Special Article for Successful Gardener

Darrell Blackwelder

April 1, 2004

     Crinums are great summer-flowering bulbs that are found in old

homesteads throughout the South. This member of the amaryllis

family is one of the more cold-hardy bulbs, and it can be safely

planted in the eastern regions of our mountains. The coarse sword-like foliage of crinums is lustrous and statuesque, providing a pleasing contrast to finer textured ornamentals. The long-necked bulbs can grow as large as a football!

     The flowers of crinum resemble those of the common Easter lily. Each long­ tubed pink bloom is about 4 inches long and has a characteristic rose-red stripe on each petal. Up to 15 flowers are borne on each rigid 2- to 3-foot-tall stalk. The white form 'Album' and the wine-red 'Rubra' are choice garden plants. You will be delighted with numerous late-summer surprises when you plant crinums in a moist garden spot.

     Crinums are planted in the warmer months, beginning in April and continuing through late October. They produce both seed and off-sets or suckers. The off-sets can be removed from the mother and planted in summer and early fall.

Crinums thrive in sunny locations, provided the soil is moist, or in filtered shade. The foliage will yellow when planted facing the south sun, so plant crinums in the middle of the border. There is a species, C. mooreii, that grows well in a woodland shade garden.

     Plant crinums in an area that is naturally moist, or add large quantities of organic matter (sphagnum peat moss, compost) to sandy or gravelly soils. The bulbs are easy to grow, and once they're planted, they should be left undisturbed for many years.

     Newly planted crinums need to settle in for a season or two before they begin blooming freely. Crinums are not demanding; they require only some hand weeding. Apply a high-phosphorus fertilizer (in mid-May each year after the first flower­ing season. Provide plenty of water during the bloom period if there if there is a drought. After 4 to 5 years, the off-sets can be removed and replanted to enlarge your collection or share them with a gardening friend.

     Crinums don't like to be disturbed! Those living in the far west regions of North Carolina can grow crinums in containers and taken inside for the winter.

     Many of the crinum cultivars are age-old hybrids that were devel­oped even before much was known about hybridization. Most are crosses of C. bulbispermum and C. moorei, such as C. x powellii and scabrum. Cultivars include white-flowering 'Schmidtii' and 'White Queen,' pink 'Houdyshel' and 'Roseum,' red 'Carnival,' and bicolor 'Milk and Wine' types.