Bulbs: lycoris radiata (red spider lily) culture, 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
The best looking Lycoris I have ever seen were in Austin, TX (8b) on a hillside in a freeway median. Left overs from from a home garden when Mopac was built. They bloomed every year. They were in clay soil and Austin is pretty dry most summers.

Most bulbs, that are true perennials in your climate do not need fertilizer. Organic mulch and trace elements (in poor sand soil) should be enough. Too much nitrogen causes lots of leaf growth and few flowers. I have read that bulbs, generally, are adapted to poor soil conditions.

Out in California's Napa valley the grape growers have moved away from fertilizer and use ground up rock products to improve the soil/growing conditions. I wish I could get granite dust and some of the other products they use.