Hi there Ladywinger!

I bought tigridias pavonia or Mexican Shellflower as well from HD. I tossed all the bulbs in the ground and I'm hoping for the best. I figure it's from a hot, humid climate. In theory, it should do well in FLA.

I found this info on the web:

To grow them well, a good well drained soil is essential, coupled with a sunny warm position. When frosts have passed, bulbs should be planted about 15cm, that's six inches deep when the soils warm up. Once growth commences, the plants should be watered freely, especially over the warmer months of summer. During the resting period, that's when the bulb is dormant; they should be kept dry and cool and the main thing to remember is the temperature should not drop below 15 degrees Celsius.

By the way, have you seen my Hummingbird? She's late...I'm hoping she's visiting you.

Thanks StP - that's the same info I found too. Guess we'll find out, won't we? The worst thing I found is that blooms only last a day - like only 6 hours - but the blooms are supposed to fab-u-lous!

No, haven't seen your hummingbird. Matter of fact, haven't really seen much of any migrants this year. They didn't show up until April last year so maybe....

Humming birds are still down here.
Probably not for much longer though.

Still time to get my new red shrimp out (that I found at Publix of all places!!)

Thanks!

Hi
grew some of these last year but used a trough to keep track of them. They grew and flowered well but rain and wind knocked them over. They went down last Oct and have not come up again as yet.. Certainly a beautiful flower but as you mentioned is short lived .
i thought I was the only one who made impulse buys lol.
I can't resist bulbs especially if cheap lol
gary

Me too, I have bought them several times. For me they bloomed well the first year, but never came back. I figured something got the bulb. I will probably try them again in a drier location, they could have got too wet. And then there is always the nematoads. (sp) I do love the flowers!

that's me and callas, I cannot resist. The first year the bloom lke crazy, the second year there is just one small bloom and the next 2 years just foliage until they never show up again :-/

LOL, I can't grow callas either! ;o)

the only bulbs that come back reliably for me are sparaxis, rain lilies, freesia, gloriosa, achimenes and alstoemeria (the last two in pots only)... i have high hopes for a dahlia 'Sunshine' that i grew last year that flowered thru the rainy season... i dug up the corms a few weeks ago and they were healthy and rooting.

anyone else have luck with any perennial bulbs?

Thanks to all of you. Now, I just wish I'd gotten them in the ground before our "30% chance of rain" came down!

I can't get freesia to do much of anything and callas have been an issue as well. Amaryllis have done great (lots of babies and beautiful flowers) and the blood lily is dividing now too. Caladium have been so-so.

So, either tomorrow or Sunday - into the ground they go!

I admire anyone who can get Freesia to do anything except die.

This year, my Amaryllis did nothing but struggle to survive. I think it's due to the heavy Lubber invasion I had last year which ate them almost down to the ground. I was praying for a Grackle invasion to help me out...but no luck.

Planted tons and tons of Caladiums this year. Fingers crossed that they all pop up. No matter how many I plant, it never seems to be enough. Quite a few don't make it to the next year either. Is that due to nematodes? I've always suspected that.

caladiums never come back as good the second year as the first... i think it's the heat that zaps them. i've never had them last longer than 3 or 4 years.

the trick with freesia, for me at least, has been farily full shade -- maybe just 3-4 hours of sun. they, too, dwindle over the years. i had 50 last year, 30 this year... but they come back for a few years and the blooms are worth it.

btw, i highly recommend easytogrowbulbs.com. the caladiums i got last year from them were the size of SOFTBALLS!

Here is a link that might be useful: freesias in my garden

Caladiums - I plant them in shade, they look happy but then they don't come up the next year. My son, who never waters or does anything to his gardens has some big ones that come up every year. Go figure.