Crinum rebloom
Joe Shaw (Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:22:19 PDT)

Hi Gang,

I'm still slugging away, trying to put the clues together from various
observations about Crinum, and Crinum hybrids. The observations come from
all over the world and sometimes don't seem to agree with one another. For
instance, I've run across a number of descriptions of 'Rose Parade.' That
plant never reblooms, or it might sometimes. It can have dark pink (but
clearly pink) flowers, or nearly red flowers. It can have umbels with 25-30
flowers, or with less than 12. It sets seed, or it doesn't. It can
increase readily, or not so much.

For me, one revelation was realizing that perhaps some putative 'Rose
Parade' plants set seed and that the progeny are nearly identical with the
parent plants, but not exactly so. Thus, over time, perhaps 'Rose Parade'
seedlings have been passed on here and there, and the variants may have
accumulated differences. Also, I've realized that irrigation during the
growing season is key to much Crinum performance. Additionally, it seems
that established clumps (3 or more years undisturbed), perform differently
than newer plantings (more flowers, more rebloom, etc.).

Anyway, I was happy to see that Crinum x 'Bradley' (one of my favorites) has
rebloomed this summer, after producing flowers 2 times from the same bulb
earlier in the season. I wonder if continued irrigation and water over over
the growing season might not propel the plants to rebloom even more in
future seasons.

Cordially,

Joe Shaw
Not too hot here in Conroe, TX. Humidity moderate for this area, but not
low compared to many areas.