Lycoris squamigera in warm climates

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 09:47:38 PDT
Some years ago I bought several species of Lycoris, including L. 
squamigera, and they mostly survived winters in the foothills about 
Portland, Oregon, but none of them ever flowered. I assumed this was 
due to their experiencing cool nights and low humidity in summer. 
These conditions often adversely affect plants that have evolved in 
humid-summer regions where night temperatures are not extremely lower 
than day temperatures in summer. A typical example was the past few 
days, with daytime highs around 90 degrees F and nighttime lows 
around 60 degrees F. At slightly higher elevations the drop can be 
even greater.

I never managed to flower Nerine except in a solarium, but I know of 
plants that flower in Portland in the open, especially in sites 
against a west-facing wall. Now I have Amaryllis belladonna in that 
type of site and will see if it ever flowers; it did survive our 
unusually cold spells this past winter. Agapanthus in the same site 
froze to death, but to my amazement Iris unguicularis is thriving 
with almost no damage there.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA



At 09:11 AM 7/31/2014, you wrote:

>Shawn,
>
>That's worth checking into. Sebastopol may have one of the highest 
>concentrations of Amaryllis belladonna in Sonoma County but I have 
>yet to see any Lycoris squamigera flowering there.
>
>Nathan




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