
Ludwig Photo 3 Hayward Photo 
Left, “Orange King,” choice Named Variety of the Ludwig “Big Ten.” Fine form 
and color. The young lady is the daughter of one of the Ludwig staff. On right, 
bulb of dark red in Ludwig’s separate Shades Amaryllis, as it bloomed for us Tast 
season. Note perfect, smooth round form as found in this less expensive grade. 
with few or no roots for various reasons. Once the bulbs are dug or placed in 
storage the roots start to shrivel and dry off. The ideal arrangement would be to sell 
all bulbs direct from the grower to the customer and ship bare-root, packed in damp 
sphagnum moss, the same as Hemerocallis plants. But in practice this has not 
proved feasible except at great added expense, and it is impossible in the case of 
imported bulbs, which are on the way from Holland in cases packed in dry sawdust 
or peat for two or three weeks or more. 
Soil for Amaryllis 
A good Amaryllis soil is a sandy loam garden soil, with near neutral reaction, 
having one-quarter well rotted manure added, and a little sifted compost if it still 
needs body, also some sand added if it requires better drainage capacity. Bulbs 
should be planted one half of their size in the soil, in pots, and completely under- 
ground when in the open or under lath house conditions. They cannot stand severe 
frosts, so good judgement should be used as to the exposure of the bulbs to cold 
weather. Here in Central Florida we occasionally have frosts which cut the leaves 
to the ground in winter, which is no disadvantage, as a sharp cold spell will bring on 
a more concerted bloom of better proportions in a large planting. If the ground 
were to freeze more than a crust, the bulbs would probably be severely damaged, 
although we understand they grow Amaryllis planted deeply in the open ground 
in protected locations as far North as Atlanta, Ga., and Norfolk, Va., on the Atlantic 
coast. My friend Cecil Houdyshel has a strain which has been reported hardy into 
Oklahoma. But we warn our customers to consider the highly bred Dutch bulbs as 
greenhouse stock and tender to frost. In fact, temperatures below 50 degrees are 
not favorable to the best blooming results. In years before the war we have suffered 
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