Congrats Donna! That is awesome!

Wow, that is amazing! I'm sorry to hear the bulbs are virused but the winter from hell sure made this an interesting experiment for you, that's for sure!

I've been threatening to do this for the last several years and always chickened out at the 11th hour! So I chose the worst winter possible and I am amazed! I am hoping that within the next few years I might finally get my greenhouse or solariums and if so, I could dig these up and keep them in the furnace room for the remainder of their lives. Then I would only use the furnace room for virused bulbs and some of my husband's rhododendron stuff. In the meantime I can keep them alive like this!! It just goes to show that if you pick your spot ( microclimate near stone walls or foundation walls) and go very heavy on the mulch you folks in the zones 7 to 8 can do it too!! Go ahead, try it!!

Donnaâºâºâº

Donna, when you told me you had done this, I was hopeful. But when you had such a brutal and long winter, I thought, "Oh well....at least you tried". I'm so glad that it all worked out. I hope you get your solarium soon so that you can have a "paradise room" for your bulbs and clivia!

Sounds like you have a good plan. Hope DH is on board!!

K

Donna,
That is great! I would be very interested in hearing what varieties didn't survive, which survived and flowered, and which survived and did not flower, if you have the information. I am mostly interested in knowing the ones that did not survive.
Last year I planted extra seed from my crosses directly in the ground to see if any young seedlings could survive the winter. I did not mulch many of them. With the harsh winter, the ground sometimes froze at least to the depth of the little seedling bulbs, so I thought they would all be dead. But nearly all of them survived. They are now much smaller than their siblings that I kept under lights all winter, so they will probably take many years to bloom, but it gives an option to grow many more seedlings than I would otherwise be able!

Bill

Donna,
BTW, I don't think you need to worry about the soil being contaminated. From what I have been able to find about HMV and other related viruses (potyviruses), they are not persistent in soil.

Bill

Here is an update on these bulbs. A few of the doubles bloomed, Dancing Queen, Greatness (Aussie) and Indian Fairy (Aussie). All the double flowers were on short stunted stems and the flowers were just awful. Indian Fairy was the best of the doubles with very deep color but during the night before I could get any pictures, both flowers snapped off or were snapped off and I found them laying on the ground the next morning.

Enter Maryanne!! She just opened with two 6" gorgeous flowers on an acceptable length stem. The flowers are pristine and lovely. I got some pictures this morning when they were covered with dew and this is the first time I've seen this bulb bloom and it is even more lovely in person.

Donna

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Very nice! That once is perfect! Don't be discouraged by the deformed ones. Sometimes it is just the first year, then they settle in. Of course some of the hybrids just don't make nice garden specimens. But there are plenty that do great. My best outdoor specimens seem to be the noid heirlooms. I expect because they are the outdoor survivors=) And you never know which ones will do well. My best white I got as a vendor mistake when I ordered a rain lily! Don't know what it is, but it loves being outside.