Minimum temp for Nerine
Mary Sue Ittner (Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:42:55 PDT)

As listed in Cape Plants Nerine sarniensis is found on rocky slopes
from Citrusdal to Caledon which is a very broad area with different
amounts of rainfall. And the color Encyclopedia says "shaded" rocky
slopes in loamy soil. This would include an area that even gets a
little rainfall in summer. Cameron McMaster supplied a photo on the
wiki of one found in the wild that was blooming after a fire. Plants
were shown growing out of an opening in rocks. So at least that one
would collect extra rainfall and have some protection in summer from
hot temperatures from the rocks.

Jim, the California coast wouldn't be described as "very hot" in
summer and certainly not this summer when we've only had a handful of
hot days. Most of us who live on the coast don't even have air
conditioning. (It also cools off significantly most nights in
summer) so there is the range of temperature changes that Mike was
saying that are needed for bloom. The warmest temperatures often
occur in fall since the fog in summer keeps things cool. We call it
nature's air conditioning. There is a famous quote from Mark Twain
about one of his coldest winters was the summer he spent in San
Francisco. And not all of it is semi-desert as there is much more
rainfall the farther north you go, which is the reverse of the
western Cape in South Africa where there is more rainfall in the
southwest Cape than in the north. It certainly isn't semi-desert
where I live as there are a lot of trees. I move my Nerines into the
greenhouse so they will get warmer in summer (at least for a few hours.)

I'll add a few more notes on Nerine culture from past messages in
another email.

Mary Sue