The flowers on mine had to last at least two weeks, the first pic where not all flowers are open was 8th June, the last I took was 17th June where the first flower had dropped.
Bud on 28th May..
The second pic in my post above was 11th June. Seed pods just splitting was 5th November.
If you got yours from Dan Hinckley it could easily be something unusual, the petal formation from what I can see doesn't look uniform like Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense. Although it doesn't look to have as much reddish-brown colour as mine has, I think there must be slight variations. At the moment I'm leaning towards C. cathayanum.
I wouldn't try to move it from the pot, but when it dies back leave it to completely die off then check for offsets which should form around the bottom of the stem. The bulbs should be planted with the neck near or at the surface, you should find the offsets not far below the surface. The old bulb just won't be there, it turns into the flowering stem which dies. I would be very careful about leaving it outside in a pot over winter, I kept my C. giganteum in a greenhouse over winter until it looked like it was going to flower although the only offset I have left (from second offset from my original which flowered) has been in the ground in well drained soil since 2009, it's been too many years without flowering so good care will be needed to help the bulb develop. The one which I believe to be C. cathayanum offsets are in their third year in the ground and looking not too good, hence the need to lift them which I might have done this spring if we had a spring but winter went on for far too long so it didn't get done! I think they are usually sold in early spring so that is probably the best time to pot them up so they grow on quickly.
I did sow tons of seed in a large seed tray which I left under a large horse chestnut tree, they are best not getting too much water in summer as seedlings and will take one to two seasons to show leaves as the bulb develops first, then the leaves but they have to be sown while fresh. I left mine outside to get natural weather conditions and I had two or maybe three seedlings, I think they were there this spring but when the seedlings are small they die back very quickly so it can take 4 to 5 years before you see any significant size change. The bulb feeds from the leaf so can only grow as much as the leaf has food for it, in ideal conditions that may be quicker but not in our climate. I got quite good germination from C. giganteum over two years from the original which I think flowered in 2000, I eventually put some survivors in the ground and they are still not very big plants!
Hence the need to grow them with very good care to help boost their growth.
