RE: Naked Ladies! (Amaryllis belladonna) in Kansas?

I suppose it's possible that Amaryllis belladonna has
been grown in Kansas; I do know that the Denver
Botanic Garden has had them survive several years in
their Alpine Rock Garden.  But the drainage in that
Garden is superb and summer rains aren't as regular
there as they are in Kansas.

Is it possible that what your grandmother grew was
Lycoris squamigera (formerly Amaryllis hallii)?  It
looks amazingly like our west coast "naked ladies"
(slightly smaller of stature, as I recall).  The
flowers are the same color and trumpet form.  It also
has the same habit of blooming without leaves (hence
"naked").  The difference is, the foliage of this one
grows in late spring through summer, dies down in late
summer/fall and the plant blooms at that time.

I grew Lycoris squamigera in northern Wisconsin -- it
IS extremely hardy, both to winter cold and humid, wet
summers.

Joe Seals
Santa Maria, California
--- Carol Joynson <CarolJ@minimed.com> wrote:
> Just a note - my grandmother grew them in Kansas:
> high heat and humidity
> with regular rains all summer, freezing and snow
> cover all winter.  Of
> course, she called them "Shameless Hussies".
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Seán A. O'Hara" [s*@support.net]
> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 6:07 PM
> To: johnsaia@dnai.com; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: Re: Naked Ladies! (Amaryllis belladonna)
> 
> 
> At 04:37 AM 8/9/01 -0700, Richard Starkeson wrote:
> >These have naturalized all over northern
> California.  (They don't seem to
> have
> >spread a lot, but spread out gradually from where
> they had originally benn
> >planted)  I have noticed that when left on their
> own, they sometimes form 
> >large
> >clumps of bulbs, all above the ground surface.  Is
> this their natural 
> >manner of
> >growth in their native climate?
> 
> Richard -
> 
> Yes, these bulbs do neet to be planted with their
> neck exposed.  They are 
> often planted on sloping soil to provide the
> excellent drainage they prefer 
> and erosion can gradually expose even more bulb,
> which doesn't seem to 
> bother them either.
> 
> The only photo I've ever seen of Amaryllis
> belladonna growing in South 
> Africa was an immense flat plain that was covered
> with the bulbs in full 
> flower, and the soil was apparently flooded from a
> recent 
> rain!!  Interesting shot with the flowers reflecting
> in the water!  I was 
> told that this was the start of the raining season
> and that the plant can 
> tolerate this flooding during this period, but the
> are was bone dry in
> summer.
> 
> Sometimes this plant doesn't really naturalize
> because the seeds must 
> germinate immediately, otherwise they shrivel up and
> die.  This is also why 
> you don't seem them offered in seed catalogs.  They
> are very easy to 
> germinate but I think our typically dry falls fail
> to germinate them 
> naturally.  If you'd like to sprout some seed to
> grow this beautiful plant, 
> just looks for the pink, pearl-like seeds in the
> drying, papery pods on the 
> 'naked' spikes.  They are best planted right where
> they will grow (a sunny 
> area with poor soil that will be unirrigated in
> summer).  Break up the soil 
> surface; sow the seeds and barely cover; possibly
> cover with some 
> bird-netting to keep out critters; keep well watered
> from sowing and 
> through the winter (our winters can have several dry
> spells) to build up 
> the little bulbs as much as possible; if the bulbs
> have done well, allow 
> them to dry out the following summer, otherwise you
> can water them more 
> until they appear to want to go dormant.  In a few
> years they should be 
> flowering size and you may get some color variation!
> 
> If you'd like to transplant the bulbs to a new
> location, they should be 
> lifted while in flower (they are still dormant) or
> they may not bloom for 
> some time (this is popular mythology which may or
> may not be true, but I 
> don't tempt fate!).
> 
> 
> 
> h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden
> suited to its purpose'
> Seán A. O'Hara            fax (707) 667-1173        
> sean@support.net
> 710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
> 


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