Love those pink ones in the back. Move those to the front!! :)

now Cindee...don't play favorites...you'll hurt their feelings!! The pink ones had the whole show to themselves before anyone else bloomed...they have to share the stage now!

I love the copper and since I have a little Pap pollen (HOPING FOR MORE FROM A HIPPI FRIEND!!!!) I might do some crosses....or can you imaging a fluffy double with sweet scent!

I'm up to 34 pots with 50+ scapes...just discoverd Nogano (?) this morning (some names are misspelled), let's see how that one blooms this year as 2 years ago when bought, there was some question as to what it really was! Also good discussion....remember the Queen of Hearts "dispute"?
:-)
K

Just love love love your Exotica! Look at that veining!!! The rest ain't bad either..really nice!

Donna

You know what's odd??? All of the scapes are very uniform in height. Now...that makes sense to me because they get optimal light, warmth, etc...all very unform one bulb to the other. BUT...in my kitchen, they all got the same light, etc when I received them and just potted them up a couple of years ago. So that tells me that the care they get before they go dormant and are shipped is very important as to how they bloom. Most of us who ordered Sweet Nymph last fall got a reminder of that.

These bulb overwinter 2009 and 2010 winters in the greenhouse, got oodles of sun and love in the spring and summer.

Here's E when she first arrived at my house and bloomed in 2008

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and here she is now...HMMMMM!!

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Here's L when she arrived:
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and now...
{{gwi:391141}}

LL looks the same more or less...has always been a steady performer and makes pretty offsets!
When she arrived...
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and now...
{{gwi:391140}}

WOW!! My bulbs love it here!
:-)
K

And...they

I did a double take when I saw your Limona, at first glance I thought it was Exotica so much color! Your Exotica pollen might be nice on your Gordie, all that veining on both plants....how could you go wrong?
And, I love your lemon lime too!

It had lots of color last year too! But this year is FANTASTIC-ER!! (no such word...I know!)
K {{gwi:391146}}

The last photo was L last year!
K

Your E 2011 is no doubt fantastic. Yearly comparison should be interesting in others too.
Arif

Wow Kristi, what a marked difference in blooms. Looks like the greenhouse is well worth the effort. Nice pictures too.

Alana

Next to the self-cleaning electric catbox, it was the best $199 I've ever spent (cat box was only $99....great invention!).
:-)
K

Kristi,

I love the comparison shots. E looks extra yummy in the most recent bloom. I like the blushing in L as well.

AJ

Kristi, your bloom comparissons are wonderful and your photos are so great! I love comparing year to year...some have striking changes.

Signed: THE REAL Cindee (Carol was faking it)!

Kristi,

flowers are good and photos are really good. I have seen couple of other photos of your flowers. I really like the way you take photos. How do you take photo with full black background?

Thanks,

Cindee...oops...sorry, but you do LOVETHEYARD!
:-) I'll be taking more photos tonight...so many blooms to come! I am now finding at least 1 scape a day. Yesterday's "find" was Gervase!

Bunti,
I went to the fabric store and bought a yard of black fleece. It washes great and has a soft texture. I drape it over the curtain rod in my back kitchen window and put a step stool underneath. Then, place the pot on top and arrange the folds. It's very simple, but has a good result. THANKS for the compliments!

Kristi

Kristi,

I LOVE your 'Lemon Lime', it's actually the true 'Lemon Lime' which is INCREDIBLY hard to come by ;) Most get 'Lemon Star' or 'Moonlight'... I'd say you're very lucky!

I ordered one from Royal Colors and I'm hoping it's correct!

Josh

My Lemon-Lime is also a good mother...I have several healthy offsets that could bloom next year!

Will play photo studio tonight.
K

I noted Sweet Lilian in the original photo. For me, it is the only repeat performer throughout the year. See y'all at the sale and show this weekend. Pollen for Kristi.
Patrick

the pinkie is sweet lilian, right?
Nice performance!
Lots of thanks for sharing!

pollen for Pat. I love trading....and hope there's something at the sale I don't have!!
K

Very Beautiful Amaryllis :)

Kristi,
how did your L. and LL do last and this year? Did the colors turn out better, just as good or less spectacular?
Finally got the difference between LL and L - L. seems to have more pronounced veining and texture, and LL is pure pale green. Will once again post mine for the sake of comparison ( I know I have posted it all over, sorry for repetition).

Lena

Mine are still sleeping. I'll get back with you in April!!
Remember, my bulbs spend the summer soaking up the sun and I cut them back in the late fall for a long winter rest.
K

My Limona bloomed in August this year and I got some seeds pollinated by Party Pooper and Autumn Pink Lady!! Strangely enough many of the seedling leaves of the cross x Autumn Pink Lady didn't show any stripes but the second leaves did. All in all though only about half of the seedlings are showing stripes.

Here is my Limona from late summer this year.

Donnaâºâº

I think cold temps bring out more color....
K

Hi Kristi,

I'm comin' to your house!!! They are spectacular and just in time for Christmas. What a present!!!

Warm Regards,
Fred

Um....Fred....March 2011...,
(Hehe)
K

Kristi,
will await updates in the spring, then. My other hippis are sleeping too in a cold room - the ones I've had since last fall. Limona is this fall's acquisition for me.

Donna,
yours looks like mirror image of mine! Your crossing experiment sounds very interesting! I haven't pollinated any flowers on the first scape. There's a second one about to open. The other one I currently have in bloom is Rapido and there's Bogota and papilio on the way. Do you think any of them would make a good pairing? Wonder if I should better wait with pollination until the next blooming - so as not to emaciate the newly acquired bulb?

Lena

Lena,

My Limona is several years old and therefore had plenty of roots and yes, it might stress your bulb but I've found that Limona is a particularly strong bulb and I don't think it would stress it too much to try for seeds. If you wish, you could try on the second scape, making sure that you remove all the pollen before the anthers open which I'm sure you already have done.

I would always choose papilio first even it's not compatable but I don't think I would bother with Rapido as I think the red would be dominant but Bogota might pass on it's lovely shape and produce some desirable flowers. That's just my opinion of course as I put papilio on everything I can and sometimes I do get lucky!

I believe that Party Pooper is a papilio cross and its mating with Limona produced viable seeds which did surprise me as I've never been able to get any seeds from Party Pooper but occasionally her pollen is liked by others.

Good luck!

Donnaâºâº

Donna,

thanks a lot for your advice! I guess I'll try to cross Limona and papillio or Bogota as you suggest.
When you say you get sometimes lucky with papilio crosses, do you mean they set viable seed or you've already had some of those crosses bloom for you?

Lena

Hi Kristi,

Oooops...I didn't see the date. They're still beautiful though. So I'll head over to your house in April...the weather will be nicer anyways.

Warm Regards,
Fred

Sure...guest room and bath are always clean. Can't vouch for the kitchen!
K

Lena, Actually, both. I occasionally get viable seeds from a cross that I wouldn't think should take, Exotica x papilio being one and I have bloomed one of several seedlings of papilio x Exotic Star which should have taken and did. There is a long story that goes with that seedling, I only had one flower left so I mixed several pollens and Exotic Star was determined to be the winner. I have bloomed several other seedlings from ordinary crosses, none being outstanding though. I'm still waiting for the winner! But maybe I'll never do better than my first one, PapExstasy.

Donnaâºâº

What a flower, Donna! How many scapes did you get? ðÂÂÂJim

Jim,

Unfortunately I only got one scape with 2 flowers. The bulb was quite small when it bloomed and as it was just a little over 2 years until the maiden bloom I was satisfied. A year and a half later the rest of the seedlings from that cross still haven't bloomed!! This bulb produces offsets much like papilio and I now have 5 bulbs in the pot, still waiting for a re-bloom though.

Donnaâºâº

Donna,

thanks for posting the pic! The colors look very saturated and the flower itself really large! Love the veining, too! You scored big with this one!
Are there any sources that I could use to read up on Hippeastrum hybridizing I wonder? Thanks.

Lena

Great looking bloom Donna !