From Garden Bulbs for the South by Scott Ogden:
“The most prolific and abundant crinum in Southern gardens is a distinctive species with tapered, blue-green foliage. Each leaf reaches as much as two feet in length and three or four inches in width at the base. These wrap around each other to form a thick column topped with gracefully arching fountains of foliage. In the center of the rosettes, there are usually a few thin, wispy, blue leaves just emerging; this unique appearance makes this crinum easy to distinguish wherever it grows….
“All crinums bear peculiarly large, fleshy seeds, which makes most varieties easy to raise. If left on the surface of the soil in a humid, shady position, the thick, green embryos germinate and form perfect miniature bulbs. These usually send down long roots, which pull the young plants deeply into the soil. Three or four years’ growth on rich earth will mature the fledgling bulbs enough to begin flowering. Because of its prolific seed bearing, Crinum bulbispermum has sired numerous hybrids: this species is the forerunner of many of the old garden flowers of the South.
“The succulent leaves of Crinum bulbispermum stand more frost than most other crinums, and this is the best species to plant where freezes regularly penetrate the ground. The bulbs thrive anywhere in the South and are hardy in protected situations as far north as Denver and Long Island. Blossoms are most prolific in April and May but come almost any season if stimulated by rains. In sheltered gardens C. bulbispermum flowers welcomely through December and January.”
From “Lycoris” in Garden Bulbs in Color by J. Horace McFarland:
“One of our overlooked hardy Amaryllids, Lycoris squamigera, sometimes listed as Amaryllis Halli, would well repay more attention from discriminating gardeners. The name Lycoris refers to some unknown Greek lady. The species Squamigera was introduced to American gardens from China by Dr. G. R. Hall, a New England physician who spent considerable time collecting plants in China and Japan.
“Dr. Hall stated that the dainty pink trumpet flowers were highly regarded by the Chinese. Several other species are included in the genus, among them L. sanguinea, with reddish orange flowers.
“Lycoris sends forth strap-shaped foliage in early spring, which matures and disappears in early summer, only to be followed by naked stems, which often rise three feet, producing, in August, small clusters of soft pink lily-like blossoms that are delightfully fragrant…. Lycoris will thrive in partial shade and has been naturalized in woodlands.”
Hello!
We’re going to spend this post and the next three looking at photographs of plants in the Amaryllidaceae family, more commonly referred to as the “Amaryllis family” since some of its most prominent, well-known members are in the genus Amaryllis. The family encompasses about 1600 species of plants, including plants in the Crinum genus and Lycoris genus.
This first post includes images of Crinum bulbispermum — a large flowering plant often referred to by names containing “Swamp Lily” or “River Lily” — along with half of my photographs of Lycoris squamigera, also known as Resurrection Lily, Surprise Lily, or Naked Lady after its habit of blooming on tall slender stalks only upon dropping all its leaves (and appearing to be dormant) weeks earlier. The second post will contain the second half of my Lycoris squamigera photos, and the third and fourth posts will show one of its close relatives, Lycoris incarnata, whose candy-cane stripes have earned it the common name Peppermint Surprise Lily.
The Crinum bulbispermum — the first eighteen photos below — is a long-time Oakland resident that I’ve seen for at least a decade. It grows as a mass of numerous individual plants between sidewalks, in the sun, not far from the entrance to the property. As such it’s an eye catcher, drawing your gaze to one garden area that is surrounded by hydrangeas, daffodils, tulips, and flowering vines like quince and wisteria. Its later spring to early summer bloom period means that its colors and shapes replace many of those other flowers, ensuring that color endures through seasonal change.
The last fifteen photos below show Lycoris squamigera — whose name sounds a bit like an Italian casserole. It’s a much smaller and more compact plant than Crinum bulbispermum, and one that I encountered for the first time in June, so it must have been planted either late last year or early this year. The second quotation at the top of this post — from Garden Bulbs in Color by J. Horace McFarland — describes this plant’s Oakland environment accurately (“Lycoris will thrive in partial shade and has been naturalized in woodlands“) in that it was planted in the shade of numerous trees and shrubs, filling in previously empty spaces and catching filtered sunlight. As this may be its first blooming season, some plants appeared quite isolated from each other, while others — typically those that got more sunlight — managed to produce multiple stems and overlapping, bouquet-style collections of blooms. Either way, though, I found them fun and interesting to photograph, as the filtered sun produced some nice side-lighting and back-lighting, showing off the wide range of colors the flowers can reveal.
Thanks for taking a look!
