The Greener View: Crinums

Jeff Rugg on Jan 29, 2025

My birthday is coming up, and I was asked what my favorite plant is.

My favorite plants have to meet a few important criteria. They must come back on their own, because I can be a lazy gardener. Insects and diseases must be rare, so there will be no need to spray. I like plants that can grow in the water along the shoreline of my water garden, or in the hot, dry side yard or indoors. They must have big, showy flowers to please the eyes and fragrance to please the nose; tasty would be nice; and if I could get them to make a noise, I would like that, too.

Most plants in the lily family fit some of these criteria, and I have many in my house and yard, from amaryllis, daffodils, daylily, Easter lily, tulip, trillium and yucca to garlic, onion and many others. Of all the lilies, I really like the 180 or so species in the Crinum (CRY-num) genus, probably because, like many gardeners, I lust after tropical plants I can't have. These warm climate bulbs can grow as large as a football and weigh over 10 pounds, easily dwarfing a merely grapefruit-sized amaryllis bulb.

Crinums are naturally tough. Native to warm areas of Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas, they can survive elephants, kangaroos and hurricanes. Some crinum species grow in deserts, and some grow in swamps. I have seen Crinums growing in islands between traffic lanes in Dallas and Orlando. They get no irrigation, yet they thrive. Some tropical crinums are used as privacy hedges, but most grow only waist high.

The Crinum americanum is native to swamps all around the Gulf of Mexico and the Everglades, where I have seen them blooming for as far as the eye can see. I have grown one in a pot in my pond for more than 15 years. I bring it in every winter as a houseplant that I can't overwater. It has a starburst of 6-inch-long petals that are less than half an inch wide. Linnaeus himself is supposed to have been looking at specimens of the American Crinum when he gave the genus the Crinum name after the Greek word "Krinos," meaning "comet tail."

Most Crinum flowers look like an Easter lily or Amaryllis, and there may be 20 or more on a single stalk. A single bulb may send out half a dozen flower stalks at once. The foliage of most Crinums is sword-shaped and may be over 6 feet long. Like an Easter lily, many crinums are very fragrant.

Crinum flowers can be pink, red or white, and some are striped red and white. A few varieties have wine-colored leaves. A couple of summers ago, I was surprised to find a Milk and Wine (red and white striped) Crinum bulb at a Menards hardware store sold with other summer blooming bulbs such as dahlias. That Crinum has bloomed for me twice so far. I keep it in a cold but not freezing garage over the winter.

Most crinums are for warm winter areas, but as we have seen in past few weeks, cold spells can reach all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. There are a few varieties that are hardy enough to grow into zone 6. The previously mentioned Milk and Wine is one, and Orange River Lily is another. If you plant it outdoors, plant it on the south side of the house near the foundation where it can be mulched heavily for the winter.

If your local garden center doesn't stock any crinums, check out www.jenksfarmer.com. I recently posted a video about crinums on the Greener View YouTube channel in the Chapter Four Playlist on Annuals, Bulbs and Houseplants.

The Crinums don't make sounds on their own, but they attract hummingbirds that do make sweet twittering noises. I can live with that.

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Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.