A pleasant invasive

If you change your mind.....these don't have to be dug up and stored. They do fine left all alone. Grandma had hers in the ground for over 50 yrs when I dug them up.

Equi~

Did you see the white one at Plant Delights?

The have L. x albiflora rated for zone 5. http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/00043.html

Robert.

Thanks Robert, I need that plant! It has my name on it. Good detective work and they are an excellent nursery. That could definitely make it year round in my little courtyard out front.

Thanks Terry, it's only white I want. The moths won't go to the color your grandma has.

Back to your question regarding Lycoris. Illinois is a very loooooooong state. I'm way up by the Wisconsin border by that 5a you noticed. Way down south, you'll run into zone 6b. What's really interesting is that I have a courtyard in the front of my home. It's sort of like a horseshoe. Within this small area that is protected by three sides with 2 story walls to my home, it is a zone 6b and there are friends of mine who believe it might even be a zone 7a. This is a microclimate. Microclimates exist on most properties. Many plants that would otherwise be toast can survive and thrive in microclimates. Now toss in a little global warming and voila! Plants that weren't hardy now are.

I can over winter geraniums here by digging them up, dipping them in an H2O2 solution, letting them dry out, then storing them in sawdust in paper bags, and hanging them in my garage. Same thing goes for Gladiola because I can just pull those up and store them in paper bags in peat. If I had been smart enough years ago, I probably could have overwintered my Caladium bulbs. I routinely overwinter Dionaea as well as several Pinguicula quite successfully in my garage by merely moving the pots from the patio onto racks in my garage in front of big windows. Lots of rhizomes, corms, tubers, and bulbs can be stored and replanted in spring and they survive for us poor zone 5 folk who have zone 7 envy. My garage is maintained at around 38-40F throughout the winter. I figured the same might hold true for the Lycoris. I've never tried Lycoris before but I'm willing to try. I think I still might go for trying L. elsiae in pots and just moving the whole pot into the garage along with all the Sarracenia.

I seriously doubt Lycoris radiata or elsiae is going to make it in the ground up this far north as anything other than mush the following spring unless... precautions are taken to properly store them. I don't even think a microclimate will do it for this genus this far north but... a microclimate that exists down south in a zone 6 might. Aside from that, I don't want L. radiata. It's the L. elsiae I lusted for until you found me that L. x albiflora. I think my moths might like it.

I suspect the USDA site is accurate regarding where radiata has naturalized. Unfortunately, it may have only naturalized in 6 or 7 of the southern most counties so they are greening out the entire state. They are generally pretty anal about data.

Here's a photo of hundreds of zone 7 plants overwintering in my garage from last year. Feel sorry for me up here in zone 5. It's not the greatest system but it works. Needless to say, I have serious zone 7 envy.

Soddy Daisy TN was zone 7. You don't need zone envy. It's still humid there, probably until the end of Dec or so and starts again in Feb. You think your allergies are bad up here in zone 5a? I didn't think my outdoor allergies were that bad till we moved there. Oh but wait, if you lived in zone 7, think of all the wonderful mimosa you'd see lining the highways...........

Equi~

Lovely plants!

I envy your having a garage to store plants in! I have nanners, gingers, amaryllis, Hymencoallis, Crinum, Alocasia, Colocasia, Jasminum etc. that would love wintering there.

We do what we have to and what we can.

Robert.

You have a valid point there about Mimosa. Think I'll stay up here where they are on the fringe of their hardiness... at least for now until some ding dong releases a cold hardy ecotype.

You've got all the goodies there Robert!

Psst, I stored a couple hundred down in window wells too. Window wells work well for many species. The other side of the garage by the west windows was loaded too. My bad.

My husband wants to reclaim our 3.5 car garage so he bought me a greenhouse. We ran out of time getting the excavators, concrete men, and brick layers here this year but next spring I should be able to move out of the garage. We're running electric and gas to the new greenhouse which is almost the size of 2 car garage only longer and narrower. Hopefully, that will solve some of my zone 7 lust issues.

Next year after the greenhouse is up, it's party time! I have a list of about 20 plants I want to buy already in anticipation of getting my new baby up. I can't wait.

So happy for you, Equi, with that greenhouse (read: oasis!) coming.

What a joy to be out there in the middle of winter! Whoo-Hoo!!!!

Robert.

Yes, I'm very happy. I've waited a long time to get a greenhouse. Two members here did all the work for me because they both have greenhouses and knew what style and accessories I would need for the area in which I live. They went a little bit bigger than what I had originally planned on but I saw the validity to why they chose to do so. It was great sitting back watching them do all the work. Then my husband bought everything they suggested right on down to the shade cloth, tie downs, and swamp whatevers. I don't know anything about greenhouses. Hopefully this will change next year when construction starts.

OK, I'm late weighing in on this one.
I've got red L.radiata that I dug up from clumps at my grandparents' home in east-central AL(on the z7-8 interface) and brought them to KY - temps were in the mid 70s that January day when we pulled out heading north, 12 F when I got home to KY. They froze solid in the bed of the truck. I plunked 'em in the ground unceremoniously(once it thawed enough to dig a hole), and they've never looked back - bloom every summer and I noticed their ribbon-like foliage about 4 inches tall just this week. It persists through the winter, and dies back in spring - then the blooms pop up unexpectedly in midsummer. These AL transplants have now been through 11 KY winters, and seem to be no worse for the wear.
Would it be too cold for them in z5? I don't know, but I'd give 'em a try, and I would not dream of digging 'em up for the winter. You might find yourself surprised at how tough they are.

Lucky_P's testimony is encouraging for zone 6 and maybe parts of 5....it's worth a try.

My concern would be how well the green parts make it through northern winters, since they emerge in fall and grow through spring. Would hope the plant wouldn't be bothered by long periods of snow-cover or weak light in an off year...

But, you never know till you try......

Robert.

I have the pink form of Naked ladies growing at my Coldwater property in Branch County, South middle Michigan. I have no Idea what species they are, but they have been there for decades surviving in Zone 5...

Lycoris squamigera?

It's hardier than the radiata, usually listed as OK in zone5. Some reports have it hardy to -20 below zero. Wow!

They are lovely.

R.

Patrick, that sounds like the ones I had from my grandmothers. The foliage comes up in spring with the flower stalk sometime in summer?

Robert, we were typing over each other. Perhaps next year I can get a photo of the ones at my parents house that came from Grandma. I would love to know exactly which ones it is that we've inherited from her. All I know is "naked lady".

terry~

Yes we did, lol.

Look in the Plant Files under Lycoris to see a good selection of the species and hybrids.

Robert.

Thanks Robert, that's an idea I didn't even think of. Just maybe I can find out what it is. I will always call these we have as heirloom, being that they were first planted in grandma's garden more than 50 yrs ago and who knows how long Mrs. Malmquist had them before she shared with grandma. Out of everything my grandma grew, those were her pride and joy.

Ya TerryR, they do just that. Very pretty and usually at a time when it is pretty GREEN in the gardens...