- Author: Sharon L. Rico
I get excited whenever a friend knows I am a Master Gardener and wants to share plants from their garden. Our friend, Melody, has an older home that is filled with “old garden” plants. She did not know the name of this plant, just that they were taking over her yard and she wanted to thin them out.
Not sure what they were, I planted two under shade cloth across from our potting table. The first year the leaves looked pretty droopy, but now after three years in our garden they are performing. I researched and discovered they are Crinum, a perennial grown from bulbs. The blossoms look like Amaryllis belladonna on steroids.
Crinum are native to tropical parts of the world. Belonging to the Liliaceae family, they bloom in the spring or summer here, whereas they bloom year round in Hawaii. Having very large lush foliage the thick four foot stems rise from the foliage, bearing nodding clusters of trumpet shaped blossoms. Many are very fragrant. The flowers range in color from white, pink, dark pink to red and often are striped.
They like sun, but prefer some shade in Vacaville. If you can locate a retailer selling Crinum bulbs, look for pink ruffled ‘Emma Jones' or nearly red ‘Ellen Bosanquet' or ‘Carnival', which is pink with stripes of white.
If you are growing Crinum in your garden and need to divide them due to crowding, remember the Master Gardeners are having a plant exchange on September 27th, at the Cooperative Extension. I know others would love the experience of growing them in their gardens!