Crinum x ‘Candace’: The Most Un-Crinumy Crinum Lily for Zone 8 Gardens

The whole team dreads mulching time. Twenty-four thousand pounds of dusty, dry, sneezy bermuda hay gets spread over the fields. This day teaches us a lot about physics. It’s hot, the hay sticks to your forehead, and it welts up your forearms.

“It does look good though, dunnin’ it?”

“Yep, and it makes that tall Candace crinum look great.”

We all stopped to admire Candace, her flower stalks pushing five feet, her sword-like leaves standing up straight, glossy and stiff.

She looks like something that would melt at the first frost. She won’t.

She looks like something every single Southern landscape should have, proof that a garden can be tougher than August heat. They don’t.

A Hybrid Born From Two Continents

‘Candace’ is a hybrid, bred by crossing Crinum asiaticum with Crinum moorei. The asiaticum side is where all the drama comes from, the giant crinum of tropical Asia used in resort landscaping from Florida to Bangkok, evergreen, enormous, and about as subtle as a marching band. Moorei is the quieter half of this plant’s story; it has been grown outdoors in English gardens for well over a century.

Florida plantsman Michael McCaffery crossed those two species and got a winner, naming this dazzler for his wife, ‘Candace.’ He shared her with me years ago, and now, unless I’m mistaken, our nursery is about the only place offering this rare, exceptionally beautiful crinum lily.

Fragrant, Rare, and Unforgettable

She’s fragrant, too. Stand near ‘Candace’ in the evening and the scent will stop a conversation. It’s tends toward a light, clean perfume. At our last Moth Ball evening event, a guest asked to cut a flower. She put it in a jar, carried it around all evening, then took it home.

Tough Enough for August Heat

Candace is a stunner, but she’s tough, too. In the middle of August, her leaves stay fresh and green, and those flowers wow us, even our own team, who sees her every day, from afar and up close.

Ready to add this rare beauty to your own garden? Shop Crinum x ‘Candace’ here.

More Zone 8 Tough Plants in Secrets of Southern Gardening

If plants like Candace, the ones that shrug off August heat and thrive right here in zone 8, are your kind of garden hero, you’ll want a copy of my book, Secrets of Southern Gardening: Pro-Tips for Success. It’s full of tried-and-true, heat-loving plants and techniques for gardening through the hottest, most humid months in the South. Get your copy of Secrets of Southern Gardening here.