Hello!

I grow quite a few amaryllis outside in pots and in the ground in Mesa. They love our climate here.

I don't have any varieties that are species, but of the many hybrids I have, I can honestly say I've not lost one due to summer sun or winter chill.

I grow them in full and filtered sun. As long as you provide ample water, they should do fine. Although a little late afternoon shade certainly doesn't hurt. I've not experienced them rebloom yet. I'll also say that the bulbs planted directly in the ground bloom later in the spring than the potted bulbs. I attribute this to the pots warming up faster than the soil. (Potted plants get more shade so the pot won't heat up too badly and cook the bulbs.)

All of my bulbs remain evergreen despite periodic dips below freezing in winter. As long as there is not a heavy frost, the leaves are not damaged by a few chilly hours each night.

Due to the intense summer sun, I opted to bury the entire bulb, leaving only the neck sticking out. As long as you have a loose, well-draining soil, this should not be a problem.

Outdoors, with plenty of nutrients in the soil, and plenty of sunshine, the bulbs divide like mad. You may find your bulbs will benefit from being lifted every few years and divided.

Lastly, my in-ground bulbs are in a raised bed that gets hit every other day by my automatic lawn sprinklers. While that may seem like a lot of water to some, given the fast draining soil, and high summer temps, I've not experienced any rot.

Please let me know if you have any further questions. I hope this will help you somewhat.

Phoenix Ryan

I am in SE Asia here, they are grown in pots and are exposed to our hot afternoon sun, and my Dancing Queen have rebloomed.

I live in Jacksonville, Fl, zone 9A. I grow all of my bulbs outside in the ground and concur with everything written by phoenixryan - especially the comment about some shade. My bulbs in bright shade (high tree canopy) do better than those in full sun.

The only difference between mine and phoenixryan's are mine are only initially buried half way. With added mulch and time, they work themselves into the soil anyway.

I have no repeat bloomers. Ever. Now a single large bulb may put up 3-4 scapes, but they all bloom over a 4-8 week period. Maybe that is what they meant by repeat bloomers (?) I get my show in April and May and then it is over until next year. Then it is time to play with seeds. :)

Carol

My father in Sun City has been growing 'Red Lion' for many years. He has the clump on a drip system, under the eaves on the East side of the house. They bloom like gang busters. I think he has to protect from rabbits.

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments. I'll be trying a few this fall.

Phoenix posters with mature pots. I have big pots of mixed hybrids that have bloomed each April for past 13 years. What is a good time of year to repot? They are getting very root bound, and the pots are deteriorating. Seems to me now might be good before spring growth starts.

I love this topic. Some of my bulbs are living in Az without my supervision for months on end. I have learned some things from the past hippie casualties. I would love to know what dirt mix you all are using for a fast draining soil especially if you live in AZ and already are having success.

I have encountered problems regulating the amount of water used in drip system for my pots for the summer months verses winter months. The pots retained too much water and many bulbs rotted. The bulbs planted in the ground in a similar situation had more success.

I got rid of most of the pots I previously used and my father built raised beds for my bulbs. Additionally the drip system was refined.

In one of the raised beds I used 1/3 perlite, 1/3 fine multch, and 1/3 poultry grit.
In the second raised bed I used 1/2 perlite and 1/2 fine multch.
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Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I will eventually have to move all remaining bulbs back to AZ this summer and do not want many casualties in this transition.

AZ

I meant to sign the last post AJ not AZ :)

I try to keep mine out of the afternoon sun, just because the foliage always looks crappy. Otherwise, mine are for the most part all planted around the garden, they usually bloom in the spring. When you go to the Mainland-Alvin/Santa Fe/LaMarque, there are yards that are just FULL of blooms every spring, one house I drive by has hundreds blooming at once, totally awesome!

Walmart, Home Depot, etc. are all getting their spring bulbs in and they all have "garden" amaryllis, usually labeled white, red, pink, etc. They are relatively cheap and a good way to experiment in the yard.

Mine are all buried, they bury themselves after a while anyway.
Tally HO!

I also live in Mesa and have been raising amaryllis for 14 years. They do great here. I began with a few bulbs a friend gave to me from her garden. Her's were from her grandfather from Holland. Now there are eleven large pots with at least five mature plants in each along with their babies. They stay large and green all year and bloom in spring with a riot of flowers in red and white, they never miss a year! I divide them every 2 years. They get morning sun only under a large tree and stay damp from automatic sprinklers. My problem is that I'm moving and there will be no shade or east area for them I wonder if I can keep them in the house all summer and put them out in winter. I may need to give some of them away

I live in zone 9b and I put two bulbs outside where they would get full sun all summer as an experiment. One in gritty mix in a clay pot, and the other in the ground in sandy soil. The one in the pot did better, surprisingly. Nothing bad happened to them, but they had fewer leaves and the leaves did not look as healthy as the ones I've grown inside screen enclosures. I think they would have benefited from more frequent watering when we didn't have rain. As for giving them away, the bulbs want to be shared, that's why they give us offsets!