Hi Gang, I visited with Marcelle Sheppard yesterday. She's busy as can be after a year of down time. She's been weeding and fertilizing, and getting plants ready to sell, and following up on her hybridization program. I've put some images online from Marcelle's home, or from the home of her gardening buddy, Margie Brown. Margie Brown also lives in Vidor, TX and grows a large number of crinums. Too bad the overview photos of Marcelle's garden don't capture all of the color that is present. It was sunny and my trusty camera just does the best it can, but panorama shots often have a washed out look. Flowers were everywhere, bobbing in a light breeze and showing the entire range of hybrid Crinum colors. There must have been a thousand different flowers. Some were generously and sweetly fragrant. Many mroe flowers were yet to open; June will be just as fine as May. Crinums are vexing in some ways. You wait all winter for flowers and then all of a sudden there are way too many, and you can't possibly appreciate them all if you have 20 or more plants. The plants take up space, they are not timid about it, so you need room for them. Additionally, they can be sulky and slow to flower after you move them; it can take as much as 3 years for a bulb to get its act together after a move. Those plants that really bloom heavily from a clump (lots of offsets) can take 5-10 years to make the famous and stupendous explosion of flowers-type show. If you want quick retuns, plant petunias or Narcissus. If you want the crazy exhuberance of Crinums, just take your time and don't move the plants often (who wants to move them anyway, they are so darn big). And be sure to water and fertilize. LINK: Crinum x 'Margie Brown', one of the best red and white Crinums with good substance and heavy bloom http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… LINK: Crinum x 'Margie Brown' in Margie Brown's garden, looking like a peppermint in the daylilies http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… LINK: Crinum x 'Liberty Bell's in Marcells garden (maybe 'White Prince' at left) http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… LINK: Crinum herbertii-like in Margie Brown's garden (on left) http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… LINK: Cecil Houdyshell unnamed seedling, excellent clear pink, good substance, shorter scape for front of border, increases well and flowers well http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… LINK: May in Marcelle's garden (Crinum x 'Mamie' in forefront, I think) http://opuntiads.com/other/crinum/… Cordially, Joe Conroe TX Sunny and humid, I hear thunder in the distance
