Beautiful!! I have loads of Crinum that someone shared with me. They are that same beautiful color. I don't know what variety they are.

Fred, your Crinum is gorgeous!!! Hmmm, if you can grow them, I wonder if I can? Look at the number of flowers!!

I hope you get loads of butternut squash from your plant, I love them when the flesh is really dark orange, enjoy them, they'll last all winter!!

Donna

Hi Donna,

I think you should definitely try growing them. Like you said if I can grow them, so can you. As a matter of fact your garden may just be that little bit warmer that will help them to make it through the winter. Check out Ebay, that's where I got this one from.

Fred

Beautiful Fred, is that one of the smaller ones? Or is it just dwarfed by you super squash!!!! Lol

Hi Jodi,

Believe it or not, it's actually one of the largest hybrids but the fact that it dies down to the ground in the winter that keeps it on the smaller side. This is the first year it flowered, so we'll see what happens next year.

Fred

Hi Fred - Your crinum is beautiful! But could you explain the difference between crinum and colchicum (aka "naked ladies")? I have some stands of NLs in my garden and they look identical to your plant. They bloom in late summer and they are prolific.

Thanks,

Sable

These flowers have a marvellous shape. Are they fragrant? Anyways you are lucky with them. As regards "Naked Ladies" I think it is fair to assume, that sabeincal is referring to Amaryllis belladonna, and these are generally leafless when in bloom, hence their name, and they are capable of hybridizing with Crinum Lilies.

Hi Haweha and Sable,

Amaryllis belladonna and crinum both in the same amaryllis family but they are two different species. They do hybridize rather easily to form xAmarcrinum, which in my opinion has the best features of each parent. Lots of folks in my area can't grow crinum and amaryllis outdoors but xAmarcrinum is very easily grown in pots and stored for the winter. I just lost a pot of them to a severe mealy bug infestation, but this is the time of year that they put on a beautiful display of fragrant pink blooms.

This is the version of "Naked Ladies" that we grow in the colder parts of the U.S. and it's called Lycoris squamigera.

Fred

Lycoris are also sometimes referred to as "naked ladies". Here in Northern California the only plant by that name is Amaryllis Belladonna.

Fred , your 'Super Ellen' is gorgeous , so gracefull on the butternut carpet. I grow her too , she is one of the tallest crinums . She has the same colour than her parent : Ellen Bosanquet ( and Crinum bulbispermum that produces so many seeds). In frost areas you can plant the bulbs deeper for they tolerate better frost.

Sableincal, Colchicums are European flowers, and aren't particularly close relatives of Criniums, which are south American.

What you were probably referring to were Rodophiala, which are also called naked ladies. They're also south American, traditionally hardier than Hippeastrum (both are called Amaryllis), and they are close relatives of Criniums.

Easy mistake to make. One of the problems with common names is that they can refer to several different species.