I grow Hymenocallis in the ground all year, and you're in a warmer zone than me; they're perfectly hardy here, and bloom pretty consistently. We probably do get less rain than you in winter (although we do get a reasonable amount), but you could counter that by providing more drainage (planting in a gritty raised bed or over a French drain) or even tenting a piece of translucent, corrugated plastic sheeting over the bed for the winter. This is how I've managed growing Ammocharis (another amaryllid that needs a drier winter rest) in a wetter zone than it would prefer. Another problem with Hymenocallis is that they tend to propagate themselves vegetatively, annually splitting up into smaller bulbs that never attain enough size to bloom. There's even a clone being traded around with the "claim to fame" of being "neverblooming" because of this tendency - in my opinion, not reason enough to waste garden space! Deep planting of individual bulbs will tend to discourage splitting, thus encouraging the bulbs to increase in size and put their energy into producing seeds rather than offets (via blooming), so this might be another reason to grow the plants in the garden rather than pots.

I also bought a package of Hymenocallis at Costco about five years ago. They are a rampant grower that produces new bulbs like gang busters. I have had many bloom in one gallon nursery pots, and larger, none have "drooped" after blooming. In my experience it is not normal. Al

Ton.... Are you seeking the North American species? If so, seed is rarely available and thus, very expensive. The last offering of Hymenocallis occidentalis (caroliniana) seed that I saw was $5.00 USD per seed! Bulbs are sometimes available from nurseries specializing in NA Native plants, but I suspect they are harvested from the wild. I recently purchased Hymenocallis rotata (traubii) from a TC Lab in Minnesota, but they only sell in tray quanities of 72. You can combine other perennials to fill a tray, but minimum quanity of each is one cell pack, containing 9 plants. Hymenocallis caribaea and littoralis, both tropical species, are often available, but must be grown in a TGH, when temperatures fall below 5 Deg.C. Most gardeners here view them as difficult to maintain, because of the constant moisture requirement and opt for the S American species, which are cheap and readily available. Rb

Tropsanddune I just googled a pic of the spider lilly and the first that came up was what I have.How could that happen they were amarylis when I planted and like I said I still get the few a year...Can they cross? I guess I never had the right pic of a Spider lilly in my head .Well the mystery is over except where did they come from.Thanks a lot for your help.Now I am going to send that site to my mother in law because she seen them when they where all amarylis.we where both puzzeled.Thanks again