PlantFiles: Crinum Lily, Powell Lily
Crinum x powellii

This is an old hybrid descended from C. moorei and C. bulbispermum. It was introduced as long ago as 1888.

It is generally sterile as a seed parent, but success with fertilizing other cultivars with the pollen has been reported.

While the commonly available form has flowers 2-3 inches wide, it is still humbly pretty and easy to grow. With care, it blooms repeatedly from spring to fall.

X powellii 'Roseum' sports flowers that are more open and have a deeper rose color.

'Cecil Houdyshel' (developed in the 1930s) is a very floriferous selection and 'Claude Davis' (a cross of x powellii and C. yemense) is a deeper color than x powellii.

There is a pure white one (x powellii 'Album', sometimes listed as 'Alba') which has larger and more open flowers.

It is very easy to grow and is therefore a good beginner;s Crinum. It is hardy without protection here in 7b and would survive into zone 6 with some protection or in a warmish site.

I received three of these in pots. Before I could get them in the ground, they put up bloom stalks. Since crinums do not like to be disturbed, I decided to wait till they finished flowering before planting them...they are still flowering! And they have put up pups in the pots. One plant has six babies, another has four babies. The third plant is younger and has not bloomed nor put up pups.

In this part of the country, crinums grow like wildfire. Start a few in a bed, and before you know it, you have a full bed of crinums. But, they do NOT like to be disturbed. If you repot them or move them, do not expect them to bloom or pup for a while.

We have Crinum powellii growing in our Zone 6a garden for the last 2 yrs. In fact, it is in bloom right now, Nov 5, 2004...granted, we have not had a frost yet this year, which is highly unusual. It begins blooming for us in the early summer, then again in the fall.

I purchased the bulb almost two years ago. It was a relatively small bulb, so I planted it in a 12 inch plastic container. The first year, it grew well enough I guess, but no flowers. I figured the bulb needed to mature, so it was no concern. I live north of Baltimore, so I let it over winter indoors near a window with southern exposure ... watering just enough to keep it alive. It continued to grow, but more on the spindley side. The following spring, I cut it back to about six inches and gave it to a friend in Northest Ohio.

It is growing well with plenty of side shoots, but no sign of a flower stalk. It gets at least 8 hours of full sun and is watered well.

Beautiful foliage and blooms. I love the shade of pink they are. I got about half a dozen bulbs in trade about three years ago and have over 20 now.

These are SO easy to grow. I just put mine in the end of one of my raised vegetable beds with a little cow manure and they've taken off. They get absolutely no other fertilizer except cow manure. And they can take neglect just fine! I didn't plant the veggie garden last year, so they didn't even get watered. They didn't bloom much, but did survive remarkably well in our hot Texas summers despite being in absolutely FULL sun, like 9am to 9pm full sun.

This year, I've been taking better care of them (which means simply regular watering LOL!). Right now, the clump is about 5' or 6' in diameter. I wasn't expecting them to be so big (Doh!), so I think I'll move them this fall.

LOVE them!

Hortus Third lists this plant as a hybrid of C. bulbispermum x C. Moorei with listed cultivars 'Album', Haarlemense', 'Krelagii' and 'Roseum'.

Crinum powellii, a native of southern Africa, produces a bulb up to 6 inches (15cm) in diameter from which emerge long (up 6 feet) strap like leaves, followed by a tall (up to 6’) flower spike. The spike will carry 8 to twelve individual pale pink flowers. A number of hybrids have been produced, including dark pink and white versions.