I'd love to trade for some. I have tons of lycoris radiata (check hardiness. I'm not sure.)and will soon have some daffodils, mostly heirloom jonquils of several varieties. Email me if you're interested. If the ground is really rocky, you will definitely have a tough digging job. But based on my radiata experience, no bulb is tougher. If you can get them out in even close to one piece they'll be fine.

Oh, my. Lucky you. I wish I had room for more.
A friend gave me 3 bulbs and I have cherished them.
They multiplied very slowly, but now I have several.

Is postage an option?? I just started my bulb garden this year in full force and would love to add some of these to my garden. I might have gladiolus bulbs after this growing season given I don't kill them. If not I'll gladly send postage.

Any advice for taking the LC out of the "barn" area? the ground has a lot of gravel/rocks in it and judging by the greens alone, the bulbs must be so close together.
I have read that it is best to try and dig them after the foliage has died down a some in late spring, and before they bloom later in the summer. I would think that late May or sometime early to mid June would be the best time.

I'd suggest you maybe using a heavy long handled pick-ax, mattock, or grubbing hoe, and once you get started digging at the end of the walk, swing it, trying to get deep and under the bulbs. You will then probably have to pry them up to get the roots to release. Your local hardware store should have one of the above mentioned tools if you don't already have one (or more).

Is it possible that these bulbs were planted a hundred years ago (ish) and never divided? the poor babies...
I guess it is possible...yes, poor babies.

I know these are expensive bulbs to buy,
You are right...they sell for
$14.95 for ONE(!!!) bulb at Bulbmeister
$10.99 for a quart pot at Lazy S Farm
$8.25 for one bulb at Old House Gardens
$14.00 at Plant Delights-no count mentioned-probably just one bulb
$10.50 at Touch of Nature
$28.00 for 5 at Brant and Becky's and they are sold out.
$15.95 for 3 at Whiteflower Farm...plus shipping of course on top of those prices.

but does anyone ever want to trade for them?
Yes, they are very tradeable, and you should be able to get some very nice things for them. I pretty well don't trade them anymore because of no one really offering things that were of equal 'value' for them, because they were not aware of what they actually cost to buy, or just figured because I grew them that they were 'like' free' from me. They also did not realize how expensive postage would be to mail my end of the bulbs.

Trading one nice sized bulb, imho, should get you a fan of a nice named daylily,
or a fan of a nice named iris,
or some named daffodils per one bulb traded
or other nice plants.

Be aware too that if/when you trade them, the cost of postage you will have on your end of a trade.

Once you know a traders address, or just their zip code, you can go to the Mail Zone chart to see what mail zone they are from you.

You can then go to Priority Mail Prices to see what it would cost for postage by the LB to the different mail zones. Most, if not everyone east of the Mississippi, is in mail zones 4 or less from you and me here in IN. Since the bulbs are so big and heavy, when trading, you might consider using the Flat Rate Boxes, and costs for those are shown at the link above.

A cheap digital postage scale is a valuable aid in packing plants, bulbs, and even seeds for trading. Scales are usually available on ebay for less than $20 and that includes shipping.

Oh...one last thing. I think maybe that some embers don't realize that these are a lot more expensive that other Lycoris that are not nearly as hardy and that are a lot less expensive. If, when you trade them, you might want to include a link to one of the places I linked to above, so they know just how costly they are to purchase them.

Stick a fork in me...I'm done and heading out to play.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: scales like these on ebay...shipping is $16.88 but the scale price is right!

a pickaxe.....gaaaaah....!

:) I may need to practice with that tool, it's not exactly precisiony. :)

I can see just by the reaction to this post that LS are desirable. On the one hand, I don't have much in my garden, this being the first year that we've had more than a tree, 2 hostas, and a bunch of LS (and I don't have much cash to remedy that, being the second grad student in the family and a pastor's wife, lol), so winter-sowing and trading are the best ways for me to fix my landscaping problems. On the other hand, people on gardenweb have been incredibly generous to me, and so I'd hate to be stingy.

/humor on: Hey Sue, do you want to trade? I've got all these LS's, and I could even drive them to your house to save on shipping...lol :) \humor off

To those who sent me an email--thanks for contacting me...I wasn't trying to solicit a trade, I was trying to figure out what to do with the bulbs so I could have the bulbs in the best form this summer so they could be traded...

Once that time comes and they've been properly taken care of, I'll set up a proper exchange thread in the exchange forum. :)

Thanks everyone!

Kate

Kate,

I would like to trade for a couple of these, and I have either named iris or named daylilies, nice ones of both. You say the color, and I probably have it, and have no problem trading equal valued plants with you.

kay

See, a really really nice offer by someone who is aware of what these retail for. Whoo-Hoo!

On the other hand, people on gardenweb have been incredibly generous to me, and so I'd hate to be stingy.
Oh, I understand. I just didn't want you to have a lot of $$ wrapped up in postage for just a few bulbs, for maybe items that you could have bought just as cheap or cheaper locally...example, purple irises, mixed daffs, just about anything that is NO ID, or cuttings that you might not be able to get rooted. I've pretty well given up on trading for cuttings, since I am such a failure at rooting them. I will however delay a trade while the member gets something rooted for me.

Oh, I forgot to add, often when I dug mine, I dug around them a bit, usually spearing one or more bulbs, and then I jammed a potato fork under them and pried up. Digging them sounds like a good little chore for 'hubs'.

Kate, these are the varieties that I will be digging soon. If there are any you especially want, or especially don't want, let me know. I certainly do want to be fair.

Sue, do you think a one for one exchange of these is fair, or should I do two for one?

Sweet Love mid season. White petals with yellow cup
Martinette: mid season yellow petals with orange cup (small flowers in clusters). These are some of my favorites. Very showy.
St. Keverne: early, all yellow trumpet
Avalanche: all white, mid to late, small blooms in clusters
Gigantic Star: early. all yellow with very long, ruffled trumpet. Huge.
Tripartite: all yellow. Small flowers with split coronas. I think it's a butterfly one. I love it. It blooms late.
Campernelle: Very early historic jonquil. Highly fragrant. Usually the first to bloom for me. Do not know if it would be hardy there. Because it blooms so early here, the bloom time usually lasts 4 to 6 weeks. My personal favorite daffodil.

Hmmm... I can see what Sue was saying about the difficulties of trading these bulbs. The big ones are 2 inches in diameter or more...like an onion...which would not fit in a small Priority Mail box (the $4.95 box). Which would mean that it would either cost me $10 to ship (and for $10 I could go out and buy a bag of daffs, gah!), or I could send you some of the smaller bulbs to fit in the small box.

oh, bother. I don't suppose you live somewhere I'm driving anytime soon? :)

I had no idea they were so large. I'll do whatever you think, and if you want to cancel, I'll have no hard feelings. (I'd be fine with smaller bulbs.)

Where do you live?

Southeastern Indiana, near Dayton, Oh. I'm driving this summer to Southeastern Michigan, Kentucky, Chicago, and Peoria, IL...

Sue, do you think a one for one exchange of these is fair, or should I do two for one?
I hesitate to say, because what I might consider a good/fair trade, someone else might not. For example, someone like myself, who is an avid obsessed addicted daffodil collector would be more likely to want/expect fewer bulbs in exchange, than someone who is just looking to trade for a few different 'pretty' daffs and doesn't even care about the name of them.

I remember when I was trading them that in one case, 3 bulbs was over 1 LB. Depending upon where a person lives (see my post above about mail zones and price per LB to different mail zones) mailing just 3 large bulbs that went over 1 LB, could cost between $5 (mail zones 1-2) or up to $9.55 (for mail zone 8)

I had no idea they were so large.
Think of a 3 LB bag of dried yellow onions. Now envision some of the larger ones. That is how big the bigger Lycoris bulbs are.

Not meaning to hijack kterlep's thread, but am interested in 2 different daff cultivars you have. If we can get together on bulb count/weight, I would consider a small trade.

Sue