Just started my 50th birthday present

8 years ago

100 crinum seed bulbs. If I get half of them to germinate, I'm going to cover my yard, my friends' yards and random strangers' yards with crinums and there will be a lot of flowers five or six years from now.

I was motivated to do this when I was looking around my yard, thinking about things I planted years ago and how great they look, and how long it took for them to look great. This included a crinum that just won't stop. It's an Ellen Bosquet and it's stunning and makes me happy, because my grandmother first introduced me to crinums and I've always thought of the first bulb I planted here as my grandmother's crinum, though I put it in the ground five years after she died. (If you gave up on crinums because of pests, you might try this one, which seems immune to pests I fight on the rest of them.)

I'm going to spend this year gardening with my 50th birthday in mind. Gardening can yield such instant gratification - look how pretty that mulched bed filled with broms looks - or seasonal gratification - man that's a good tomato. And I'll keep doing those things, along with spending a little bit of time each weekend pulling vines and battling the jungle. But I'm going to make a point of looking for things I can do that I'll be glad I did six years from now. Wish I had room for another tree, but I'll try to baby the fig bush, hoping it might yield something by the time I'm fifty.

(If anyone is interested in a great deal on crinum seed bulbs, the eBay seller bulbsnmore has a 40-seed grab bag, with a guarantee of at least six varieties. They come labeled by variety and he sent me more than twice as many seed bulbs as he promised - and most already had a little root shooting out, a good sign. I also ordered a couple more mature crinum bulbs - looking for that 48th birthday present - and he sent a "bonus" bulb. I've ordered from him before and been really happy with the results. He's in north Florida, near Jacksonville. I've never met him, so this is not a plug for a buddy. Just pointing out a great experience I had with someone who seems to really enjoy growing crinums.)

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Comments (5)

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years ago
Well Happy Birthday!! That sounds like a fun project and it will be easy to keep track of when you planted them. I found some humongous old crinium bulbs out in the woods at the back of our property. Some of the bulbs are easily larger than softballs. I put some in the front flower bed where they will get a little more sun. I think they are red and white stripey type of flowers. This is a old farm homestead so who knows how old those things are lol. Then again they could have been seeds dropped by birds.
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
8 years ago
The fun of an old homestead! I have rain lilies that were planted right outside what was the kitchen door. Then the door was blocked in. Then the area beside what had been the door was paved with a concrete path. But those little rain lilies pushed up through the cracks. I lifted a bunch of them a few years ago, loving the fact that I was not pulling and moving a native. I was pulling and moving something some gardener planted years or even generations ago, in the hopes that someday they would be pretty.

I love that you have found old crinums! They are treasured in some parts of the South.
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I agree with the other posters. I don't like mean gifts or most gag gifts, especially those that are wasteful or are a "gag" not by virtue of cleverness but just by making fun of the recipient. As the recipient, even if I weren't offended, I would be disappointed that that is all my family could think of to do for me, and as one of his friends, I would find it a waste of money and time. I also agree that fifty isn't that old that the Ben Gay, etc., makes sense (of course, I am 49, so I may be prejudiced!). And frankly, I don't think that fifty "sucks" at all -- this is a really terrific stage of life -- and on my fiftieth birthday, I don't think it would make me happy to hear someone telling me that my life sucks. And death-related items, especially received from anonymous senders, would give me the creeps. What if three people in a row decide to send him fifty miniature tombstones or something? Yikes. I guess I don't the find "fifty" gimmick all that clever -- I mean, he KNOWS he's turning 50 -- but if you really love it, maybe you can think of something that isn't wasteful or insulting. Thumbtacks and pins aren't either, but then, they aren't particularly exciting to give or receive. Perhaps ask friends and family to donate $50 to a favorite charity (their favorite, not yours or even his) in his honor. Now that I've sounded so harsh, I will tell you that there is one part of the idea I like: the anonymous items in the mail (as long as it isn't scary -- post-anthrax scare, I'm not sure it would still be funny). Many years ago, when my older brother left for college, I asked everyone I could think of, especially in other cities, to send my brother a soda bottle cap (yes, that's how it came then) -- no note, just a random bottle cap in an envelope with a postmark from wherever they were. No particular reason or point to it, I just loved the idea of a question mark over his head when he opened his mail each day. It worked great until he recognized a return address -- I forgot my friend's older sister was his friend -- and he figured it out. He did think it was funny, but again, that was in a less scary time.
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Get a caterer! That is a LOT of people to cook for. You can do a few things yourself and ask the caterer to serve if you ask nicely. If a caterer isn't in the budget, at least order prepared food or platters to serve. Cooking for 80 at a hall is just too much. Hard to say what kind of food. I would pick what your mom loves best -- keeping in mind what your guests will enjoy, too. If she's a baseball fan, for example, have hot dogs and peanuts and beer. If she loves travel, have exotic choices. But I think really your best bet is to give the caterer a budget and let him/her suggest things. That always works for me. For decorations, flowers always say "special occasion," but they can be expensive. You can make copies of photos of her at different stages of life and put them in inexpensive lucite frames of different sizes (you may even be able to ask the store if you can return them if you keep them in perfect shape) and put a few on each table for centerpieces, perhaps with a single flower or candle. We did that for my mother's 70th and it worked nicely. Potted flowering plants with a ribbon around the pot are also nice and inexpensive centerpieces (and a lot less work). You can give them as thank you gifts to people who help you with the party. You are so nice to do this for your mother! Good for you. I am sure she will be thrilled.
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For me, 40 was great, 50 not so much. Same thing here with hypothyroid and menopause. I work out, do weights, got a Fitbit, have a treadmil desk (which I am using now), and it is very frustrating. DH and I are doing a few vegetarian meals per week, and that seems to be helping to get the calories down. I am also very conscious of chronic disease. This year I had a nuclear stress test, a concussion, and I got called back on my yearly mammogram when I never had been before. I had a screening colonoscopy at 50 and wound up having a large precancerous polyp removed. Thank goodness everything turned out OK but I may eventually run out of luck. Hence, the need to get weight off but exercise does have its own independent effects--yay. Debra, we went with my family to the Rolling Stones show at the Ralph,so, yes, it was quite a range. We had this hoochie-mama in the row in front of us with her thong hanging out of her pants and then her big implants and she was probably in our age range. There was a young teen boy and the father moved him from being next to her since the woman her friends came late.
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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
8 years ago
The Rain Lilies sound neat! They sound like determined little guys. Its cool that you were able to recognize and preserve a part of your house's history.

I have found all kinds of weird things here. There are hurricane lilies both white and red that pop up all over the front yard. I tried moving a few of the red ones into the flower bed then the chickens discovered they were yummy to eat so I am not sure if they will come back up lol. I think I will leave the others out there. The other day I saw some other type of tall strappy leaves that look like some kind of lily but not a crinum (at least doesn't look like the others I found). I will have to wait and see what it blooms into.

~sjn
laura1
8 years ago
have fun with your new seed bulbs natives n veggies. I love a good project especially one in the garden. I love criniums and have several varieties. One I have now needs to be dug out and replanted but it is a project I don't look forward to...unless I could use TNT. ;-) I don't have a problem with the bugs (lubbers) but do have slugs and snails that I have to control. They don't seem to mind cold weather either. I have one variety that the chickens don't like to eat (most of the time anyway)

In addition I never pass up a rain lily..,now how about some rain.

Laura
bea (zone 9a -Jax area)
8 years ago
I have a potted Crinum I'm thinking would probably like to be planted in the ground. Since our ground doesn't freeze here in the Jax area can I safely assume it will die to the ground if we get freezing weather but come back in the spring?

Just started my 50th birthday present

Comments (5)

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)

natives_and_veggies
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Just started my 50th birthday present

Comments (5)

sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)

natives_and_veggiesOriginal Author

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sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)

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natives_and_veggies
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