----- Original Message ----- From: "James Waddick" <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 4:06 PM Subject: [pbs] Manfreda and Polianthes > I grow three species of Polianthes and always bring them in > for winter, but how hardy are they outdoors? > Dr. James W. Waddick I don't recommend this as it may be just dumb luck, but I have had the single P. tuberosa in a large plastic tub overwinter with absolutely no care at all here in 7b. The bulbs were just left there, forgotten till they sprang up in early spring the next year. There were several other plants in the pot and that is why it was left out in the yard where it had been all summer. I took the bulb clump out of the tub and potted it up for awhile, than when it outgrew the pot, I transplanted it to the garden.This year I didn't think they were going to bloom, but in September a scape began to emerge. It finally flowered the second week of October but didn't finish out as the frosts cut it down. The foliage is partly mush now but underneath it is still green. I might throw some mulch over it later on. I think the thing that really kept it coming back was being so dry in the light potting mix, but of course it was out where it could get rained on, so it wasn't 100% dry during winter. Robert.