Leo, Some of the deciduous Hymenocallis that often have petiolate, relatively broad glaucous leaves should do well for you. They include H. glauca, H. cleo, H. azteciana, H. guerreroensis and H. durangoensis. They tend to be solitary. The clumping "swamp types" and evergreen species would be more difficult in a desert climate I imagine. Dylan On 5 July 2013 21:05, Leo A. Martin <leo@possi.org> wrote: > Hi Lee, > > > I had a question about Crinum as well.... I have a question, > > not about _cold_ hardiness per se, but about trying to get > > certain Crinum species to thrive in my dry southern California > > climate. > > > I am wondering which of all the Crinum species benefit from, > > or require, being either partially submerged in water, or at > > minimum, kept in a saucer that always has water in it, during > > the growing season. > > ...(and Hymenocallis, too) > > I've tried several species of South African Crinum from seed here in > Phoenix, Arizona. > They don't need to be sitting in water. They grow just fine with regular > watering. I > have read there are aquatic species but I don't think most of us are > growing those. > > They won't bloom in containers. They reach a certain size and stop growing. > > The hybrid Ellen Bosanquet survives in my garden - and is evergreen - on > rain alone. We > average 8 inches annually, summer and winter. Our spring is extremely hot > and dry > without rain for 3 months or more. It will not bloom unless I give it > extra water, in > which case it blooms well. I am not worried about it invading the desert, > though it is > tough. > > Hymenocallis I can't even keep alive unless they are standing in water. In > the warm > water of my pond they burst the pot every year or so, and bloom reliably. > If I had known > puppies would chew them I would have three kinds instead of one. If any of > you got the > seed of H. sonorense I sent to the seed bank a while back, please try and > set some seed > to send to Dell - this is a plant my puppies killed. > > Leo Martin > Phoenix Arizona USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- * "In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty."Proverbs 14:23 *