It's not that simple. Plants have their own families. Amaryllis/Hippeastrum are in the Amaryllidaceae family, Lilies in Liliaceae, Gladiolus in Iridaceae, etc. There's also sub-families and even then, they won't pollinate with each other in the family. There's been unusual crosses, sure, but it's no different than trying to breed a cat and a dog together even though they're both animals. So flowers isn't just flowers. :)

i had a feeling i was going to get schooled, i understand about familys and what not, but the question i still have is, is it POSSIBLE,or is it like you say the hole cat/dog thing its just not going to happen. So is it possible or am i wasting my time.

Oh, I didn't mean to "school" you. Yes, it is a waste of time. If you're interested, I did find two threads where people have asked about lilies as well as the responses to the questions.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/amaryllishippeastrum/msg0414340123649.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/amaryllishippeastrum/msg0402330031398.html

Ok so if i cant cross that way how do i get hipps of different colors. all i ever see is red and white or the combination of the two

Some cultivars show a trace of blueish color particularly when the flower is wilting. One of these is "Melusine" note: the ORIGINAL Version of "Melusine" and not "RVR" (RembrandtvanRijn). By selecting for this property over couple of generations, a purple-blueish color in the fresh flower could possibly be created.

{{gwi:399130}}

"Melusine" x (H.papilio x "Donau")#2

You just have to cross, cross, cross...and then select what you like and add to it.

Say you take an red/white stripe and pollinate it to itself (called a self, not "red/white stripe") each of the many dozen resulting offspring MAY look slightly different. You might get some all white, some all red, some with different shades of red, some pink, some pink and white, some pink, white, and red (think Gervase). WHY?? because you don't just get the characteristics of the parents, you get the characteristics of everything that went into making the parents. That's why it's SUCH A BIG DEAL when our our hybrids bloom.

Think about kids in a family. Dad (Bob) is blonde with blue eyes; Mom (Helen) is blonde with blue eyes....Eric (the son) is red head with green eyes and his sister Mary is brunette with brown eyes. Well...Eric is the spitting image of Grandpa Shaun...and Mary looks like Helen's aunt Grace. Go figure!! Genetics is a fun game.

Red is a dominant color so when you breed a red bloom with something...the majority of offspring are likely to be red, but they will carry the traits of the other parent. It's all a gamble. Which is also why the parentage of many amazing hybrids is a closely guarded secret!!
;-)
Kristi

but after awhile wont you get into inbreeding, how do you throw diffrent genetics into the mix. i see so many other colors in different flowers like gladiolus's, but how do i get them into my amaryllises, i know to start out with a white one because red is the dominant color.

I guess you need to have a goal in mind. Improve/breed away on the weak points and breed back to make the strong points stronger.

There are some threads about very creative crosses (hosta, Easter lily, etc)...do a search. None of them every reported back that they were productive!!
K

I had read many postings on people trying to cross various plants and my problem was that I wasn't able to find out how their experiments went, weather or not the plant took and if it did were the seeds viable and if they were what happened. My daddy always told me it never hurts to ask and it never hurt to try so I did. I took 1 of my pretty no name lilies and crossed it with 1 of my pretty no name amaryllises. Now let's see what happens. I hope I can be better than those before me and update with some pictures of what happens

I had read many postings on people trying to cross various plants and my problem was that I wasn't able to find out how their experiments went, weather or not the plant took and if it did were the seeds viable and if they were what happened. My daddy always told me it never hurts to ask and it never hurt to try so I did. I took 1 of my pretty no name lilies and crossed it with 1 of my pretty no name amaryllises. Now let's see what happens. I hope I can be better than those before me and update with some pictures of what happens

When you find those posts, you can usually send the poster an email by their address on their profile page. Nope...it never hurts to ask!

We also had asked for people to let us know how their experiments turn out. Can't wait to hear what you get, if your experiment works! Keep us posted.

Kristi

well NOTHING took, i new it was a huge long shot but why not take the shot, i guess i'll wait till next time and try something different.