Jim: Lycoris x haywardii has been in flower for just over a week, followed by our earliest clone of L. sprengeri today. L. longituba has a 6" spike, as does L. longituba x chinensis. No sign of activity on either L. sanguinea or L. x squamigera yet. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of James Waddick Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 12:08 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Lycoris season 1 Dear Friends, As I mentioned earlier, Lycoris season has begun here in Kansas City. I was driving around a day ago and was surprised to see a few L. squamigera in bloom. This is nearly the ONLY Lycoris you see in my area. My plants have not put on a sign of a flower stalk yet. Hold that thought. Since L. sanguineum is the usual first to bloom I really wondered. I came home and ripped away the veil of weeds around my L. sanguineum bulb spot and found two stalks with 3 or 4 spent flowers. I had totally missed them. This is quite early. Since then, more stalks have appeared. 2 different L. chinensis x longituba are in bloom today. One with very pale petals and strong yellow mid-stripe, the other a more uniform primrose yellow; both with the longituba form. I often pick up a few more bulbs of L. squamigera when the opportunity arrives. 2 years ago I got some left over from a local flower club plant sale. These have started to bloom - 3 plants but even these are early. These early blooming squamigera are a few feet from a bed of over 100 bulbs none of which show a hint of a flower stalk yet. It is long thought that L. squamigera is a natural hybrid, triploid and sterile. I agree, but might this natural hybrid have occurred multiple times and places resulting in various very similar clones separated mainly by bloom season? The early plants mentioned above were growing in a slightly protected part of the city, but my newly blooming plants are too close to older non-blooming plants to make me wonder. I have multiple patches of L. squamigera around my 1 acre garden. They usually bloom within a few days of each other, but these new ones are clearly jumping the schedule. I can't help but wonder. Any thoughts? Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +