----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim McKenney" <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 12:55 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Amaryllis belladonna. > I've been following this discussion with interest. Amaryllis belladonna has > been attempted on and off in eastern North America for the last two hundred > years, and I'm not aware of any long term successes. One bulb catalogue puts it this way: "...if you live in the midwest or southeast, Amarcrinum may be a more successful choice." That's business diplomacy ;-). > Pot culture does not seem to be the answer. I potted it up because of differing reports of hardiness. Thought I could move it around when it got very cold, protecting it from the harshest freezes. Then, when it seemed to want to grow, I took it indoors, and of course it continued to produce foliage. I just didn't want to lose it totally. I'm putting the ones I have potted into the ground soon. Let the chips fall as they will. >Digging the bulbs for the summer > seems to be a mistake. > Jim McKenney I dug mine up in the spring thinking they were Agapanthus. I was going to put the "Agapanthus" in better soil and potted them temporarily till I could get the site prepared. (Yeah, I sould have done it the other way 'round....) Well, they proceeded to go dormant, I guess because of the root disturbance, so I unpotted them to prevent rot and left them out, planning to wait as long as possible to plant in soil. Some anecdotal info seems to indicate that if they are planted very late, they will not produce foliage till late winter-early spring. I thought that would help prevent frost damage to the foliage. (Or something like that.) Part of my confusion was that they never lost all the foliage in summer.There was usually a short rosette that would wane a bit but never disappear entirely. I thought my "Agapanthus" was just sulking from being too dry and hot in clay soil. Robert.