Amaryllis question

I still have the Amaryllis I got last fall in the window I had it when it bloomed... The straps (all 3 of them) are now 3 ft long... It has already gotten cool here and I have failed to put it outside in a bed. Should I do it now or wait till next spring? If the foliage does not die back on its own and is killed by frost will that harm it? I procrastinated all year long about getting it out there!

Carol

Carol, I have been growing Amaryllis three years and have good luck with them. I take them out of the pots in the fall and lal them up somewhere protected and let them rest all winter. The folage will wither away. In the spring pull the dried folage off the bulb and plant them. I put mine in pots outside about the middle of March. Hope this helps. Hazel

so you just leave them out of the ground? It doesn't hurt if the bulbs freeze, or do you put htem in the garage or something?

Put them in the garage or some sheltered spot. I have never lost a bulb this way.

when do they bloom?

Mine bloom in the spring

Thank you for all of your information! ^_^

Carol

Carol, You are most welcome. Glad I could help. Hazel

Contrary to what a lot of others do, I leave most of mine outside (especially Tets), in pots until there is a really good frost and the leaves die back. After that, it is usually a week or more before the next frost. The dead, dried leaves are easily removed, and I bring them into my patio and my porch which at that time will be enclosed with plastic or my greenhouse.

The only problem that I have had is that they tend to start growing again too early because we tend to have very warm days in late winter. I have never fretted about that, though. I just adjust where they are so that they will get more light to make the leaves/scapes happy. The ones with scapes will receive more light.

However, if an early forecast of something like 26-27 degrees is forecoming, and they have not lost their leaves, I break the leaves off and haul them into a more protected area as fast as I can.

As far as those that are planted in the ground, I never do anything. They do their own thing!

This year, I am trying something different. They will go into a dark, unheated storage area and will be checked every day or so for sprouted new growth. If I see that they are breaking dormancy, I will give them more light.

Many of the older ones in pots will go into the garden permanently next year. It's a test to see what is hardy and what is not.

Right now, I have so many that I need to focus on HARDY!

HSteacher,

What are Tets?

I leave all my bulbs in the ground in winter, and I know I can leave the amaryllis, but I was fretting over the fact that I had not put it out yet. I was worried that going out from the house into a bed when it is getting colder with no chance to adapt would not be a good thing. I know that the leaves have to die back and somehow give strength to the bulb or it will not bloom next year. But I am not sure that frost killing them off is the same thing. But since that is what you do with sucess, that is encouraging! These have 3ft long straps because they have been growing all year and not allowed to die. So I decided today to put it in the bulb bed and just see. Right now the forcast is 33* Sat night and the back to the 40's at night till next Fri which will be 33* again. Then back up for the next day or so and that is as far as it says... So if that is what happens it seems like it will be good. I won't be surprised if it doesn't bloom next year! It will probably still be confused! LOL

Thanks for your reply! ^_^

Carol

A homeowner near me in Asheville had amaryllis planted around her mailbox and they grew and bloomed each spring. She left them in the ground, so I think yours should be okay in the ground.

Usually, Amaryllis (hippeastrum) are planted in the ground in the spring. That is when you will find them for sale as 'garden red, white, pink, orange', etc. in Walmart.

Tets are Tetraploid and they are usually larger flowered and larger bulbs and most tend to be hardy here.

I am somewhat finicky about my collection also and most are in pots. Those are the ones that I leave outside until the first light frost. My mature ones still have their leaves. Some of my two year old seedlings have begun to lose their leaves, but not all.

We had a record high of 82 degrees yesterday, but expect a low of somewhere between 34-37 tonight, and I'm leaving them out there. They will go dormant sometime in the next week or two, and as soon as those leaves die back, I'll be bringing them into my patio and enclosed porch.

In the spring, the majority of my potted ones will go in the ground. The exotics, like Misty, Amputo, Papilio and many others will continue to be protected for the winter until I learn more about their hardiness.

H. Johnsonii, Apple Blossom, Red Lion and many others are hardy in the ground here. Johnsonii is diploid, the others are Tets.

Good luck and Enjoy!

Ann

I am fairly sure that all Hippeastrum at hardy anywhere that the ground doesn't freeze. I know they like to be kept on the dry side when dormant.

Oh, wow, Dale, what a beautiful shot of your amaryllis and house. How perfect!

I agree that is a beautiful garden shot, Dale, and love your Amaryllis! Don't know the name but that is one of my favorite varieties. I have not had good luck with growing them outside; I have gotten them to bloom but they did not return well and the flowers were raggedly. Strange since I have really good luck with most other bulbs.

I've several Amryllis bulbs planted outdoor post 'forced blooms' for one holiday after another. Like SteveFtWorth, they're tempermental for me at best. What I've experienced was, they do survive winter for a year or two. Rebloomed the subsequent year, then begun to decline; either they put out green leafy growths but cease to flower. Then eventually disappear. Apple Blossom was one of those that I've experimented with outdoor.

Well Kim I am glad to hear you've had similar experience, and I know you do well with other bulbs as well. I think we must be in a borderline zone and maybe we get too cold for most of them to really flourish. Usually I seem them advertised as hardy to zone 8 or 9, and so it is strange for me that they'd do well in someplace like Asheville, NC, unless that grower had a certain variety that exhibited more cold hardiness. I think in southern TX or AL they would likely do well, as evidenced by the posters here and home growers I know in the Houston area.

This message was edited Nov 15, 2008 10:33 PM

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>

Perhaps it will help if I add that the amaryllis I saw growing in Asheville, I'm sure, were the ones that Lowe's and HD sell in the boxes during the holidays. This yard is not a gardener's yard, except for the amaryllis around the mailbox, so I'm sure these are not any exotic or unusual cultivars.

Dale, my beds are always raised and/or heavily amended as required, as much of the soil in this area as you say is heavy clay, and other bulbs thrive, so that's not it. Mine didn't rot; they just stopped flowering and even the leaves looked rough so I yanked them out. Maybe I had a variety that was not so hardy. Seems Lily_love had the same issue. Howd deep should they be planted? Maybe that's it - mine were quite shallow as I knew they needed warmth to do well, and I usually plant bulbs 3X the height. Most of the bulb retailers online market amaryllis to zone 8 and higher; obviously it must be possible but one just does not typically see amaryllis grown outside as far north as Asheville. They are beautiful plants though and maybe I'll try them outside again someday.

Could it have to do with the acidity of the soil?

I really do not know, but my first H. Johnsonii came from my sister's ranch in TX (45 minutes NE of Brian/College Station). When I dug them, they were buried very deeply under a huge, old Walnut tree.

I also have a spidery, white with Pink inner stripe crinum that were huge and planted very deep and thick beside an old building on the ranch. My sister says I am frail and weak because I dug and dug and could not get them up. She is truly stronger than me because in no time, she had a huge clump dug up for me.

Hello,
I have a realted question. My amaryllis didn't die back either, and yesterday I cut off the leaves and put the bulb to dry. I guess I could just plant it in the ground, but I wanted to bring it inside when it blooms again...
Does it "need" a dormancy period, or can I repot it right away? We don't have any frost here....I'm confused!

Dale, Your garden of winter flowers is gorgeous. It's inspired me to try to add some color to my green beds over the winter.

Sarah

Roberta, Just let your Hippeastrum dry out for about 4 weeks in a cool place and then bring it into a warm place. When the flower bud/stem starts to emerge pot it up and water it once a week.

I am a lazy gardener. I just cut and use the flowers in the house, they last the same amount of time and it is less work (lazy, lazy, lazy). Our clumps are evergreen and they bloom in late spring every year.

Sarah, I am in zone 10a. The plants in my photo do not take frosts. I would stick with pansy if I lived where you live.

Roberta, look clumps>

Dale, Shucks! Pansy's do not inspire me. I did put together a container last weekend with pansies, cyclamen and some english ivy. I guess that will have to carry me through until spring.

Sarah

Wow Dale, after seeing your clumps, I'm thinking maybe I should just plant them in the ground!!! Do the bulbs produce offsets? That would be neat!

Rob,

Yes they make huge clumps over time>

Hi I have grown Amaryllis in the ground for many years. You do not need to remove the leave nor do they need to die back or rest . Also If your Amaryllis start to do badly dig them up and replant them, they need to have about the top 1/3 above ground. A light freeze will damage leaves but should not damage the bulbs. Which reminds me that I need to dig up and thin out my clumps this spring after they bloom.