Other species and hybrids are choice garden and greenhouse bulbs, and the 
breeding of new beauties is only in the beginning. Most of the best hybrids, except 
Powelli, are originations of the past 40 years. Some varieties are half hardy and 
thrive with protection up to the colder parts of Tennessee, Alabama and the Carolinas. 
In warmer places a few types are hardy with protection to Ohio and New York. 
For best results, Crinums like warmth and moisture for their summer growth. 
A few species are definitely deciduous, as C. Moorei and C. Scabrum. Others are 
evergreen except when cut down by a frost, and they quickly produce another crown 
of green leaves with the first warm weather. In the lower South they are all 
perfectly hardy. They like a rich soil, but will grow satisfactorily on high land with 
abundant water and heavy manuring, about the same culture as one would give a 
thriving rose bush. On the other hand when planted in a border and neglected for 
years, they will continue to bloom and multiply, unless crowded out by tree roots and 
nearby shrubs or heavy grass. 
Planting a Crinum is a task merely of digging a good sized hole, several times 
the size of the bulb, spreading out any roots present, (usually these are cut short in 
transplanting) and filling in the soil as one would around a fruit tree or shrub. {n 
pots they want a rich but porous soil, as too much water underfoot will rot the bulbs. 
Outdoors in the South they like a lake or poolside location, where their feet will not 
become ‘‘too wet.”’ 
The bulbs of the species C. Asiaticum and C. Amabile, may grow to 25 pounds 
weight, with leaves four to six feet long. The umbel of 20 to 40 flowers is borne 
on a heavy stem a yard long. These bulbs may bloom five or six times in’ a season, 
and this free blooming habit is also one of the strong points of many of the fine 
hybrids. 
The oldest Crinum hybrid that we grow is the white form of Powell’s hybrid, 
(Crinum Powelli album) which goes back to the middle 1800's. It is a lovely thing, 
which will bloom several times each spring from a strong bulb. The flowers can 
well replace Easter Lilies at Easter time. They are a joy in any garden or green- 
house. The bulbs are fair size, up to 5 or 6 pounds. They can be grown in an 
8 or 10-inch pot. Of the pink Powelli types, we grow and recommend the American 
hybrid ‘‘Cecil Houdyshel,’’ created by the noted California grower of that name, 
whose work in the field of the Amaryllids has been rewarded by the American Plant 
Life Society, formerly the American Amaryllis Society with the William Herbert 
medal. Also the Dutch hybrids, C. Powelli varieties Krelagei and Haarlemense. 
These are particularly lovely and charming plants in bloom, with lighter shades of 
pink than Mr. Houdyshel’s inimitable variety, itself a vigorous, colorful and highly 
desirable kind, possibly the outstanding hybrid Crinum in the world today. 
Right up next to these Powelli varieties (which are all. crosses between Crinum 
bulbispermum (capense or longifolium) and Crinum Moorei, is the Florida hybrid, 
the wine-colored ‘‘Ellen Bosanquet,’’ a production of the late Louis Percival Bosan- 
quet of Fruitland Park, Fla., an English plantsman who named the flower after his 
wife some decades ago. This is a lower growing type of hybrid, and stunning in its 
beauty of color and gracefully drooping trumpets. It has about the same size bulbs 
as Powelli. 
Other well known and worth while hybrid Crinums are J. C. Harvey, a light 
pink form, slightly smaller than Powelli, Louis Bosanquet, a lighter pink than the 
pink Powelli varieties and very free blooming, Peachblow, a blush-pinky-white crea- 
tion of the late Theodore L. Mead of Oviedo, which has a rich and intoxicating 
perfume, as do many of the Crinums. Also three of Dr. Henry Nehrling’s hybrids, 
of which cnly two are available this year, and only one at a reasonable price: Mrs. 
Henry Nehrling, a pink, slightly smaller than J. C. Harvey; Mrs. Sophie Nehrling, a 
handsome fragrant hybrid with blush-white flowers in a lovely umbel, and Mrs. 
James Hendry, one of the world’s most beautiful hybrid Crinums, pictured in Her- 
bertia, 1936. We have only a few bulbs of this and positively will not spare one 
this year to conserve stock for propagation purposes. 
Other interesting hybrids include Luther Burbank’s ‘‘White Queen,’ and two 
types of his ‘“‘Giant Burbank Hybrid,’’ which we obtained from associates of Mr. Bur- 
bank in time past. These are very similar, with four to five feet scapes, but one 
has red filaments. We have very few bulbs of these, and regret the necessity for 
placing a high price on same. 
Crinum bulbs are slow growing things unless given individual attention with 
heavy watering and fertilizing, which is of course an impossibility on a large bulb 
