This is an amarcrinum - a cross between an amaryllis and a crinum. It's a bulb that blooms in early September (in this case, two years ago today, on September 8, 2012) over a long period of time. It has strap-like leaves and takes hot sun and humid weather, and very importantly, the deer don't like it.
When my mother got up into her mid-nineties, I took over her flower garden. This is one of the things I planted, and every year, it has been a delight to see this beautiful lily-like plant with its fragrant pink blooms come into bloom. Mother's been gone since 2007, and the plant has thrived with absolutely no care whatsoever.
I ordered the bulb from Brent and Becky Heath. On their Web site, they mention the fragrance and how this makes a good cut flower. That's all you have to say to me. Mother was like that, too. She loved to grow flowers she could cut. She almost always had a bouquet on the kitchen table.
So, I need to put this bulb on my wish list. I can't remember if it should be planted in the fall or in the spring - probably the latter. It's not hardy in the north, but can be dug and planted outdoors again in cold climates.
Last winter, the temperature dipped to five degrees F., and where this is planted, it was probably nearer zero. I noticed last month that the leaves looked good, and the plant was putting on its long buds. I have this idea in my head to list all the plants that look good at certain dates and come up with a sort of calendar (but not in typical calendar form - my eyes start glazing over if I just see lists on blocks of days). I think I can do this using my other computer with the easy scroll-down dates. That way, I could have something in bloom every day of the year.
Now, when am I going to take the time to do this and then plant everything I come up with? That is the question.
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