Naked Ladies

I just received a big box of Naked Lady (Amaryllis Belladonna) bulbs. I am now trying to map out where I'd like to plant them.

Can I plant over these bulbs?

I have a bed I am creating with drought tolerants for my Los Angeles climate: rosemary, aloes, salvias, admidst a bunch of straw and paper to kill the grass that was there - I figure the Ladies would do well, but can they come up through the straw and rosemary? Or would they multiply and take over the whole bed?

This message was edited Monday, Apr 8th 5:11 AM

if i may be allowed to express my 2 cents worth: 1st of all, amaryllis are poisonous plants, they are considered as house plants and like to be snug in a pot to grow properly. 2nd, i never mix herbs with poisonous plant in the herb plot. rosemary plants do not like to be over watered - they do not want their roots to be wet so to speak. so is the aloes, if over watered they turn into a mush. there are so many different varieties of salvia - some like water, others don't. i have mix feelings about this. just my opinion, correct me if i am wrong... ma vie rose

This message was edited Monday, Apr 8th 5:12 AM

Other Amaryllis's are good houseplants, sure, but these belladonnas are the ones you see on vacant lots and the like - these bulbs want for nothing but a warm sunny place. They require no supplemental water - I read somewhere that they "survive on Nature's bounty." Seems to me, that if they could make their way through the straw that they'd make fine plotmates for the aloes and rosemarys, or at least make the plot more lively at bloom time, don't you think?

amaryllis do great in my garden here in zone 9 and have for years and years. The naked lady bulbs will do fine in the ground also. Just plant them with their necks up and plant around them. They are always a pleasant surprise about this time of year!
http://www.floridata.com/ref/l/lyco_rad.cfm

This message was edited Monday, Apr 8th 5:12 AM

When the plants leaf out in the spring the leaves will completely block the sun from anything under them. So whatever you plant with them needs to be able to survive in the dark until the foliage dies. I finally just put them in spots behind and between things where the dying leaves are hidden and along fences where there was nothing else. They are amazingly tough plants and even do well in the rocky soil that gets water only in winter.

a friend of mine grows them in a bed under a south facing wall - north facing if you are south of the equator. there is nothing else in the bed. in time there will be so many they will push each other out of the soil. this does them no harm as his came through a week of -10C last December.

Mark

If you have 3 to spare.....Id love to trade for them.