Funny you should mention that, kayman. The Galtonias grow lushly - they just don't flower and I'm still working on the problem. However, I went up-garden and took a healthy-looking leaf and I'm watching with interest. I've recovered a few bought-in Hyacinths that had grubs in the middle: cleaned out the creature, perched the bulb on top of sharp grit and kept the mix damp - to get lots of daughter bulbs for growing on. It'll be a few years yet before they're ready to flower, but I can wait (sort of!) Thanks for the extra info.

Wow! 12 to 13 flowers is a lot... especially when compared to Hippeastrum, which only produce an average of 4 flowers per scape! The most blooms I've gotten from one of my Hippeastrums is 7... a "Rapido" bulb I have put out 7 blooms on one scape, and 5 on the other, if I remember correctly. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least! I'll probably end up getting a dwarf Crinum to add to my collection... while most of my bulbs are Hippeastrums, I do have some others... Sprekelia, Scadoxus, Zephyranthes, Lycoris radiata, Rhodophiala bifida... to name a few. The problem is finding indoor space to keep all these beauties during the colder months! I'm out of window space, and my next course of action is to purchase some decent grow lights, so all of my plants can be kept growing and happy! I know I won't be able to resist for long... I'll most likely add a dwarf Crinum to the collection long before the snow flies!

I'm glad the conversation concerns Crinum... something I'd love to grow in the garden, but they are destined to be pot cultured indoors part of the year. I've got a pot of unnamed Crinum from Florida, and small pot containing young bulbs of Crinum Americanum. I had the larger bulbs outdoors all summer, and they grew beautiful leaves, but didn't bloom. I didn't expect them to, figuring they needed some time to settle in. The smaller bulbs sulked on the window sill all summer, not doing much. I just re-potted them into my gritty medium, and they perked right up. They appear to be growing new leaves. Should I back off on the watering for winter, or treat them like I do my hippeastrum bulbs, letting their growth or rest dictate how I care for them? This is my first venture into Crinum. I know they'll eventually require rather large pots, but that's ok. I would love to get my hands on some of the dwarf varieties.

I have crinum which I've never seen blooming,since 1979,when I first moved here. I have some which bloom every year,without fail.The ones I have which were identified as asiaticum do not have bulbs,but have swollen stems with root callus.C Amabile, which is said to be the result of a cross between Asiaticum and zeylanicum,is also a swollen stem type. Del