I've not tried Nerine bowdenii wellsii here in central Indiana, but with a cultivar hardy in The Netherlands, one I call N. bowdenii "Koen's Hardy," some of the bulbs survived two winters in the ground outdoors, but never bloomed. They had almost disappeared by the time I lifted the few survivors and put them in pots. N. bowdenii is almost evergreen, but is dropping its leaves right now, just before or as it blooms. The winter ground is too wet and cold for it here, in my opinion. A warm dry summer would not be too big a problem, but you should water them if it was too dry in summer. We water our potted bowdenii twice a week all summer long (in a lath house with overhead automatic irrigation). In a well-drained or protected bed, e.g., under the eaves at the base of a south-facing wall, with mulch, they might do OK here in Indiana. I've given up trying them outdoors myself. Best regards, Jim Shields At 02:17 PM 11/22/2009 -0600, you wrote: >I read through Tom Mitchell's "[pbs] BX 227 - notes on 22 to 31" with >interest. > >Considering our discussion on "Parallel Regions", I'm just wondering >if his comments on his Nerine bowdenii 'wellsii' mean that I might be >able to grow it in central western Indiana or is this Nerine unable to >tolerate a warm, dry summer? >The comment I'm referring to is this one: >"They are hardy in the coldest region of the UK and quite tolerant of >wet, heavy soil too." > >BTW: Thank you to everyone who has participated in the Parallel >Regions discussion. I have learned a lot reading through it. > >Sincerely, >Anita Clyburn >Terre Haute, Indiana >Where I am busy trying to set the local record for most bags of fall >leaves mulched. > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA