Google tells me that this is a Crinum Lily, no reason to doubt that identification as the Google image matches. But there is a mystery….
We bought this bulb on impulse and curiosity at a Garden Centre Check Out about 5 years ago. It was labelled as an Elephant Lily. The information sheet attached said – To plant the bulb with the top third above soil level. It would, they stated, produce long green leaves and in late autumn produce crocus like flowers. Well it did, but nothing special… we liked the foliage, so left it be.
This Year, what a surprise. A tall flower stem and flower petals, a plant we could identify. Surprised but also intrigued, so I thought I would record its development and changes to the flower head.
And on the 8th day the flower departs….
I hope it will return next season, maybe more than one stem. The mystery remains… what of the Elephant Lily and was this years display a result of our recent unusual heatwaves ?.
Enjoy your summer… and as always….
Please Remember ….
Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other
29th July
(C) David Oakes 2025
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 
oh my goodness! Lovely images of a most interesting plant. Let’s hope it comes back next year with its siblings!!
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I do hope so.. after the first year we just left it in its pot in a corner and let matutevtake its course. But from now on it will get cared for.😃
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Good to hear, David!
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Strange things are happening as the climate changes. I guess we all have to keep learning, as always!
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Well I guess this is what the bulb should produce…. just wish I had photographed those early dissapointing and rather insignificant flowers… stranger than fiction as they say 😄
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hmmmmm….
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Crinum × powellii is also known as Elephant lily. So you have got what you bought.
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and also… Alocasia odora, also known as the night-scented lily, Asian taro, or giant upright elephant ear. (Google search. But the flowers originally produced were very different, low flowering and crocus like. So my mystery continues… but worth going on the journey
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Maybe the flower in the first year was just very small. Did you take a photo of it?
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It was so insignificant i didnt bother…and the flower was very
different and best described as vaguely crocus like. Truthfully just left it to its own device s..the folliage would fill a corner. So this year it was a real surprise 😃
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