The Nature of Things

While I was out of town for several days, my milk and wine lilies started blooming. I came home to find that I had missed the first flush of flowers, but a few of the plants still had blooms and there are more on the way. Milk and wine lilies are so called for a fairly obvious reason - the color of the flowers is a milky white with a wine red stripe. This lily is from the crinum family and is one of the most common plants found in old southern gardens and sometimes in old southern cemeteries. They became popular around the turn of the twentieth century and were widely grown at that time. One reason for their popularity, other than their beauty, is that they are tough as old boots and virtually impossible to kill. They grow well in a variety of soils, thrive on neglect, and tend to multiply to the point of becoming almost obnoxious. There are about 130 varieties of crinums and they are natives primarily of the tropics and of South Africa. I grow four different kinds in my garden and all...

Milk and Wine lilies are large crinums that have bright white blossoms with showy burgundy stripes. They are staple parts of a classic Southern garden. Now, my garden isn't exactly classic, but my Milk and Wine lilies are a colorful part of my summer garden and this is the time when they are at their showiest. Gardeners often receive Milk and Wine lilies as passalong gifts from other gardeners, but I actually got my start of them from the Southern Bulb Company , a company that specializes in saving and propagating traditional Southern bulbs, of which crinums are perhaps the most traditional.  Crinums come in many different sizes and shapes. Their main colors are red, pink, and white. There is a favorite saying among gardeners that "No crinum has ever died," and it seems almost true of these hardy plants. They thrive as far north as zone 7, some types as far as zone 5. They can flower several times a year, most often after a heavy rain, but they are also able to survive th...