Oh I would have bet money you were going to say Elvas! Mine does that every time. I really think there's something wrong with that variety.
: (

Really! Well, isn't this interesting!! I have a 3 year old Elvas..bloomed for me the first time 3 years ago and ever since I can't get the darned thing to bloom..this year it sent up a long scape with 3 flowers and the thing totally withered..each flower..the leaves are fine, I put the darn thing back downstairs and said a few unkind words..

I have another Elvas that has never bloomed for me either but this one is still small, so I'll forgive it for now and this year I acquired a 3rd Elvas in a mislabel that gave me a half @$$ed flower.. What gives with Elvas..I've seen some lovely pictures on this forum so someone is able to grow it!! Misery loves company....

Donna

Donna I had two and they bloomed beautifully the first time and then never again. Just withered. I don't know what the original companies do to provide the perfect conditions for this bulb.

Jackie, I think I'll take this particular bulb and plant it directly in the ground this summer..pull in up in fall and give it a dormancy period..now that I think about it this particular plant has tended to be evergreen and I have let it..maybe it needs to be shocked! The puzzling thing is that it grows what appeared to be a normal stalk with seemingly normal flowers and they just died! Time to experiment with Elvas..You don't think he's offended because he doesn't think we're spelling his name right do you???

Donna

Maybe its not so bad that my Elvas turned out to be Dancing Queen!
;p
mike

I had a Red Lion do something very similar for me this year. Granted, it was a $3.99 bulb... so I didn't expect a huge miracle... but normally, we buy them already prepped to bloom, we pot them, give them a little drink, a little light... and they should go through the normal process of blooming.

This Red Lion took forever to grow the scapes and buds, and the blooms began to fade before they ever opened all the way... what gives?

Are we just seeing inferior products, lack of quality, or is this something else?

Thanks everyone, don't feel quite so bad anymore! Elvas must be an imposter, which accounts for the spelling! I'm with you Donna, time to experiment.

You guys are missing the point. Elvas is not an imposter. It seems to me to be a problem with that variety of bulb. My two bloomed beautifully the first time when I got them, but after that all stalks started and withered. They were treated exactly the same as my other bulbs which grow and bloom at least once, if not twice a year.

Jodi I don't know but I'm guessing from what I've read here that your Red Lion sale bulb was stored at the wrong temp or stressed at some point.

Thanks, Jackie...

I've been growing Hippeastrum and other Amaryllids for quite some years, now... bulbs are kind of my "thing"... and I've never had this happen.

The bulb, itself, was large and healthy upon purchase... and I'm one of those people who will open every box until I find the bulb I feel is the healthiest and most promising... I think it embarrasses my husband a little, but I like to get what I'm paying for... even at $3.99!

It just took me by surprise that the flowers began to fade before they even opened all the way. I did a quickie pollination attempt as soon as I saw what was happening, but the couple attempts that looked promising with some swelling aborted.

My theory is that we're just not getting the same quality we once did...

Jodi I've got over 300 amaryllis seedlings with about 20 that have bloomed twice. My 8 original purchased bulbs are over 10 years old and continue to thrive. Elvas is the only bulb that has ever shown this tendency. And to be clear there are no flowers. The bud tip shows, grows to maybe halfway out of the neck and withers.

PS - gardening is my "thing" too. I've started most of my garden from seeds or cuttings and hybridized several daylilies and one pretty nice rose from a seed from Graham Thomas by Seafoam.
: )

I can see this happening with these low priced mass produced Red Lions etc. that are currently being offered by big box stores and other outlets, but not with a large high priced Elvas purchased late in 2008 and bloomed in Feb 2009..Mine was purchased from a quality nursery,I will admit it was a miss-label, but once it bloomed I was soo very happy! NEVER again did it look like this ..and now it won't even bloom! This is what we expect when we buy an Elvas..
Donna

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