Another Crinum question
Jim McKenney (Mon, 12 Jul 2004 18:31:14 PDT)

At 06:54 PM 7/12/2004 EDT, Joe Shaw wrote:

I have been lucky enough to trade some of my items for some Crinum
zeylanicum. It is a pass-along Crinum from Miami area. It grows outdoors

there and

seems to do well, according to my trading partner. I've heard this

species is

sensitive to cold.

Does anyone know how it performs in zone 9? I've looked over the recent
hardy Crinum data (very impressive), but I didn't find any mention of C.
zeylanicum. Marcelle Sheppard tells me it survives for her in Beaumont,

Texas but,

"doesn't like it."

I mentioned Crinum zeylanicum in a June 15 post as one of the Crinum I've
grown outdoors here in Maryland. I no longer have this plant, but it grew
well enough to bloom each year for years.

Was my plant the real thing? I have a slide made in August 1986 which shows
a very stout Crinum with large, shapely, substantial flowers, mostly white
but with narrow red stripes/bands on the outside of the flower. The red
shows on the inside of the flower. The slide shows five or so flowers open
in a horizontal position, five hanging down, and a few big fat buds. The
scape was perhaps a yard high.

Does that sound like Crinum zeylanicum? If it does, then it's a lot hardier
than anything zone 9 delivers.

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@starpower.net
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I've never had to cry
over the Crinum on account of lack of hardiness.