I'm reassured to hear that even at Plant Delights, some Lycoris bloom sporadically. In my garden, about 45 miles northwest of PDN, L radiata in all its forms is by far the most reliable Lycoris. No matter what the winter conditions were, I can be sure that almost every clump of bulbs will flower every year. All the other hybrids and species are more iffy. This year, my spring-foliage plants made a particularly poor showing, and I am wondering if the problem was the very mild winter of 2019/2020. Do the spring foliage plants need a colder winter to set buds? Nick Plummer North Carolina, Zone 7 https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com/ On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 8:37 PM Tony Avent via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > Hi Jim; > > In our research, it appears that the key is for the fall-leaved species to > have adequate time for the foliage to grow and feed the bulbs before first > frost, so the earlier the foliage emerges from the soil, the better. We > don't find that planting depth is the issue, but instead parentage, and > then clonal selection. Deeper planting actually causes the foliage to > emerge later, which makes the plants less likely to flower since the > foliage doesn't make enough food before being damaged by winter cold > temperatures. > > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>