Is this Hippeastrum x johnsonii?

-J

Doesn't look like my H. Johnsonii... Donna is getting familiar with the scented old heirloom hybrids... She's gotten very lucky with her eBay bulbs!! Hope someone comes through with an ID for you. It looks a bit like Minerva, but I don't recall H. Minerva bring scented. Sounds like this one is heavily perfumed; lucky you!!
K

-J

I think I've seen similar bulbs for sale on Ebay and I believe they just call it old timey heirloom bulbs! Probably a vittatum hybrid of sorts. There are lots of these types growing in old gardens down South and this may just be one. If it's fragrant than you are in luck and had I seen it sitting in a pot for sale it most likely would have come home with me too!
Enyoy it and if you live in a warm climate and can plant in the ground then you should end up with a big clump in a few years. If pot culture is what you do then I'm sure it will do equally as well...

In the past you may have mentioned where you live, but if you could put your zone next to your moniker we'd know whether you were a warm weather gal or a cold weather gal like me...

Donna

Thanks Kristi and Donna,

I'm really excited to have a variety that I can try in the ground - something I have wanted to do after seeing the beautiful results of others who have done so.
It's warm/hot here most of the year (with an occasional brief frost in the winter) All of my hippeastrum are in pots:) So now I have a variety that I can try in the ground - well maybe a few - after they finish flowering - I am such a mother hen lol.
The humidity is high here and I wondered if that has anything to do with how strong the scent is? Blossom peacock is nicely scented too.
We also bought a pot of smaller leaved, smaller bulb type that the nursery said was a miniature red that had already bloomed. These are from a really nice local nursery that has a selection of different types of plants - one of those places its just fun going to.
-J

Hi Again J

If you live in zone 10 why aren't you planting most all of your hippies in the ground you lucky girl?? A little bit of surface frost won't hurt them at all (as long as the bulb itself in completely buried beneath the soil) but, if you're worried just place some extra mulch or some cut pine tree boughs over them in the winter (but you probably don't have the type of trees I am referring to) I would be in seventh heaven if I could plant them year around in the ground!

Yes, heat and humidity help to make the scents stronger. I have several scented heirloom bulbs (from EBay) and it take a few days for the fragrance to come in and if they are in my hot sunny bay window the scent is all the stronger!

Actually, I'm not sure about humidity but I should think that would help too. By the time we get our humid weather all of my scented hippies are done blooming.

Donna

Hi Donna,

I don't plant them in the ground because ah...well...ah.. lol Actually, I move them twice a year (getting ready for their Spring move) because of the change in the sun's position. They are outside all year except when they are blooming and I bring a few in. If we get a frost warning I throw frost cloth over them but they really don't seem to be bothered by much. I've seen them in the ground in the open at botanical gardens but the sun can really fry them if they don't have some kind of protection (trees or structure).
But, after seeing the wonderful pictures of hippies in gardens I have been wanting to try a few - one of the reasons I was looking for the old time garden variety - only now I want this one in the house because of the scent lol - Oh well, one day!
-J