It’s the middle of summer. Everything in the garden is limping along as if it were on the last leg of some imaginary Olympic gardening race. Nothing really wants to put forth the energy to bloom during the hottest time of the whole year. Nothing, that is, except an Heirloom Crinum. Heirloom Bulbs really don’t have to work hard at anything….blooming is in their heritage. Heirloom flowers are like super-models who seem to wake up in the morning looking perfect. There truly is no end to their beauty. It is perfection in a flower.
Milk and Wine Crinums are definitely some of the super-models of the summer garden. There are few flowers that can even touch their sumertime beauty….except other Crinum varieties.
I obtained my first Milk and Wine Crinum bulbs from an old shack that dated to the 1920s. We used to ride horses near the old property. Every time I rode by, my eyes locked with the overgrown and overflowing bed of Crinum. They were everywhere. The shack had once been an old hunting cabin, but an aluminum plant had purchased the land. The old place sat, completely unattended, for decades. I have always loved old architecture, thanks to my architect/artist father. Combine old houses with old flower bulbs, and I am in hog-heaven!!
The gardening community had been sneaking on to the old property and salvaging bulbs long before I came upon the old place. It is hard to describe the sheer amount (and size!!!) of these bulbs. I could spend an entire day digging, and not even touch a corner of the bed. Some of the old bulbs were the size of large watermelon, with freshly roots reaching down to China. (I used to dig holes to China when I was a child). I have broken many shovels at that old property.
I have many little bulb-babies coming along. If you are ever in my neck of the woods, I’d be happy to share some with you….no charge. These Crinum grow fast, and produce many little offspring. Crinum will outlive your children’s grandchildren. It’s always good to have old flowers in a new, ever-changing world. Old flowers keep us grounded.
Happy Gardening, my friends! Keep your hands in the dirt and smiles in your hearts. It will be a glorious day today! Happy Crinum Season!!!! 🙂