Lilies do not like being out of the ground for very long. Plant 'em now.

Do you suppose it might be a Crinum of some kind? If you googled on that, and you advise that it is (or not), then someone could help you further.

Yes, it is a Crinium. I don't know why I couldn't think of that name earlier.

Typically, you plant crinums in fall or early spring. You, however, are in a much milder climate than I am. So...my advice is to go on and plant them now, and then mulch really well with pine straw to give yourself added insurance. I definitely wouldn't leave it out of the ground for long. Most of my crinums came as passalongs, but every one of the half dozen or so that I have purchased came looking as if they had been lifted from their soil, had the soil washed off their roots and shipped the same day: leaves were a foot long and still fresh as could be. That suggests to me that they might not like being dried out for long.

You may already know this, but crinums hate to be disturbed, so you can figure it will be two years or more before they bloom again. That being the case, think through very carefully where you put them and give them 2 1/2 to 3 square feet for each bulb. They get very big (I have read that old bulbs can be as big as basketballs and weigh 40 pounds!), and make big clumps, which produce lots and lots of flowering stems. They also like manure in their hole, so when you plant them, do a good job of digging and amending, with the plan to do it only once for a long, long time. I have mine in the middle to back of the middle of my summer border, and am careful not to put things in front of them that will block the view of them when they bloom. The foliage isn't awful, but it's not exactly wonderful either, so I try to place them where the leaves just blend in, but the flowerstalks can be visible by late summer.

I adore crinums. They pick up their bloom time as the daylilies are quitting and bring such fresh color to my borders in late summer and fall. Good for you for helping preserve a bulb that had almost disappeared.

Some Crinum can flower from a bulb the size of a golf ball of course and while everyone always says they hate to be disturbed I have received Crinum 'weedus' in trade.....you know the one that every one has in the south......as well as ones like C. amoenum as imports from India with no roots on them and they will typically bloom the first year planted in pots up here in zone 6a and surely by the second year so one year in a pot for a very short growing season.

I love the small ones I can bloom in 4-6 inch pots, but I agree that you should plant now rather than leaving them out of the ground. In Al they must be pretty care-free bulbs that just grow and grow :o) Dan

Well, now I know why my Crinum hasn't bloomed yet: I planted it in Spring 2005--I think. In any case, it was only a tennis ball-sized bulb at the time. I'll give it more time (like I EVER rip out anything other than really obnoxious weeds or truly dead plants?). You also solved the mystery of why the foliage has become stronger and luxuriant each year: manure. Warning: what follows may gross some folks out.

About 2005, a neighbor's cat adopted us. He's an absolute love, and the neighbors were perfectly willing to let him live with us, so he's been here ever since. He has some health problems, including some sort of digestive disorder. His tummy troubles cause him to poop a LOT, and he chooses to do his business in the bed with the Crinum, a rose bush, some aging rhubarb clumps and assorted other things. Well, his tummy trouble is the Crinum's and the rhubarb's gain. Evidently kitty manure is WONDERFUL stuff for plants you don't plan to eat: The rhubarb, which was almost at death's door, is now lush and leafy; and the Crinum is thriving. A Zantedeschia in the same bed, always just a pitiful two leaves (but I didn't have the heart to dig it out), now is almost blooming-size. (Of course everything is dormant now, but...)

so--I guess if you can tolerate the risk of Toxoplasmosis and other feline zoonoses, take care to wear gloves when gardening and wash your hands after gardening, cats using your garden as a litter box can be a good thing. I know. Ick. I'd apologize, but I'm a biologist. Biologists LOVE the icky.

Thanks ljr for the best Ho! Ho! Ho! of the day!