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Garden

Dazzling crinums replace dreams of daffodils

Crinum bulbs supply hardy blooms, brilliant foliage, bright aromas and year-round splendor to Florida gardens.

By JOHN A. STARNES JR.
Published February 26, 2005

	[Photo: John A. Starnes Jr.]
	The tall, elegant crinum, with a rainbow of hues and a range of heady fragrances, begins as a bulb — one of the few bulbs that put up with the idiosyncrasies of Florida’s climate.

We always want what we can't have, and nowhere is that more evident than in the garden. Florida gardeners, who long for the splendor of tulips and daffodils can indulge in tropical equivalents that are every bit as beautiful.

Crinums are queens of the bulbs; their stately flower stalks can be 2 to 6 feet tall. These regal relatives of the amaryllis have scents ranging from sweet citrus to haunting musky spice. Crinums' lush, graceful foliage exudes tropical ambience, with rich white and green stripes and sultry maroons; their wide variety of form and color is an added bonus to landscapes begging for seasonal change. Some bloom in winter, others spring and summer. How many tulips and daffodils can do that?

Crinums' pristine beauty is balanced by incredible toughness. They appear to be immune to diseases. Only soggy soil and herbicides seem able to kill these lovely toughies; the white-flowered species C. asiaticum and C. americanum even tolerate salt spray. Crinums are truly the perennial blooms for folks "too busy to grow flowers."

Do you love to have fresh-cut flowers for the dinner table, office or church? Get a few heavy vases and indulge in stately arrangements that last for days and attract attention from folks who usually walk right past a bouquet.

Some crinums are trumpets of pure white, salmon, rose pink or burgundy-and-white stripes, others are startling snow-white stars, exquisitely feminine, or even deep red.

Look for bulbs in local garden shops, or get them from neighbors or mail-order catalogs.

Plant them in ordinary soil until only the neck of the bulb protrudes, water weekly for a month, then forget about them.

Care is minimal. Feed their soil a few times a year with fish emulsion, homemade compost, or a few handfuls of calf manna or menhaden fish meal from a feed store. Established plants will laugh at extended droughts, but a monthly deep watering would not hurt.

Tulips? Daffodils? Buy them in pots in spring for a treat if you must, but invite the perennial treasure of crinums into your landscape for a lifetime of floral reward.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com

SOURCES: Ty Ty Nursery: 1-800-972-2101; www.tytyga.com

[Last modified February 25, 2005, 09:20:07]