Shields
Gardens
There are innumerable hybrids of Crinum in cultivation. Many are found growing in gardens in older neighborhoods of cities in the Southeastern USA. Very few still have their names attached. A small number of dedicated hobbyists also grow many of them, and have worked diligently over the past 20 to 30 years to get the correct names sorted out.
Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet' is a medium burgundy-red flower. Marginally hardy with heavy mulching in USDA cold zone 5.
Crinum 'Burgundy' is a magnificant dark burgundy-red flower. Rare in commerce, it is very much worth obtaining and growing. Blooms in mid-summer.
Crinum "Hannibal's Pink Dwarf" is a small plant with pink flowers. It was bred or discovered by the late Les Hannibal, of Sacramento, California.
Crinum x-digweedii is a hybrid of americanum and bulbispermum. Accordingly it needs a lot of water in the growing season (summer). This cross has probably been made many times. It has white, star-like flowers with the tepals (petals and sepals) extended rigidly outward. It is marginally hardy, even with heavy mulch, in USDA cold zone 5.
Crinum x-powellii is a group of hybrids between bulbispermum and moorei, or [bulbispermum X moorei]. Colors are white, pink, or "milk and wine" (white with red stripes). They are said to be very hardy, surviving in many gardens in uSDA cold zone 5. These are large plants, 3 to 4 feet tall. They bloom mainly in mid-summer.
RHS Manual of Bulbs, John Bryan and Mark Griffiths, Eds., Timber Press (1995).
Bulbous Plants of Southern Africa, by Neil du Plessis and Graham Duncan, Tafelberg Pub. Ltd., Cape Town (1989).
Bulbs for Warm Climates, by Thad M. Howard, University of Texas Press, Austin (2001).
Bulbs, Revised Edition, by John E. Bryan, Timber Press, Portland (2002).
"Indigenous Crinum of Namibia" by David Lehmiller, HERBERTIA 48, pp. 32-38 (1992).
"Additional Notes on Namibian Crinum" by David Lehmiller, HERBERTIA 48, pp. 75-85 (1992).
"The Genus Crinum in Southern Africa" by I.C. Verdoorn, BOTHALIA 11, pp. 27-52 (1973).
"Crinum acaule, C. minimum, and C. parvibulbosum in Southern Africa" by Robert H. Archer, HERBERTIA 52, pp. 90-94 (1997).
"Synopsis of the Genus Crinum (Amaryllidaceae) in Namibia" by David Lehmiller, HERBERTIA 52, pp. 44-65 (1997).
"Crinum Subgenus Codocrinum in Southern Tchad and Extreme Northern Cameroun" by David Lehmiller, HERBERTIA 52, pp. 119-133 (1997).
"Crinum, Family Amaryllidaceae" http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/crinum.htm by Robert H. Archer, National Herbarium, Pretoria, South Africa, 2004.
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James E. Shields, shieldsgardens@gmail.com
Last revised: 16 November 2011
© Copyright 2011 by James E. Shields. All rights reserved.