What are your bulbs doing today? I have others not mentioned or pictured here, but these are the ones I photographed yesterday for one reason or another.

Crinum, getting bigger.


Alocasia that I moved about 2 months ago into more sun, after realizing it's not a Colocasia.



Glads. A few were moved here from my mom's yard about 3 months ago but most were from a box of 100 that I bought & planted about 2 months ago.



All of these Caladiums were crammed in a little 4" pot, and on clearance for $1.50! They should settle in & grow some great new leaves soon.


I don't remember putting Tradescantia pallida this close to Caladium 'Little Miss Muffet' but I might have stuck some Trad stems there after LMM went dormant in the drought last summer, forgetting there were even some Cals there.

The Glads *are* an assortment! The wind is brutal to them, but I may not have been fastidious about planting them perfectly upright.


While standing by the Crinum, sending "bloooom! vibes", I noticed there IS an inflorescence. It was stuck under the leaves. I leaned the info & the leaves away from each other.

Crinum really puts on a show! I can't believe this "pile" of such unruly and relatively unattractive leaves can make such gorgeous blooms, with that amazing SCENT!

I'll have to see if my Crinums are showing any sign of blooms yet. Look forward to seeing what your blooms look like.

I acquired one last fall ~ Crinum Vera Cruz that was a bit soft. I treated it and potted it. It put on growth, then died back over winter. This spring when all begin growing, it didn't. The bulb was soft and I was sick. No sign of green so I pulled the bulb out of the pot. Lots of healthy white roots. Grrr... should have left well enough alone. So I dusted it with cinnamon and left it unpotted for a week. Potted it back up and FINALLY have new growth showing. I will have to remember it is just a slow grower compared to others.

Off to look for potential blooms ~ tis the season.

I see another inflo forming on Crinum already! So exciting, I did not know they could make more than one per year.


Couple more Glad bloom pics.

Nice crinum!
I planted several crinum this year with surprisingly mixed results. After reading numerous places that "you can't kill a crinum," I killed at least 3-4, lol!

I first ordered crinum bulbs from Ebay. I won an auction for 20 or so "red crinum," which I figured must be Ellen Bosanquet. They were a mix of large and small bulbs someone had dug that had obviously had enough of a large clump of crinum. So far, they have all grown well but no blooms.

I then specifically bought a stars and stripes and Ellen B from a couple different ebay sellers. The nursery in Florida where I bought the Ellen B threw in a Rose Parade as a bonus. It rotted over winter.

Then I ordered a "Lolita" from Jenks Farmer. It has grown quite tall, about 3 feet, and produced an offset, but no flower yet. I have to say, Jenks has shipped me the healthiest looking bulbs. I later purchased a Cecil Houdyshel variety, which arrived with two offsets! No flower yet, though.

Next, I ordered 10 Ellen Bs from Brent and Becky's bulbs. When they arrived in April, 2 were rotted. I called and requested 2 replacements. They were out so they asked if I would take crinum Powellii Alba. I said sure. I planted them in a separate bed bc I wanted a solid row of Ellen Bosanquets. They have slowly leafed out but seem healthy. But to my surprise and dismay, the only bulb from that order to flower has turned out to be something other than Ellen Bonsanquet. It's produced a very floriferous (at least 10 flowers, maybe more) stalk of pinkish white flowers.

In March, I think, I also purchased a bulb of the variety Mrs James Hendry from Southern Bulb Co. It's a variety Chris Wiesinger, company owner of "Bulb Hunter" fame, really talks up. Well, it did produce a beautiful stalk of flowers, which I'll attach. I can only hope for more.

I'm really enjoying these bulbs. I may have to move some around overwinter, now that I see their growth habit in my soil. I think I'll have plenty before too long.

That's quite a tale! Wow! Best luck with all of your bulbs. I was told they do take a few years sometimes to recover from disturbance. I can't offer much about that in the way of personal anecdote, and mine may or may not have names. The biggest, oldest one blooming in my pics here so far was purchased from a guy on the side of the road (along with a banana plant & some ripe tomatoes! LOL!) Please keep us posted about what your Crinums do in the future!

Believe it or not, the 2nd inflo I'd just noticed from the last pic, that was still barely above soil level, is 3 feet tall now, and it looks like the first bloom will open in the next 1-3 days. I guess It's loving all of the rain from the past week.

Yep, you never know with crinum. There's a tiny little shack I pass every day near where I work that has the most magnificent crinum I've ever seen.

Those flowers can sneak up on you. The pic I posted was of the Mrs James Hendry and it bloomed while I was on vacation. When I got home, one of my mystery crinum that had no indication it would do anything had shot up a beautiful stalk of flowers.

I suspect you have researched all the different Crinums you have because they bloom at different times throughout the summer. I have read that you can stagger them to have constant blooms.

Jenks Farmer has a chart showing which bloom when. I think I have it in a pamphlet somewhere.

Yes, I think they sent me that with an order also. I like their merchandise a lot.

I have a Cecile Houdyshel and it blooms more than any crinum I've ever grown! Here in Houston it starts as early as March and blooms until frost kills the leaves back. Every time it rains, I get more blooms. I really can't praise this crinum enough! I also have an old Milk and Wine variety that blooms several times in both spring and fall. It rests during the hot summer.

Interesting. I've never had a Crinum rebloom that I am aware of although it is probably better suited to your climate.

Off to shop for that one...

Yes, I bought the Cecile specifically b/c Jenks said it was the best, longest blooming. Speaking of, I had the nicest surprise from Jenks. He has a listing for "ditch lilies" aka a lot of small, unnamed bulbs he'll send en masse and for $17 (plus shipping). Mine came in yesterday and wow! I'm topped up on crinum now! They were quite generous. And some of the bulbs weren't exactly small. If I had a place to put them, I'd definitely order more. As it stands, I think I've completely filled every existing bed and even a few new ones I've created. Don't know what I'll do without ordering plants all the time.

I've always seen "ditch lily" used to refer to Hemerocallis fulva. Hopefully it's something else.

I don't think Jenks sells daylilies. These ditch lilies are actually small bulbs.
https://jenksfarmer.com/produc...

I had a vase of cut Louisiana Irises at work and an elderly gal called them "ditch lilies" . This lady said she was married during the depression and they cut ditch lilies for her wedding bouquets.

I think it is a catch all term for assorted blooms.

Yeah he was using the term "ditch lilies" in its loosest sense. I've also seen it used for Louisiana iris and even hymenocallis. But in jenk's case, he's simply calling it that because it's a bulk deal on smaller (mostly) bulbs that can be sewn in a ditch or slope to provide interest or erosion control. @seedfork, you're mostly right. Jenks actually does/did list autumn minaret daylilies. I'm guessing since they are one of the only varieties tall enough to blend in w some crinum.

My crinum, 2 sets of scapes so far.

Beautiful!

Colocasia esculenta (taro) finally look good this year. The drought the past 2 summers were brutal on them.


This Crinum is showing inflorescences #2 & 3. The first one finished & fell over.