Hippeastrum outdoors in Southern California?
Arnold Trachtenberg via pbs (Mon, 08 Feb 2021 19:04:16 PST)

I learned the hard way that putting Hippeastrums outside in the warm months exposes them to the Narcissus bulb fly which can rip through a collection pretty quick.
Arnold

-----Original Message-----
From: Jane McGary via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
Cc: Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>
Sent: Mon, Feb 8, 2021 7:45 pm
Subject: Re: [pbs] Hippeastrum outdoors in Southern California?

Two of the species mentioned by Chuck are described in detail in the
forthcoming monograph "The genus Hippeastrum (Amaryllidaceae) in
Bolivia" by Raul Lara Rico et al. It will be available from PBS pretty
soon. For Hippeastrum caupolicanense, the habitat is described thus:
"Terrestrial, or rupicolous on moist, rocky slopes along the rivers
Challana and Tipuani." For H. yungacense (note correct spelling), he has
"Terrestrial geophyte, growing both in deciduous woodland of the dry
yungas and in moist montane woodland with soils rich in humus which
accumulates in the crevices of rocky slopes." Yungas are deep, mostly
forested river canyons or valleys above rivers (a better description
appears in the book). Apparently H. yungacense has a fairly wide range,
but H. caupolicanense is a narrow endemic, only recently refound in the
wild.

While translating this monograph, I was surprised to learn that many
Bolivian Hippeastrum species grow in moist habitats and on steep slopes.
My only experiences with South American amaryllids were in alpine and
arid places. In any case, most of them are found at high elevations,
where they must experience distinct night cooling. They'd probably be a
lot happier outdoors in S. California, provided they get a similar level
of moisture as in the wild.

Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA

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