Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) tips on keeping them outside...

Please does anyone have some tips on keeping Amaryllis (I really mean Hippeastrum) outside in the UK during the frost-free months?

I have a lot of these bulbs, having grown them from seed 3 years ago, and not enough space indoors to accomodate them all.

Last year several plants grew happily in containers outside during the summer, however I later discovered that several bulbs had been eaten away by 'greater narcissus fly'. What is the best way to protect against further infections this year please?

It's an exciting time, since the bulbs grown from seed are starting to flower for the first time. I crossed a pure white Hippeastrum with a Flamingo light Pink. The first child bulb to flower came out the very common orange/white colour which must be a dominant gene. However the second to flower was white, with green in the middle and pink flecks aound the outer edges, a true cross and quite unusual :-)

 

I've been growing them outside for quite a few years now, I just put them in the garage during the winter when they are leafless and dry.
I think the trick is to grow them as summer flowering bulbs rather than the forced ones you buy around christmas.
Mine are just starting to grow now.

As for pest problems I've not come across many.

 

A friend who lives in the West of Ireland (County Mayo) grows them outside and from what I understand, leaves them out all year round. It may be the micro climate of Mayo - damp but also warm (Gulf Stream weather). We were visiting her in October last year and they had just finished blooming.