Lycoris chinensis — yellow nerine

The genus

Lycoris originate from China, Korea and Japan; their natural habitat is deciduous or evergreen woodlands in a continental climat (with hot and humid summers). There are about 20 species: some having a "spider lily" flower form (like nerines): L. radiata and L.aurea, and others having a more "trumpet lily" form like L. squamigera and L. sprengeri. The genus is sub-divided as follows: 1- Subgenus Symanthus: species with leaves emerging in the spring (L. incarnata, L. sanguinea, L. sprengeri, L. squamigera, L. chinensis) which are hardy, but rarely get the winter chill needed to bloom well in more southern areas. 2- Subgenus Lycoris: leaf emergence is in the fall (L. aurea, L. albiflora, L. radiata). These semi-hardy to tender species do not need much cold to flower and can be grown sucessfully in southerns regions, but are less hardy in the north. Jim Waddick: "very importantly they need to be grown properly in a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. So English books will claim extreme tenderness where they get neither of the temperature extremes they need. Also they are all woodland plants - a few tolerate a lot of sun. These and other factors effect cold hardiness".