Dear Jim Crinum variabile is fairly opportunistic - it produces leaves and grows whenever it gets water. It grows in very arid areas, but always grows on the edges of rivers, so if there is water in the river, the plants grow! Regards Rachel Saunders Cape Town ----- Original Message ----- From: J.E. Shields <jshields104@insightbb.com> To: Bulbs-L <Bulbs-L@nic.surfnet.nl>; Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 6:14 PM Subject: [pbs] Crinums blooming > Hi all, > > Crinum variabile is in bloom outside my greenhouse. I've posted a picture > of it to the Bulbs_Images list on Yahoo groups. I grew my C. variabile > from seeds obtained from Silverhill Seeds in 1997. This is one of three > plants moved from pots into the ground outdoors in 2000. Only one of those > three is in bloom. Three more were moved into the open field in > 2001. They have not bloomed yet, but all are alive and healthy. > > Crinum variabile is the only crinum species native to the winter rainfall > region of South Africa. In habitat, it grows in winter and is dormant > through the hot, dry summer. This appears to be a facultative behavior, > since here is grows nicely in summer and goes dormant in winter, even if in > the greenhouse. This appears to also enable it to survive the winters > outdoors here in central Indiana. We do, however, cover the outdoor > crinums with about 6 inches of wood chips or bark mulch each autumn. > > I see that there is a scape on Crinum lineare about to bloom too. C. > lineare is growing in a 5-gal. container and is watered in summer by a drip > irrigation system. I bought the bulbs of C. lineare from Charles Craib in > June 2001. > > I'll post a picture of lineare to Bulbs_Images too, if the weather cooperates. > > Regards, > Jim Shields > in central Indiana > > ************************************************* > Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. > P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ > Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA > Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA > Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php