestor (Bulbsnmore).
Chantell, I could kick myself for not taking more pics this year! Sadly my salvias are all brown and shriveled from frost. Another time tho for sure!
Caren
Alrighty...ya'll have me sold...now to just pick one...hmmm, should I be ordering now???? Didn't think about that...or waiting till spring...sheesh....so many things to consider...
Nestor is close to you and if the weather is not bad in between you too then it is probably ok to order now. Otherwise wait for Spring . Plus if you wait until spring you will be able to talk yourself into a few more :O)
Have mercy...there's my down fall "...a few more" of any plant....LOL
Crinums are blooming tonight. I have either C. procerum or C. asiaticum- not sure yet, really. Anyway, the big green leafed one with white and purple flowers. I think it was the cooler less humid air, but tonight it had a bit of a licorice hint. Was nice. I would have walked by it until the scent hit me in the face!
One more thing to pile onto myself......I have tons of offsets. I have not seperated them before, but with the help of vossner and others I'm sure I can! Also doubt if those would be "bloom" size, but I'll try to get some pics this weekend and see what y'all think.
f4f, I researched extensively when I got mine. Found out "procerum" means tall and "asiaticum" is from asia. So, you likely have c. asiaticum var. procerum. I think I have c. asiaticum rubrum var. procerum. Rubrum means red. I think botanists sometimes just throw some latin adjectives to make the plant more important sounding.
That's what you believe is synonomous with 'Queen Emma', no? I have Queen Emma, too.
So, I guess I have 3 - green leaves with white flower, green leaves with white and purple flower, and purple leaves with white and purple flower, which might be c. asiaticum, c. asiaticum var. procerum, and c. asiaticum rubrum var. procerum.
LOL vossner I wish I could keep all of that straight in my head!! I am going to have to wait for mine to bloom and though go about trying to identify them again. I just went out this evening to look at my golden crinum and I think my chicken have been pecking at the leaves :o(
What kind of chickens do you have? Here's a blurry picture of some of my young hens- mix of breeds including Americauna, Wyandote and Bard Rock. They are mostly in the coop, and get to be yard chickens on the weekends (until the days get long again.) So, for now I've managed to avoid them getting into what I don't want them to!
i am surprised that it gets that cold for you, marie...i feel everyone is in the tropics but me! i plan to move to a warmer clime in a few years, but if arkansas is too dry for me, i don't think AZ will be an improvement....i'm thinking of upper LA...any feedback?
i don't think i have ever seen a real live blooming crinum! but anything fragrant is a magnet for me.
f4f yes, that's they one that may be Queen Emma and you got your latin nomenclature bang on!, lol.
this is what the flower on my giant red looks like. not my pic, it belongs to Jeanne TX. The flower on mine looks the same and it is frag, but you have to get close, as somebody else mentioned above.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/155668/
Well vossner that may be the identy of one of mine!!
FTF I have one silkie, one mixed breed, one frizzle and one dinky tiny hen that I am not sure of her breed. We had about 30+ but I had my husband sell them off so I could start over again.
Chickens are a lot of fun, and it's been a learning experience for me with the different breeds. I bet your Silkie is gorgeous, Marie.
Here is my 'Queen Emma' flower. Here is how it is classified in the trade: Crinum augustum 'Queen Emma.' Voss- what are your thoughts?
There are wild crinums on the banks of the canals at work that I keep kicking myself for not collecting- probably Crinum americanum.
ftf can we send you to work with a shovel??? :o) I hope mine blooms this next year. It has done a lot of growing but I did not get flowers yet yours is beautiful!!
My silkie is a doll.
F4f, I don't know enough to comment about flowers but I do notice your picture and Jeanne_TX's pic differ in that the flower in your pic has a purple underside and hers doesn't. You'd think they're different, albeit slightly, based on that. Maybe they're kissing cousins.
I'm gonna ck out Marcelle's website and see what I can figure out.
Ok, here she is- (c. asiaticum var. procerum.) I don't ever want to take away from having a big mass of crinums here, but I do have a gazillion. Tell me what to do, and in the new year I'll make it a project.
Just chop these little guys off? Need roots/don't need roots? PLMK what to do!
