I know this is probably a long shot, but I got a crinum bulb from Home Depot last month. It was labeled Red & White. The bulb is actually made up of several smaller bulbs. If the flower happens to look like the one in the picture, could anyone ID it? Thanks

reminds me of Milk and Wine

Thanks Ginger. I hope it blooms this year.

There are a few "red and white" Crinums,

The Milk and Wine is Crinum X herbertii

http://almostedenplants.com/sh...

There is also Crinum scabrum, C stuhlmannii and C zeylanicum

http://www.pacificbulbsociety....

Additionally, a number of hybrids that are stripped

http://www.pacificbulbsociety....

Thanks Moonhowl for the links. I'll write each of those as a possibility. I really appreciate it. Its probably not winter-hardy in my area so I'll plant it in a container.

You are most welcome. Crinums are favorites of mine. When it blooms you will at least have some idea if it is a species or a hybrid. But no matter, the blooms will be lovely.

When I saw the crinum bulb I just had to buy it lol. I've never seen any of the big box stores sell crinums. Do you think it would do well in a partial shade area or full sun?

It will need at least 4 to 6 hours of sun in order to bloom and grow well. All of mine are in the ground in full sun. I agree, it is rare to see places selling the bulbs...sometimes a nursery will have a single bulb potted up for sale. I see that you are in zone 8a....most crinums are cold hardy up to zone 7 and some are hardy to zone 5.A couple years ago, I was rearranging stuff in a bed and dug up a huge clump of Crinum asiaticum....since I wasn't sure where they were going, I just dumped the clump into a black plastic pot....and got busy with other things...fast forward to today....they are still sitting in the pot, under the edge of a live oak...and this is their second totally unprotected winter....still green and growing. I think yours would probably do so as well.

Its strange, I was reading that article yesterday night. I guess I'll plant my bulb in full sun. This year Lowes and Home Depot had a lot of new bulbs and plants for sale. I'm really looking forward to their Spring shipment of outdoor plants. I didn't know crinums were that cold hardy, that's great.

I think you will find that the bulbs will multiply faster in the ground also....funny coincidence...

I have some spider lilies that have been in a container for 3 years. I don't have any good spots in my garden for them. I went from 7 bulbs to over 20, and the container is small. They probably won't bloom well in containers.

I would divide them, and keep them in containers and just tuck the containers into the beds.

When we moved here in 2001, I had about 8 or 10 Lycoris aurea bulbs. I had them for a few years in containers before we moved and had only seen 1 or 2 blooms. I stuck them in a "holding bed" and they all bloomed that fall. Since then, I have divided them a few times to share. Since they go dormant in summer, I kinda lost track of them for a bit. This past fall, there were 30 to 40 bloom spikes on them....as the greenery came in, I realized that there are over 150 plants clustered there....I think it may be time to divide them again Sometimes a little neglect is all that is necessary to get them going.
http://www.pacificbulbsociety....

The yellow flowering type is so beautiful. Mine are the red type. Should I wait until they go dormant in Summer to divide them? I bet all of those blooms looked beautiful. I'll find some containers to stick in one of my flowerbeds. Do you grow yours in full sun?

I divide mine in the Spring while they are green. I have a friend who is a professor of Horticulture and he suggested moving them as early as the ground can be worked. Lycoris can be finicky and sometimes moving them will stop the bloom cycle. The sooner you move them the better it seems. I have been fortunate with them blooming after being moved while they still have greenery to feed them. I think it helps them to establish themselves in the new location.

I will happily send you some of the gold lycoris if you would like them. I have already dug a huge clump of them that were encroaching on the path. I have mine planted on the southwest side of the canopy edge of a live oak....they pretty much get sun from late morning to sunset. Since they seem to thrive in dry heat, I only water them in when transplanting After that everything they get is from rainfall and I mix a little compost and granular fertilizer into the soil when I plant them.

Ok I'll divide mine next weekend and I'll plant them on the border of my small herb garden. Its on the northwest side of my house but it gets plenty of afternoon sun, from 12pm to sunset. By dividing them, I can get an accurate count of how many I have. Do you know how much postage would be for the gold lycoris? Or how much you would sell them for? I wonder if I should plant them in a drier area because my small herb garden will probably get regular watering during Summer. I have it amended with topsoil with some composted cow manure. I'll probably add more once I plant more things in my herb garden.

I would imagine postage to be less than $5....but, do not worry about that...I may request a spare pretty from your garden later on. we can do a pass-along swap Just mail your info to me here when you are ready for them...

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Ok that sounds like a great deal. I've never done a pass-along swap. That bloom is so beautiful. Should I wait until Spring?

So long as there are no hard freezes(prolonged temps below 32) predicted for your area I can send them anytime before the end of March. That will give them time to settle in before they go dormant for summer.

This week, Wednesday through Friday will have lows around 31-32. I'm not sure what the lows will be next week.

That sounds pretty much the same we are going to have here Friday thru Sunday....weatherwise we aren't that far away from each other...grin How about I send them out to you around the end of next week? (6th or 7th)