Bulbs: Amaryllis question, 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
I checked PlantPiles and some Amaryllis were only rated hardy to 10a (that would be me) and some were rated to 7a (Appleblossum).

So there has to be some reason they failed in Ft Worth and not in Asheville.

Soil, drainage, disease or insects in the soil are the only things I can think of that might cause decline. I have had the bulbs fail here, but, it was because the bulbs came with a disease that attacked them at their base, where the roots come out of the scales of the bulb.

Poor drainage in the heavy clay soils of TX might allow them to rot. It might take awhile, they are a tough bulb, usually.

I always dust the base of my bulbs with sulfur when I get them and before I plant them. I let them sit for a couple days and then soak the sulfur off. I like to let them get very dry when the weather is cold, I noticed that is when they are most likely to develop rot.

PS The above photo was not my home, it is one of the beds I planted. The folks who live there call me Dale, the gardener.

Here is a flower bed I started to plant this week, the winter flowers. This is ganzia, alyssum and lobelia>