Usually a bulb will bloom in about three months from potting, sometimes sooner, but it is better to allow it a margin of time. Few leaves are made up to blooming time, but after the bloom has faded the foliage grows rapidly and, in the case of large bulbs, is really magnificent. When the foliage begins to fade and turn yellow at the tips the growth for the season is practically over, and water should be gradually withheld, and the plant allowed to rest. From this time on give only sufficient water to keep the plant from going dust-dry. Enough water may be given to keep the roots from shrivelling but not sufficient to induce top growth. Soon after starting it will be noticed, perhaps, that the bulb has shrunk and grown smaller and somewhat soft. As the foliage dies it becomes firm and hard again, the strength of the top has returned to the bulb from which it came, and it is at this period that it makes its own growth and prepares for another season of bloom, readiness for which it will announce by beginning to grow though water be withheld. The top earth—which should be dry at this time—should be removed as far as possible without disturbing the roots, and replaced with good, rich soil. Water freely, and when the buds appear give a little weak liquid manure once a week. The second blooming will be much finer than the first, as the plant has now sufficient root growth to support both stalk and blossom.
Should the bulb outgrow its quarters it may be shifted into a pot two sizes larger, care being taken not to disturb the roots. In this way the Crinum may be grown on from year to year, shifting when really necessary, renewing the top-soil each year without disturbing the roots and allowing it seasons of complete rest. This is the whole secret of Crinum culture—undisturbed root action and well-defined seasons of rest and growth. It requires a warm, sunny window in winter, and an eastern exposure in summer, where it will get the full morning sun and be protected from rough winds which injure the foliage. In protected situations certain varieties, as C. Kunthianum, hold their great leaves erect and are very fine; they will not do this when exposed to wind. Care must be taken to protect them from heavy rain, as water settling in the leaves sometimes causes the bulb to rot. I have lost some very fine specimens from this cause. A protected sand-box is an ideal place for them, as the evaporation from the wet sand supplies just the moist atmosphere they like. They may be wintered in a warm, dry cellar, but, if the cellar is at all cold or damp, it will be better to keep them on the back of the plant-stand or on a shelf in a closet where they may be inspected frequently.
Crinums are such expensive floral luxuries that it pays to take good care of them. Many varieties make few offshoots, and hence can never become cheap, but there is a distinct pleasure in possessing something rare and fine.
Unfortunately much confusion exists in regard to the two Crinums, Kirkii and ornatum, and the same bulb is often offered under different names. The dealers themselves seem to have no clear idea as to which is which. I believe, however, that ornatum is distinguished by a pink stripe through the centre of each petal, while the corresponding stripe in Kirkii is reddish-purple; these two are the most uncertain and unsatisfactory of all Crinums in the hands of the amateur.
C. Moorei, also often offered as ornatum or Kirkii, is one of the choicest Crinums and a native of South Africa. Its flowers, produced in umbels of from ten to twelve, are of a soft, delicate blush with a pink bar through the centre of each petal. It is deliciously fragrant, and the large bulb and handsome foliage much resemble C. ornatum. C. erubescens is another rare tropical species, having umbels of as many as a dozen lily-like flowers of a claret-purple outside and a soft pink inside with filaments of dark red. It is a free bloomer of easy culture. C. Capense rosea has the reputation of being the most easily grown of any Crinum, and is quite hardy with protection as far north as St. Louis. It is said to winter in the cellar like a Dahlia. Farther north it should be given the same care in winter as other varieties. The flowers are numerous—white flushed with rose with a pink stripe through the centre, and more drooping than the flower in other species. C. scabrum, often called Christ and the Apostles, having thirteen flowers, produces an abundance of pale-green foliage beautifully waved and crimped. It has usually two flower scapes at once, flowers much like the old Annunciation Lily, but with a longer tube, so that the outer row droops. The six broad petals are pure, sparkling white with a light red stripe down the outside of each and a pink one on the inside. This is one of the most desirable varieties. C. fimbriatum—Milk-and-wine Lily—is much like C. Kirkii in habit and appearance, but smaller, the flowers being but three or four inches in diameter, the foliage more erect and sword-like.
SHOULD BULB OUTGROW ITS QUARTERS SHIFT INTO POT TWO SIZES LARGER
C. pedunculatum grows to a magnificent size, fine specimens averaging six feet in height and width. Its flowers, of pure white with purple anthers, are formed in umbels of thirty or more; the petals are narrow and the flowers exquisitely fragrant. It has a queer stump-like bulb which grows to an immense size, and is an evergreen, producing its flowers at intervals through the year like C. Americana, which has also pure white, fragrant flowers, the petals long and narrow. The latter, when in bloom, throws up one immense spike in the centre of the foliage, giving the plant the appearance of a great rounded bouquet. It is a native of the Florida swamps, and should be grown in muck with considerable moisture, blooming best when pot-bound. C. grandolia, or augustum, is the finest of all the Crinums: one grown in Florida “with leaves six feet long and correspondingly wide, with a crown of bloom the size of a bushel measure.” Its umbels of flowers, thirty or more in number, with broad petals eight inches long, make a magnificent display. The buds are a purplish-red, the flowers, when open, a blood red outside, and a delicate, satiny flush inside. The bulbs grow to an immense size.
C. Kunthianum, another of the large-growing Crinums, is highly to be recommended for amateur culture, being much more easily managed than either ornatum or Kirkii. It is evergreen, and has broad strap leaves of a bluish green that, in the house, are held erect, and for this reason it presents the finest appearance of all Crinums. It throws up a tall spike crowned with ten or twelve large, lily-like flowers of a rosy white with crimson stripes through the petals.
The general treatment of Amaryllis is the same as for Crinums. Disturb the roots as little as possible, and give as complete seasons of rest as the plant seems to require. When it is apparent that they are trying to rest they should not be forced to grow, but aided to sleep by judicious withholding of water, tempering of the light, and the like. Evergreen Amaryllis, like the Aulica platypetala, do not need these periods of complete rest, but they need a partial rest, and as long as no new leaves appear should be watered moderately and the roots left undisturbed as long as possible. Remove all offshoots that have grown to any size when the plant starts to grow and the top-soil is being renewed, and pot them off in small pots an inch larger than the bulbs. The number of fine hybrids have increased so rapidly of late years that it is impossible to describe them separately, as many of them are flaked and splashed with colour in a wonderful manner. Of the old-time favourites it is doubtful if any excels the A. Johnsonii, and a collection of Amarylli might well begin with this.