Crinum breeding: which features ?
Daryl Geoghegan (Wed, 25 Aug 2004 14:26:13 PDT)

Hi Angelo,

I have a great deal of Crinum hybrids here in the garden. Many will flower
this year for the first time from past breeding efforts.

You are right in saying many of the blooms do not last long. However, some
hybrids have tougher flowers than the species and last a few days in a vase.

The thing is, you may have to breed this quality into your crinum by
choosing the longest lasting flowers as parents. Many folks have bred Crinum
flowers that last longer than the species, Marcelle Sheppard, Les Hannibal,
Steve Lowe, just to name a few.

Keep at it, don't give up. It is a long road to find that gem of a flower
you are looking for.

Best wishes,

Dash.

Daryl 'Dash' Geoghegan, Mainly Amaryllids Garden, P O Box 173, Barnawartha,
Victoria, 3688, Australia.
+61 02 60267377, Mobile 0429 621 612 Visit my web site @
http://www.mainlyamaryllidsgarden.com/ & http://www.ozfriendstalk.com/

-------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: "Angelo Porcelli" <ang.por@aliceposta.it>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 6:41 AM
Subject: [pbs] Crinum breeding: which features ?

Dear all,

in the last years I have gathered quite a number of Crinum, more than 40
among species and hybrids and now many are reaching flowering size and

this

can be rather lengthy from seed for the pure species.
The reason I was amazed from these plants was for the shape and colour
combinations of the flowers.
But now I am changing my mind a bit. These flowers, although nice and
scented, are very short lasting and if I wasn't been up very late that

night

a couple of weeks ago, I would have missed Crinum amoenum flowering which
lasted one night only. The others don't last than two days. Many other
plants have short living flowers, one for all daylilies, but one can count
on a very long time of flowering. I have clumps of Dietes bicolor in bloom
continuously from April so far.
Amaryllis belladonna and Amarcrium are in bloom from late July and they

will

still last.
As crinums are often very cumbersome plants and personally I don't find

them

nice foliage plants apart asiaticum, I wonder if still make sense to grow
them.
Large C x powelli have already found a worthy burial in the compost pile,
since I realized how beautiful were their flower !
If I wanted foliage plants, I had choosen many others.
So, the question is: on which features crinum breeders focalize their
efforts ? Hardiness? New colour combination? Reblooming habit? Anyone has
never thought on more lasting flowers?

Angelo Porcelli
Italy

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