CARDIOCRINUMS

Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense

The first of the Cardiocrinums this year started blooming yesterday, June 6th. 

It is the group of Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense. 
Their early spring foliage is burnished with red along the leaf veins.
My original plant bloomed in 2008 or 09 so these are offsets.

Here is a progression of their life this year: 

March 20th--these emerge about 2 weeks ahead of the other Cardiocrinums.
For the past 6 years, their foliage stayed low and looked like this all summer. 

But this year the stems are rising up from the bulb 
so it looks like this is the year they will finally bloom again!

May 5th

By May 19th the buds at the top of the stalks are rising up. 

By June 1st, the buds had stretched apart and began turning downward. 

And by the 5th were starting to open

My son is 6' 1"

June 10th, all the buds except two on the bottom are now fully open.
The middle stalk has 15 blooms.

 I think there is more red inside each flower on these than on the "regular" Cardiocrinums. Those are still rising up and buds have not separated, 

so these will be finished before those open. We'll have to compare pictures in a few weeks.
( Hmmm.. just realized that the main picture for my blog header is the other Cardiocrinum from two years ago and it actually looks like the red is more solid and darker in those). 

Cardiocrinum giganteum x yunnanense
June 8, 2014

_______________________________________________________________________

Cardiocrinum giganteum var. giganteum

Well, this group was two weeks behind the C. giganteum var. yunnanense so It looks like I did not take any pictures while they were growing during the spring. 
The flower stalks have been rising with a tight bud at their tops.

But today, June 14, the buds are now just beginning to stretch up and separate. 

adding a great link to information from the Oregon Hardy Plant Society: 

hardyplantsociety.org/the-lifecycle-of-a-cardicrinum-giganteum-giant-himalayan-https://blog.hardyplantsociety.org/the-lifecycle-of-a-cardicrinum-giganteum-giant-himalayan-lily/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HardyPlantSocietyOfOregon+%28Hardy+Plant+Society+of+Oregon+Blog%29