PBS Forum

As I am also affected by the Hippeastrum-fever, I started several tries with Sonatini Hybrids in my garden. I am living in a 7a/7b-climate (but like 8a or almost 8b in the last years) in southern Germany, an my soil consists of a very heavy loam. Not a single bulb I planted suvived the first winter because the soil was too moisture retaining, I think.  But I have a bed where the loam is mixed up with gravel and sand - I'd say a third of loam, a third of sand and a third of gravel. And here a Sonatini survived - must be at least five or six years now. I always got one or two flower stalks, and there seem to be several smaller bulbs now. Every spring I apply a bit of a long-term-mineral-fertiliser, and sometimes in fall some extra-K-fertiliser.
Luckily I don't have problems with slugs in this part of my garden. It is straight south-facing and fully exposed to the sun all day long, and they would be grilled if they would move there. And the plants that are growing there besides the Hippeastrum don't taste well for slugs - mainly some Yuccas, Delospermas, Kniphofias, Iris barbata seedlings, Asphodeline and Asphodelus.
I always thought the site would be too sunny, too hot and too dry for Sonatinis, but it seems to work.
But I hope they survived the heavy frosts we had in mid-December. In spring I'll know more...

In my garden, there are some Narcissus flowering at the moment. The bulbocodium are planted between my Yuccas and Delospermas in a sunny and dry bed. They seem to like the gritty but loamy soil.
The other picture shows some Narcissus hybrids planted at the north side of my garden. Slugs are back -that's all I can say. We had an extremely wet summer last year, and these beasts even destroyed my tomato plants. They never did that before. I'm hoping for a summer with less rain this year...