Hey Diane, you figured Kentucky must be in the South, right? I believe the Ohio Valley we're stuck in keeps it a little colder in the winter & a lot hotter in the summer. But these are definitely amaryllis, not lycoris. I do have dozens of those planted in the same bed, along with iris and stargazer lilies. The bed is not protected by a wall or anything, but is sited between the sidewalk that runs right next to my brick house and a brick alley which is home to the sewers. Perhaps a combination of all the brick and the warm water in the sewers keeps the beds warmer. I'll snap some photos next summer and post them. By the way, my poor little agave is being covered with snow and ice even as we speak. I hate ice storms! Carol To MBT: I left my potted amaryllis outside until about 2 wks ago. It had gotten down into the 20's here. I do this every year and put the pot into a cold dark closet in the attic. Water it a little about once a month. They start growing in the dark every spring, when I move them to a sunnier, yet still cool location. By the time its warm enough to move them outside, they're pretty much ready to bloom! If I were you, I'd offer to take the "dead" bulbs off their hands for free and keep them cool and dark until next spring. But hey, I generally don't do anything acceptable in the gardening world! Carol

Yes, any one can grow figs in ground in a zone 5, in the north. We have been able to grow them. We have been growing and testing for figs that can be grown in our zone 5b/6a location, for around ten years. We have in test plots or pots around 26 different figs, that are suppose to be cold hardy and or rare. After ten years of testing we found 3 figs that do very well in our zone 5b/6a Connecticut location, grown outside, in ground. In order to grow figs in a cold climate, you need more then just a fig that is cold hardy. You also need a fig that is rain resistant, when the fig is ripening. If not you will end up with all the ripening fruit exploding, just before they are ready to be picked A fig that is late winter/early spring, sun resistant. Your cold hardy fig might make it through the winter, only to be killed by late winter sun. A fig that will ripen early enough to beat your first frost. If it does not, you will end up with a lot of green figs, that never ripen. A fig that produces more then just a hand full of figs. That is if you want enough figs for fresh eating, fig wine, preserves, and so many you can share with your friends. A fig that is FMV resistant. Or at least a fig that can over come the disease if and when it is infected. If not the fig will never be cold hardy. A fig that can produce sweet figs even in cold northern soils. I can send to any one who request it, a list of northern climate, cold hardy figs we are testing, and the results of our testing. Along with the names of the only three figs that we recommend for main crop figs, for northern gardeners. We are still working on the best breba crop figs for the north. We have several that are showing a lot of promise. These three main crop figs, make growing figs in ground easy, and enjoyable in cold climates. We feel these three figs are more cold hardy then Hardy Chicago. If interested, send request for list to robertcharper@gmail.com Bob Harper zone 5b/6a - Conneticut

I'm growing it up the road from you here in Fallbrook. I bought a 5 gallon Panache at Home Depot last year that turned out to be the first fig tree of that size to die on me. I bought a large air layer from Exotica this Summer. It has bad FMV, but that is expected for any fig I have gotten from Exotica. Give it a year in my care and that will clear up.

It is a Viburnum. The leaf arrangement, berries, and autumn leaf color are all diagnostic. IME V. dentatum has slightly shiny, evenly toothed leaves, so I don’t think it is that. Also IME yours doesn’t quite look like V. acerifolium/maple leafed viburnum, though it looks more like that to me than dentatum. All the Viburnums I grow, whether cultivars, non-natives, or natives are rugged plants, easily able to deal with animals, competition, no supplemental water, etc. in my very rural and quite cold area, so I wouldn’t automatically dismiss all nonnative Viburnums. When they produce berries (need a compatible plant that isn’t genetically identical) they have been known to self seed into the wild or at least into unplanted areas.