In your zone you can plant it anywhere. Regardless of the variety they are better planted in the ground and left there, they grow bigger and produce more and bigger blooms every year. Fertilizing them regularily doesn´t necessarily mean you´ll get bigger blooms, that has more to do with age and size of the bulb but one thing is for shure, feeding them produce a lot of babies with the years.

The best time to feed amaryllis is when the leaves are actively growing, usually after the flowers have finished. Do post a photo of your papilio in the amaryllis forum when it blooms, I'd love to see it.

Thanks for the replies. When we lived in Los Angeles I'd see them growing in people's front yards; not here. I'm wondering if I've got my zone incorrect. This is a coastal area below San Francisco, doesn't freeze too often, in the 50s a lot, very rainy all winter...

I've tried to regrow my other amaryllis bulbs from year to year with limited success; the bulbs seem to shrink, maybe not getting enough food. I thought maybe papilio was different because I was told it was perennial.

Thanks for you interest in seeing a picture, kniphoria. I'll post one. I see you live in MaineÂmust be lovely, and I'm imagining that you don't have to pre-chill your tulips!

If you are in a coastal area below SF, you are definitely in a Zone 10 region. I'm assuming you live a little bit inland, say in Carmel Valley or Salinas or Gilroy, because you would be mentioning the glorious winter weather (and absolutely miserable summer weather). Since Amaryllis grow happily in the ground just East of Sacramento, I assume they would do fine for you.

Lisa, actually I live a half mile up the hill from the coast highway, i.e., can see the ocean from our house.

I like the foggy chilly summer weather, especially when I've just been "over the hill" where it's 100.

The soil is a bit clay-ey here but maybe just for fun I'll stick a coouple amaryllis in the ground this time, after they've either bloomed or, in the case of the old ones, failed to bloom. I had a trench dug out this year for bulbs and put in some gopher baskets and fresh soil, so maybe it would work!

All amaryllises are perennial in zone 9-12, they don´t even loose their foliage. Amaryllis papilo is just like the other ones, the only thing particular about them is the bloom. If your bulbs shrink there are several causes:

1.- Something´s eating them: There are several bugs that eat amarayllis even though they are extremely toxic.
2.- They never developed roots: Is not common but it happens, specially in clay soil, bulbs never develop roots, I´ve seen it happen.
3.- They didn´t get enough food and water: if you fertilize regularily this even should not happen ever.

relarion your Sunset Zone is 17. Amaryllis can be grown there.