What did I do to make this message stick to the top of the forum list? I did not do it intentionally. I've seen that happen before, and wondered why?

If a post has no replies, it stays on the top for a while to give it more notice. That's why the FAQ thread has the (please do not reply) added to it, so that it can stay at the top. :)

Thanks dragonstone for explaining how the sticking to the top function works.

The bloom has opened - here it is:
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Most of the foliage there is from lycoris, which seems to be a nice similar sized companion plant that blooms in fall.

Here's a close up:
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And it looks like a second bloom spike is just peeking out of the ground - yah!

Angela

I really like the shape of that bloom! I would love to add H Striatum to my collection. Lovely! Thanks for posting a follow up to Dan's H. Striatum give away.

HI Angela, Glad to see these are doing so nicely for you...wish I could put things in the ground like that!! I must say, it is always nice to see a follow-up like this as having others enjoy what you can send them is one of the nicest things about enjoying plants yourself :o) Dan

Thanks Dan. Sending you a picture is the least I can do. Gardeners are such great sharing people. Florida is such a fun place to garden, where big bold flowers like this will grow outside. Donna gave me some nice advice on how to go about trying to divide the seedlings. I will be unpotting them soon and seeing how entangled the roots are. If I can tease them apart I'll put a couple bunches into the ground. If not, I think I'll put the whole lot into the ground so they can grow like crazy over the summer, then divide them when the bulbs are a bit bigger.

berkeleygr, I am going to try selfing the bloom. If it sets seed, I'd be happy to send you some.

Angela

Oh how lovely! Makes me miss all the seedlings I had been growing from gifted seeds only to have to hand them off to some one with means to isolate them due to becoming infected with Mosaic Virus. They would be blooming now - or at least some of the 22 I had kept would be. Haven't heard back from any of the people I had shared extra seedlings with. . . disappointing.

Anyway, congrats on the blooms they look fabulous! Now what cha gonna do?

Angela, I would be really happy if you had seed available to send! I could send seed in return... I don't have a lot of options so far... just Black Pearl with an unknown pollen parent and a Sumatra with an unknown pollen parent. I'm hoping my Sumatra x Emerald takes! My cybisters are generally being fussy about setting seed... maybe I'll get lucky if they bloom again this summer (once their roots are better established and the plants are less stressed)!

I'm not Dan, but I really enjoyed these pics and messages, thanks for sharing them! Happy gardening!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics from my garden so far March 2012

Hi Grant. Thanks for your message. Your garden looks amazing!

berkeley, the first bloom did not set a seedpod. The second bloom is just emerging, so fingers crossed that it will set seed.

And as promised, here are the pics of the seedlings pulled out of the pot. The were jammed in there so tight I had to cut the pot away (one of those flimsy nursery pots - so no biggie). Here they are pried apart into a several clumps:

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There were bulbs on top of bulbs in there! Some of them were pretty large for 1 year old bulbs:
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Some were even multiplying already - making bulblets off their sides!
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Here they are out in their new garden home, interspersed with rain lilies:

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Thanks for looking.

Angela

Your seedlings look really great! I'm sure they will be much happier in the ground and will reward you with vigirous growth.

It will be fun to take another picture at the end of the season to see how much they grow this year!

All those bulbs should put on quite a show when they're big enough to bloom! I was surprised to see the size of the bulbs. Thanks for keeping me posted... if you get seed to set, I would love to have some!

The second scape looks like it may set a seed pod - fingers crossed!

Love the update! Thanks for sharing the pics of the unpotted seedlings and the planted bulbs in the ground. So fun to see. You're really growing them well. They really DO start offsetting early, don't they? Love all of these photos, definitely keep them coming. Thanks again, take care all!

are there any other australians on this forum that i can email in australia and maybe swap plants and seeds with danny

Berkeley, I got one stalk to ripen 2 pods. Sadly a caterpillar ate one. But I was able to get about 10 good seeds I can send you. Also, my noid that might be the red throated variety of striatum, set seed prolifically. So I could send you a good number of those. You don't have email turned on. So send me an email if you are still wanting seeds.

Thank you! I've sent you an email! -Tina

Dan you also sent me some seedlings oh roughly 3 years ago. They have never bloomed for me and I dug them up due to an over aggressive oak tree choking the life out of all my bulbs. I dont know if my hot Arizona weather just is not enough of a temperature change to encourage the bulbs to throw out scapes or what but despite it not blooming many of these bulbs are monsters. I am crossing my fingers that I will get blooms in the future.

H. Striatum
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AJ/Ashley

Nice photos, everyone! I'm very much enjoying the garden photos in the link given above! Wow! Somebody sure loves the more exotic, and what would be tender for my area, bloomers! Lovely, lovely pictures!

Hi Ashley, Wow, those are monster size so I would think if they had more of a transition in terms of temp they would bloom their little hearts out.....it is nice to see the little bulbs I sent out being so nicely grown :o) Dan

Like Ashley, I received some seedlings from Dan 3 years ago. Here is the maiden bloom of one of those striatum seedlings Dan sent me.

Thanks Dan for your generosity.