I have a huge clump of Mary Todd that was here when we moved in, and it's never been divided (14 years?). I told myself last year I should divide it and promptly forgot, and neglected to do it again this spring. I'm paying for it now by having few scapes and few buds, while the plant takes up almost four feet of garden space. Dividing reinvigorates the plant so new clumps don't have to compete for water, nutrients, etc.. I won't divide mine until September or October so the divisions have at least six weeks in the ground before frost. Next spring, they should bloom on schedule.

You can dig around some now carefully with your fingers. If a stub of the old stem is left that will help you find where the bulblets are. But if you find you are "digging to China" while following a baby stem then that means they are offset from the base of the mother bulb. If you wait, you can make it late summer/early fall when the main bulb's leaves first start to yellow. The "babies" should still be visible (and after a seasons worth of growth,hopefully larger than now). Though if you dig up the whole clump it won't matter if the stems aren't visible since even the small bulbs should be readily seen near the main bulb. (The smallest will be the size of a pea and others will be more the size of a marble - with a leaf attached to them. So they should be easy to spot.) And when you plant the bulbets, don't plant them deep like you would a mature bulb. As they develop roots and grow larger they will pull themselves deeper into the soil to the depth appropriate for their size. -Helen

Hi Riz: Wow, lots of nice plants. I really liked Eucomis Tugela Ruby and Eucomis Oakhurst (I am a bit of a bulb freak;-) I am still looking for the right web photo / website solution (read cheap). I FTP my photos onto our cable providers servers as it is free but there is not enough room per account. Again, keep up the good work. Cheers, MG Here is a link that might be useful: Our website

I had potting soil that was full of ants, which I dumped out into another container. They may not leave in 24 hours but usually after a few more days of me disturbing their area, they eventually left. If they think the crinums (or dirt around the crinums) are their home area, it may take a few days more also. You should be able to use the ant baits like ant mound killer or even liquid ant baits (borax) in and around the crinums and the area where the bulbs are lieing. When you get ready to plant them, I have read that if you plant them a little deeper, they will not divide as much, and instead give more blooms (when they are big enough). Otherwise, if you want to get more bulbs over time, plant a few a little bit more shallow. That's what I've read, anyway. I haven't had mine enough years to see how they act.