gregpresley wrote:

Actually, I think you're both correct. The instructions given for amarylis
in books and websites are really for the vast majority of gardeners in the
north, who want to have blooms in the winter. The dormancy is basically
"induced" by a combination of cooler temperatures and letting the soil dry
out. - and in this way, a northern gardener can also induce the amarylis to
bloom a few months ahead of its natural schedule. In Tallahassee, where the
average winter temperature is pretty warm, but there are still 20 or more
days of frost most years, the foliage of the amarylis I grew outdoors there
would die back after a frost, and the plant would send out new foliage and a
flower scape in March. I have kept amarylis going year round in spokane,
but the foliage gets very ratty in the short gray days of a northwestern
winter, pressed up against a cold window pane. However, the plant will still
bloom in its normal time - which is March, April, or early May. Eventually
the ratty foliage drops off and new foliage replaces it - about the time
that the new flower scape begins to rise. I'm not good about repotting
every year in fresh soil, so often my bulbs s will give me about 2 years of
bloom and then peter out.
"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:EWM2d.2698$wV.1360@attbi_s54...
Sorry to contradict both of you but the large flowering amaryllis sold as
gift plants/bulbs during the winter are hybrids of Hippeastrum and are not
hardy in the ground in zones below 9 or 10. And while they may very well
be
evergreen in your climate, David, they are not in colder parts of the
country and they do go through a period of dormancy. Obviously they must,
as
they are most frequently sold as just a bare bulb without any foliage.
There are many websites which address how to get one of these large
flowered
amaryllis to rebloom in subsequent years in zones where they are not
winter
hardy and the instructions are exactly as I have stated.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8529.html
http://www.thegardenhelper.com/amaryllis.html


pam - gardengal


"David Ross" wrote in message
...
Hippeastrum is an evergreen bulb. With proper care it does NOT go
dormant. If you force it to go dormant, you risk sacraficing the
next season's flowers.

True Amaryllis is a deciduous bulb. It does go dormant. As with
all deciduous bulbs, however, if you remove the foliage while it is
still green you risk killing the bulb.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_hippeastrum.html for
information on how to distinguish between Hippeastrum and
Amaryllis.

Please reread my Web page, where I state:
"I leave the clumps in the ground year-round, where they MAY
[emphasis added] remain evergreen. They bloom more reliably if they
do not go dormant in the winter. Contrary to some advice, never cut
the foliage or force dormancy on Hippeastrum. In their native
tropics, they are indeed evergreen."
Note that I do not say that Hippeastrum never goes dormant.
Generally, at least one bulb (a different one each year) does go
dormant each winter; all go dormant in some winters.

However, in cold-winter climates, bulbs should be lifted, potted,
and continued indoors, where they MIGHT stay in leaf all winter.
This reflects the advice given by Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension, for which there is a link on my Hippeastrum
page.

As for bloom time, I have two Hippeastrum that are blooming right
now. One of them is blooming for the second time this year, having
bloomed about 2-3 months ago. No, I did nothing to force
blooming. Blooming twice in one year is common (but NOT universal)
for the Hippeastrum in my garden. On rare occasions, a bulb might
actually bloom three times in one year. (They like me!)

My "California Mediterranean" climate is not frost free. We get
20-40 nights of frost in the winter, none of which lingers after
the sun rises. We had a killing frost only once in the 31 years
that I have been in my current house. In that same time, I think
we might have had snow three times (each in different years),
lasting on the ground only a very few hours. The point is that
mine is NOT the tropical climate found where Hippeastrum
originates; nevertheless, most (not all) of the Hippeastrum bulbs
in my garden remain in leaf all winter (albeit looking somewhat
ratty as indicated by gregpresley). They have been here the entire
31 years, having been moved from our previous house when we moved
into this house.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/