Naked ladies cavorting in my yard

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Fri, 09 Aug 2002 08:36:57 PDT
Dear All,

I noticed the first ones blooming up here (naturalized and in a few 
gardens) 8/3 which seems very early to me. There is nothing showing in my 
garden, but IF mine bloom they are always much later than even local 
blooms. So I can still hope.

In 1998 we had a most fascinating discussion on the IBS forum about 
Amaryllis belladonna and why it bloomed or didn't. I have just reread it to 
refresh my memory. As usual it was hard to sort through the different 
experiences and come up with a common theme for success. Warm, sunny, and 
dry in summer was one answer. Neglect, even walking on them when dormant 
was another. Another was a long period of growth in winter to store up the 
reserves for blooming. But just to make it interesting, Sir Peter Smithers 
reported blooms in Mexico at high elevations with a dry winter and a wet 
summer and he has good luck in Switzerland (I saw them so can attest to 
this) with year round water (but warm summers).

Thanks for introducing yourself Mike. We are glad to have you.

Mary Sue 




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