Hey, hey, HEY, JW! Well, I don't think we got as much rain as it appeared you did as I followed the radar, but we got a fair soaking yesterday. Today, my L. squamigera are coming up like gangbusters. I see a handful more of L. longituba, too, but no additional activity from the L. sanguinea and L. sprengeri, and I've had nothing whatsoever from my L. chinensis. I hope to see further "surprises" this weekend. You should go out a poke around if you haven't already, Jim. I'm sure you will see new activity from L. squamigera. Mr. Kelly M. Irvin 10850 Hodge Ln Gravette, AR 72736 USA 479-787-9958 USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6a/b http://www.irvincentral.com/ James Waddick wrote: > Dear Friends, > With all the reports about Lycoris blooming - it is the season. > Just starting here too with L. squamigera leading the pack. > We had a lot of rain this spring - way over the average and I think > this has bulked up the bulbs as we are getting multiple stems per > bulb and very tall stalks. > > I have a few L. longituba just starting up and the tallest > stalk has topped out just prior to bloom at 40 inches to the base of > the inflorescence. Add 4-5 inches to the peak. This is exception, but > a number of other stalks are easily 36 inches, also very tall. > > After a week and 1/2 of no rain, there's a big rain storm > predicted for tonight. So I expect to see a flurry of activity in a > week or less. So far there's bloom or stalks on L . squamigera, > longituba. sprengeri, L. chinensis and some hybrids. Usually L. > sanguinea is the first to show, but no sign yet. It was badly hurt in > April '07 late killer freezes so may still be set back. > > Incidentally, Diana, Lycoris are very poor bloomers in pots. > I feel lucky to get a single bloom per pot. A friend on the East > Coast has better bloom, but they have a lot more rain and I assume > this makes all the difference. They can take / appreciate a LOT of > water in spring maybe even sitting in water as I have seen in the > wild in China for a couple species. > > Last year's freeze damaged all Lycoris foliage very badly and > this year we had no damages and lots of rain, but buds are formed in > the previous fall as I recall so they might still be light due to > last year's damages. I'll report more in 'part 2' > > Meanwhile enjoying the show. Jim W. >