Long before I moved from Illinois/Zone 5 to Austin/Zone 8B, authors like Elizabeth Lawrence, Henry Mitchell and Stephen Lacey/The Startling Jungle fed my zone-envy by talking about Crinum and Amarcrinum lilies. Now I have some!
Above is the crinum that’s in bloom now, showing its colors, lovely and even fragrant, but I sure didn’t pay one hundred dollars for it, as Pam/Digging has read. I found the Plant Delights receipt from February .., for one bulb of Amarcrinum x ‘Fred Howard’ at $12. A journal notation mentions that in Fall 1999, I bought a potted bulb from the Austin Men’s Garden Club. The cost was $5; the donor wasn’t sure of the name, but wrote “Jersey Lily” on the pot.
Both bulbs grew and were repotted several times before we moved here. In October .., I was amazed to realize that the two original bulbs had become eight, but they were mixed up when they were planted in a holding bed. In Spring .., the 8 bulbs found permanent homes in 4 locations, varied as to sun/shade and moisture, so I could see what worked best.
For comparison, here’s a photo of Amarcrinum x ‘Fred Howard’ at Plant Delights. My flower looks just like their ‘Fred Howard’, don’t you think?
In June, another of the bulbs, planted in a hotter & sunnier space, bloomed with Evolvolus ‘Blue Daze’ around it. 
This one looks like a ‘Fred Howard’, too. So my investment has doubled already!
What about the other six? Was “Jersey Lily” a possibility? A search for ‘Jersey Lily’ pulled up many sites on Lillie Langtry, the beautiful actress and mistress of King Edward VII, named for the flower growing on her home Isle of Jersey. [Did anyone else watch Francesca Annis as ”Lillie” in the old Masterpiece Theater Series?]
Google found a few botanical choices for Jersey Lily, including Nerine bowdenii, and Nerine sarniensis. In photos these Nerines seem fluffier, with long stamens hovering above pink flower petals splayed outward. Hortus Third says Nerines are tender below Zone 9, with “lvs. strap-shaped, basal, usually absent at flowering time”, and both species are described as rose-red. Other authorities insisted that Jersey Lily is Amaryllis belladonna, a kind of Naked Lady, with reddish stems and leaves that disappear in April.
The disappearing, strap-shaped leaves seem to rule out both Nerines and the Amaryllis belladonna. I may have mixed up the bulbs when they were separated and replanted, but every one of the eight bulbs produces semi-evergreen leaves. The foliage never disappears, although some of it turns brown if the temperature dips below 20ยบ F, then regrows when the freeze is over.
So I’ll wait and see if the six remaining bulbs ever bloom. A couple may also be ‘Freds’, but the others? My guess is that the guy from the Austin Men’s Garden Club was growing some kind of Crinum without knowing what he had; I hope it is another variety of these lovely flowers.
It's hard to concentrate on my broad jump when I'm thinking about Independence Lake (above). We're finally almost ready for our camping trip that will start next Tuesday and end on August 30. 
Barbara's started a new Broad Jump routine for me by adding a little jump after the B(ored) jump (heehee!). To encourage me to do more than plod over the thing and return to Ma after I jump it, Barbara put up a small jump to force a fast hop over the first part! It worked, darn it! I still have to go to obedience next Monday and then I'm off for two whole weeks woo hoo! Avalon also has started obedience and shows great promise - well... she high steps like an Arabian horse - it's unbelievable! But I'm the bigger sisfur and win all the important rounds heheheee! Care to spar with me to find out? Have a good week and weekend too! Loves you all!
This was a long day and the story is long as well. You may recall that I have a pal named Shanti who I often do obedience practice with. Shanti's mom works for Norcal Golden Retriever Rescue. And. Shanti's mom found me for my mom and dad. Okay. That's what you need to know for today. Shanti and me were both going to the Del Valle obedience trials; Shanti in Novice B and me in Novice A. Here is Shanti not only qualifying for her second leg of Companion Dog, but winning the class. With a score of 198 1/2 out of 200. That was pawesome!
I'd been sitting around for awhile, waiting for my Novice A class, but the judges decided to take a lunch break after they were finished with the B's.
Mom and Dad and me took a stroll around the Alameda County Fairgrounds. The "midway" was loaded with doggie booths, pups and foodables for hoomans and peoples. I'm salivating for one of Dad's chicken sammiches.
Then some hooman came along CARRYING THIS!!! I must have jumped three feet up in the air and when I landed, I just barked and woofed my heart out. OMD!!! Have you ever seen such a HUMONGOUS creature???????? Well... it was time to get back to my class. I was the sixth in a group of 17 doggies. The judge is giving me and mom instructions.
Here is where the video should go, but it won't today. I did okay compared to Shanti, but great compared to the pups in my class. I think that's because I've been uber-trained by Barbara at the Oakland Club that I attend every Monday afternoon.
OMD!!! I qualified for my first leg of the CD!!! Not only that... I actually came in first!!!
Here is my pressie from the judge!
But here come the weird part. Shanti's mom is watching for the final scores from the Open Obedience Class. I guess I haven't yet told you that my scores from Novice A was 198 1/2. Well... after the Open class was finished, no one made a score of more than either Shanti or me. So here we are, BFFs, having to go head-to-head, for High Scoring Dog in a Regular Class. Anyway... this is really weird. Shanti is an uber-heeling pup and the judge made us heel off-leash. You can guess who rightfully and beautifully came out on top! Yay, Shanti!
