Okay, I finally took pics of those bulbs yesterday. It turns out I never got *any* of them planted -- I just set them between the other pots and forgot about them! But they are all growing well. You'll see that there is lots of tree-leaf litter and moisture amongst the pots, so they've been growing kind of like epiphytes or forest-floor plants. The roots of bulb 1 and bulb 3 were so entrenched (bulb 1 tangled up in the plastic of the crate, bulb 3 dug into the dirt) that I decided not to move them until after they go dormant. I was able to get bulb 2 loose pretty easily, so I went ahead and repotted that one.
Also, you'll see that bulb 3 is even starting to grow a tiny bulblet!
We'll have to wait til spring to be sure, but right now I can pretty confidently state that yes, at least some waxed bulbs CAN be saved. :-)
(Notes: In this case, I selected the healthiest bulbs I could find on a markdown rack at Lowes. Once I got the bulbs to my dad's house -- he was bedridden, and they were to give him something cheerful to look at -- I made holes in the wax and kept them watered as you would water an amaryllis bulb kept on gravel. After they were through blooming, I peeled off the wax and pulled out the wire, then let the bulbs sit as pictured below. I would personally advise not planting in dirt right away, as that might invite rot into the holes where the wire had been -- but that's just a personal guess. It would probably have been better for the bulbs if I had peeled the wax and removed the wire immediately, but I didn't.)
bulb 1
bulb 2 -- 01
bulb 2 -- 02
bulb 3 -- 01
bulb 3 -- 02
bulb 3 -- 03
bulb 1
bulb 2 -- 01
bulb 2 -- 02
bulb 3 -- 01
bulb 3 -- 02
bulb 3 -- 03
