So you're going with KBG. It can be done in your area, but if you want it to stay green all summer, it will need to be watered. The blend you mentioned is not ideal for a few reasons. The first one is that it consists of a compact midnight, and two compact cultivars. The convention is three cultivars from three different subgroups. Most people use a compact midnight, a compact, and a compact America but that isn't set in stone. The other reason; while Moonlight SLT is a great looking cultivar, it is not the best choice for your area. It scored low in the summer patch scores, and necrotic ring spot scores, and is average with regards to dollar spot and red thread. Bewitched is a great cultivar that scores well across the board, it should be your compact cultivar. Midnight is fine, it does well, although there are other compact midnights that do a little better with regards to disease, but it might not be statistically significant. Let me know if you me to look at compact midnights. Your third cultivar could be a compact America, but I really like how Zinfandel, a mid-atlantic, performs in the NTEP's. It will match with the color and texture of the others, and does very well with regards to disease, which can be a problem in the transition zone. Of course these cultivars will be at their best in full sun. If you have shady areas, then the Midnight will struggle, but Bewitched will probably dominate. One more thing, KBG is not a low maintenance grass. If you think you just seed it, and then mow it once every two weeks, you will be disappointed. It requires watering in times of no rain, 4-6 lbs of nitrogen a year, and mowing 1-2 times a week depending on the time of year.

I have never left the seedlings in water long enough to develop a leaf, probably because I never understand the benefits of waiting for a leaf. An important point about seedlings is that they seem to be extremely forgiving, so it probably does not matter what you do. Despite what is true about larger bulbs, seedlings seem very tolerant of flooded conditions, so they appear content to sit in water for a while. In fact before I knew anything about Hippies, I once had a batch of seedlings growing in a pot that had no drainage holes. I left it outside all summer, and on occasion I would lie it on its side to drain the water out. After rain, sometimes there would be standing water above the soil level for several days before I would get around to draining it. The seedlings thrived despite the neglect and were quite robust by the end of the summer. If these had been adult bulbs, I probably would have lost them all to rot. I don't recommend this as a way to grow seedlings, but just want to emphasize how forgiving seedlings are. Also, once potted in soil, initially it is probably better to err on the side of overwatering rather than underwatering. So plant the seedlings whenever it is convenient. I cannot attest to the ease of planting after developing a leaf, but I can't imagine anything being much easier than planting them when the root is still quite short. I just lay them on the soil, making certain that the root is inserted into the soil. Depending on the length of the root, it may be necessary to make a cut or hole in the soil to avoid breaking the root. Then I sprinkle perhaps 1/4 inch of soil on top. The reason I pot them up early is that it seems logical to get the root in contact with the soil as soon as possible so that it can begin taking up nutrients to sustain more growth. And I worry that I could easily break a longer root when planting. And finally, roots that develop underwater are anatomically and physiologically different than those that develop in soil, and may perform less well when later exposed to drier conditions. This is often a problem when cuttings of other house plants are rooted in water, and they can experience substantial shock when transplanted into soil. But these are all "theoretical" arguments that clearly must not matter much for hippeastrum, based on the experience of others. Whew, sorry for the long email, and I hope it did not sound like I was trying to lecture anyone. I mostly wanted to emphasize that there is little need to fret over planting too early or too late, and I got a bit carried away! Bill

I was surprised to get so much feedback (one big exception!) that it would be okay to plant in this heat. We have just gotten out of the 90s into the high 80s and are expected to stay there the remainder of August. And we've had almost no rain since May. I always thought the "standard practice" was not to plant in those conditions. But I guess this shipment will give me a chance to find out how it works for me. Perhaps I'll pot up half of them for a month and plant the other half immediately. Then we'll see what happens. Thank you all for your input.

Here's what I've ordered already. I'm STILL waiting for two more catalogs. ACAPULCO GOLD ADVENTURE BAY ALADDIN'S WISH ALASKA AMETHYST FLAME ANTIQUE BAND APPLEJACK AROUND MIDNIGHT ARROYO ART FAIRE ARTIST'S TIME ASCII ART BAJA BLUE BAYBERRY CANDLE BEAUTY MARK BEL ESPRIT BEOWULF BIG BLUE EYES BLACK FOREST BLACKALICIOUS BLUE PETTICOATS BLUE SAPPHIRE BLUE TEMPTATION BLUEBEARD'S GHOST BOLD HOUR BREAKERS BRIGHT BRIGHTSIDE BROADWAY STAR BROOKFLOWER CALDRON CALYPSO BAY CAMPFIRE GLOW CAPE PERPETUA CARIBBEAN DREAM CARMELA CARNABY CHANGING SEASONS CHARM BRACELET CHOCOLETO CHORDETTE CHRISTMAS TIME CIRCUS WORLD CLANSMAN COLUMBIA BLUE COLUMBINE COMING STORM COPPER MEDALLION COSMIC DANCE COSMIC VISION COSMOPOLITAN CRINKLED BEAUTY CRINKLED IVORY CRINKLED JOY CRINOLINE CRYSTAL BLUE CRYSTAL GLOW DANUBE WAVE DEVOTED DEW LINE DISTANT CHIMES DREAM TIME DREAMING CLOWN DREAMSICLE DUTCH CHOCOLATE EARLY GIRL ECSTATIC ECHO ETERNAL FLAME EXOTIC BLUE FABIOLA FAIRY MAGIC FAIRY ROSE FANCY BRASS FAST TRACK FIESTA IN BLUE FIREBALL FLIRTY MARY FLYING SAUCER FORTUNATE SON GALLEON GOLD GAY LIGHTS GHOST SHIP GIGI GINGER SWIRL GLOWING TIARA GOOD LOOKING GOODBYE GIRL GOODBYE HEART GOODNIGHT MOON HAWAIIAN SURF HIGH LIFE HIGH WIRE INFERNO INGLESIDE JOY IRREPRESSIBLE JADE QUEEN JEWEL TONE JUNGLE FIRES LATIN MUSIC LAVENDER SPARKLE LET'S BOOGIE LILAC HAZE LIMELIGHTER LITTLE BUCCANEER LITTLE DREAM LITTLE PANSY LONDON FOG LOTUS LAND MADAME CHOBAUT MADAME LOUISE AUREAU MARGARITA MARIAH MARVALON MERITAGE MERRY RIPPLE MIDNIGHT MAJESTY MIRIAM STEEL MISTY GOLD MISTY SHADOWS MUSICIAN MYRA NAVY STRUT NEW DIRECTION NORWAY OCTOBER ALE OLIVE ACCENT OLYMPIC TORCH ON THE GO OPPOSING FORCES ORCHID RUFFLES OVERNIGHT SENSATION PALLIDA DALMATICA PANTHER PATRICIA PEACH FROST PINWHEEL PIXIE PRINCESS POST TIME PRICELESS PEARL PRINCE INDIGO QUEEN OF ANGELS QUICKSILVER RASPBERRY RIBBON RAZIZA RED HAWK REGALAIRE RIPPLE EFFECT RIPPLING RIVER RITZ ROCKET ROSE CAPRICE ROYAL TAPESTRY SALEM SAN GABRIEL SCINTILLATION SEADEEP SHEER ECSTASY SHOWCASE SLEEPY TIME SLEEPYHEAD SNOWLINE SNUGGLEBUG SOLO SOUVENIR DE MADAME GAUDICHAU SPARKLING SUNRISE SPRIGHTLY AIR STAINED GLASS STAR SAILOR STARINA STRATAGEM SUGAR COATED SUN MIRACLE SUPERGLOW SWEDISH MODERN SWEET GEISHA TALL CHIEF TARN HOWS TASTE OF HONEY TERRA ROSA THREE OAKS THUNDER BAY TIJUANA BRASS TILLAMOOK TONALEA TRADE SECRET TRAILS WEST TREVI FOUNTAIN TROPICAL NIGHT TUXEDO TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING TWINK UTAH VALLEY WAR LORD WARM LAUGHTER WAYSIDE'S SAPPHIRE WHISPERING WHISPERING FALLS WILD PLUM WILD THING WINDSOR ROSE WISH UPON A STAR XOCHIPILLI