I haven't been growing bulbs in the ground for some years, so I haven't much direct experience to offer, but I have some thoughts as to why the failure of all those wonderful species of Lycoris that failed for Louis I grow my Lycoris in community pots of at least two gallons, and unpot them as I sell them. When they arrive they have been trimmed of their roots, and when I unpotted some to check how they were doing after the first winter, I found that some took a while to develop a nice healthy root system. These are large mature bulbs, so they were able to put up some leaves even without ANY roots the first season, but most that I looked at after one winter had some, and others had a lot. It could be that Louis' bulbs just aren't getting a chance to develop a good root system that first winter when they are in the ground. In the pots in which I grow them they are in a light friable mixture, and they get pampered. They are kept evenly moist but NOT wet. I don't think the wet would hurt them when they are established, but it might if they don't have good