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

Rob, We also live in NY. Last week it was in the 70's here, now it's been freezing again. We had put our potted figs out last week and they started getting small leaves, then we brought them in the house and put them in a cool sunny room the evening before the "killing freeze" returned. I was so suprised this morning to see a little breba fig on on of my new fig trees that I potted last spring. I am going to let the new leaves and breba live, they have brought such joy to me. This is actually my first breba...I will let put them back outside when it is warm enough. Terry

That's crazy that Calgary had an unusually mild winter - Saskatchewan had a colder and more snowy winter than we have had in years! Looks like all the fruit I planted last year has made it through, my honeyberries are just about to leaf out. I received my roses order from Corn Hill today, so despite the drying winds and +26 temperature, into the ground they went - with lots of water of course! I'm tempted to plant my garden with how warm it has become, but I think I'll wait until next weekend at least. This post was edited by weeper on Mon, May 6, 13 at 20:35

It emerged early because it was in a warmer than normal environment. I'm sorry but there's nothing you can do that will help it survive until it can go outdoors.