Last year, I found 5 dead frogs in my pond after the winter thaw. Last fall, I left several pots, containing soil, but no plants, submerged in the pond (as well as many plant filled pots). So far, this spring, I have not found any dead frogs, and actually heard 2-3 of them "singing" the other night. Hopefully, unless we get another blast of winter that freezes the pond, I won't have a frog kill this spring. This pond, at the deepest level, is 4' deep. I have a second, tiny pond that I was going to clean out this past weekend, but found that it already has toad? eggs in it.

Ok, so I have recently read a few other posts where growers store dormant Amaryllis bulbs in the fridge. As far as I know, cold treatment is not necessary for Amaryllis? I thought the idea was to simulate drought not cold? Anyway, I have all my bulbs in pots that are about 1 gallon or a little larger. I feed them every time I water with 1/2 the recommend house plant mixture of all purpose Miracle Gro. Put them outside in the summer. Plan to repot them about every 3-4 years...haven't repotted yet, only have had them in larger pots for 2 years now. They are all doing better than ever! In the fall...just before frost, I stop watering and bring them all in and put them in the basement (making sure they are good and dry). This would be about the end of September - first part of October. Mid winter, after the leaves die back naturally, I cut them off and clean them up, leaving them potted. 1st of January I bring them up and drench them good (no fertilizer until the second watering)...making sure all the dry soil really gets hydrated well. Then I put them in a bright warm spot and watch them wake up. I am extremely pleased with how much the performance of my bulbs have done since I have followed this schedule. I have some bulbs that have not bloomed for several years finely blooming again and at least 2 bulbs have 2 flower scapes each (I have 6 bulbs large enough to bloom). I've never had 1 with 2 scapes. I like putting my bulbs to sleep in the fall and bringing them out after Christmas is all over. That is about the time I start thinking about gardening and bringing the bulbs up on Jan 1st gives me a bit of gardening in the winter. I expect my first flowers about the last week of Feb and expect flowers through the end of march...just in time to start some early spring gardening. So there you go, that's how I take care of my bulbs and why I like to force them into dormancy. I'll post some photos of them as they start blooming. dacora: I'd love to see photos of your new Amaryllis! You will probably need to put a stake of some kind in your pot for supporting the plant as it grows. Last year my 'White Christmas' got 37 inches tall! That was ridiculously tall in my opinion and it looks as if it is on its way to a good 3 feet again! Matthew Indiana.Matt

There are a variety of approaches to dormancy. Ideally, if your area is cold enough without being too cold, outside would be best. Some of us live in the South and getting temps cold enough is an issue. So many folks use a fridge. For us in the North, the plants would freeze to death outside. So many of us use attics, garages, heavy mulching outside, and fridges. When my collection was small I had my 2 VFT's in the butter keeper. When we moved to a home with an upper and lower, with attic, I used the attic. it was cold enough, here in Western NY, to be in an unheated attic, but the heat from the 2nd floor kept it from being as cold as the outside. For a couple years I had to farm my collection to a co-worker's garage. This year I will be borrowing space from a wholesle greenhouse. One thing an attic with window does, though, is provide the cues for the plants to break dormancy, since they will respond to the increased daylength of mid-late winter. Light isn't necessary but it's more natural for breaking dormancy.

I think it is perfectly on-topic. Frogs (and toads) are wonderful garden companions and help control the pest population by eating tons of pests. Of course, the downside is that the frogs also might devour some of the beneficial insects too. With rampant flooding all around us, we are getting tons of new wildlife showing up in the yard looking for high ground, food and water. The million frogs that showed up in May laid eggs so we're going to have a billion frogs by the end of the summer. Early in the morning, there's so many frogs in the garden that you have to walk slowly to give them time to jump out of your path. I wish we could train the frogs and toads to sit on top of the porch light and eat all the little pests buzzing around it at night. Like George, I leave little brushy corners (and small flat pans of water in dry years) for the toads. It is impossible to have too many frogs or toads in the garden, except that a lot of snakes come to the garden to eat them, so the population never really gets way out of control.