Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Spider Lily is not!!!!


I need some help with this plant; about three years ago I purchased this plant in my local nursery and was told it was a Spider Lily.
This week while I was preparing to do a post about it, and I discovered in one of my garden reference books that the spider lily is a much smaller plant, that it can be use for ground cover, and the flowers are similar but not the same. It could be that my plant is a close giant relative of the Spider Lily but is definite not the same plant.

So if anyone out there knows the common name, I would appreciate it if you let me know. This plant is the kind you put on the ground, walk away and never had to do a thing to it, perfect for busy gardeners. The white flowers are magnificent they have an intoxicating aroma, it usually blooms during the summer months or the rainy season and they do resemble a spider.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi I just happedn to stumble upon your blog and noticed you were asking for a bit of help. It looks like it is a Giant Spider Lily. type spider lily into google and the picture should come up it look like yours. I hope I helped a bit. Take Care
Alli

Priscilla George said...

I agree with anonymous. It's a giant spider lily. They get up to 5 feet tall, who knows maybe more for you, and they are fragrant.
http://floridagardener.com/pom/crinum.htm

Green thumb said...

Hi Rusty, this is Crinum asiaticum or Giant Spider lily. I have a similar plant which you can see at
http://indigarden.blogspot.com/2007/08/very-happy-and-bloomful-bloggers-bloom.html

Tira said...

Rusty I have it, too. I just dug it up from the side of the road years ago where it grew like a weed and never had to give it any care.

Rusty in Miami said...

Thanks for the info everyone, I feel better. I should have Google-it

My Little Family: said...

it's a crinum lily - go to Wick Gardner's blog to see more photos

Meems said...

Rusty:It is indeed a Grand Crinum Lily... can you believe it is from the Amaryllis family? I am partial to the deep purple leaved variety. The blooms are really nice to see all summer long.
Meems @Hoe&Shovel

Cheryl said...

Hi Rusty....whatever the plant is I love it....it is so pretty. I have never seen one before....

Jeanette said...

Hi Rusty, definatly a giant spider lily I also googled it. Love the spider flower im going to try buy one.

Sunita Mohan said...

Rusty, I have the same plant and I thought it was a normal Spider Lily too. I didnt know that SLs were supposed to be small.
Hey, maybe it just gets bigger in tropical gardens.... doesnt that make you feel good? : )

Wicked Gardener said...

Its a Crinum asiaticum!!!! (I get excited when I know the answer.) I have different varities blooming now that look more like an amarylis. My crinum asiaticm are still babies and are several years from looking as beautiful as yours. I'll be posting about crinums a lot in the next few weeks.

Anonymous said...

its a Giant crinum spider lilie also known as a swamp lilie
I have 5 that are over 15 years old
I just started feeding them worm tea 2 month ago and have never had so many blooms in 15 years

Anonymous said...

I live in Alabama and we call a "Spider Lily" the red Lycoris radiata- bulb....Google the spider lily and look for Lycoris radiata and see if that is what you wanted. It has a long stalk flower that blooms in fall and not all that greenery. Good Luck.

Anonymous said...

http://marcellescrinums.com/html/crinum-found/crinum-river-forks.html

Looks like a crinum to me...

Isaac

Dirt Princess said...

Definitily a Crinum Lily. My grandmother had these in her yard. She called them Milk & Wine Crinum Lilies. Their bulbs get huge...like volley ball size. That is one good way to tell them apart. I recently got some crinums from a fellow gardener. I got the babies off of the parent bulb...her parent bulb was the size of a basketball. I know I am MONTSH behind on this post, but just thought I would share (I am browsing through all your past...love it)

Tanya said...

Tanya Hill blog in Hawaii, Here we know it as Spider Lily too, but also more often it is called, Queen Emma lily, she was one of the last Hawaiian Queens and it was her favorite flower. There are clumps of it innthe garden that are 100 years old, over 6 feet tall with treelike bases.

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