Pure and simple...Nymph...although Aprodite is a very close second!
K

It's like eating just one potato chip, can't be done!

I find my favorite doubles are the ones that do the best for me and there are plenty...

To name a few:

Flaming Peacock I just loved it...

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and of course Blossom Peacock which blooms for me twice a year usually too..

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Rainbow which I'm still not convinced isn't just Aphrodite which by the way I lost my mother bulb to NFB too but have a couple of offsets coming along...

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and Pasadena which bloomed for me beautifully for two years straight but took last year off...

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and of course the ever gorgeous Alfresco...

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and of course the imcomparable Nymph which when in bloom looks like a brides bouquet....

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Siren looks like a cross between Joker and a double Charisma...very pretty..

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The oldie but goodie Dancing Queen...

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and the Oh so fragrant Jewel, by the way many doubles have some fragrance...

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Cherry Nymph is very beautiful and a very strong bulb that on most years blooms twice for me...

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and of course how could anyone live without a plain old Lady Jane...

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I mercifully left many out..Elvas when right is outstanding but I do have trouble with that one..so, you can see that you can't just choose one..you should get them all!!! ;-)

Donna

Sorry, I got so carried away...

Hi girls,
Thanks for the info and the gorgeous pics!
This i what i was hoping for, info AND lots of pictures to admire :-)
It really helps to read REAL experiences and watch REAL pictures of the flowers. Because in many online shops the description will be very short and just: this is one of the best cultivars, or: very pretty, produces x flowers per scape, bulb circumference is x, and that's it. And on top of that.... Don't you just get a bit annoyed when you want to buy a hippi and have to look at pictures which you are pretty certain it is not the right one? sometimes they just pick a picture of a cultivar about the same colour and just use it... i have even seen pics of doubles when it was supposed to be a single flowering or the other way around. Just clik the link below.

Donna, i second you in that: so difficult to pick just one. Your Lady Jane is AMAZING.... wow... Many commercial pictures do not do justice to this cultivar.... Your other pics are so pretty too.... well... i can see why people sometimes use YOUR pictures for their websites.... such a pity LJ is not very available here at the moment. I have seen it before in online shops, but not really often. I had to choose from their pictues and their picture of LJ looked like a fade pink, not really interesting.... wow... what a blunder (mine and theirs for not placing a decent picture of this beauty)
Nymph is more available for purchase. I'll keep on looking for LJ. Maybe when the season is a bit further i'll have more success... It has just began now...
I have had Elvas and was not so happy with it. I do not like much when the pedicels are very short and the flowers together look like they are a ball. I think Boysenberry swirl is prettier, but have only seen pictures of it.
I too think your rainbow is an Aphrodite! I'm almost certain of that.
Thanks again. How about you Kristi, do you have more favourites? C'mon don't be so modest :-D...
How about Jodi and the rest of the forum crew?
Many thanks and greetings,

Lourdes.

Here is a link that might be useful: two pictures, but wich is the real DR?

Of the ones recently available like Sweet Nymph (best in the nymph collection) I will take Double Dream no doubts-no arguments -no how. The coloring is so beautiful a pink. The petals are the same all the way around and the shape is an even circle. Several people agreed with my comment that it had the quality and character of that fine old classic camellia Pink Perfection with a darker pink and larger flower.
I am concerned about Holentina's remarks about losing her bulbs. When I hear this pattern more than 75% of the time the problem issued damp roots. I don't water pots more often that once every 3""" weeks unless it is a commercial building with large rooms and heavy duty air conditioner/heaters. Plant only the roots in pots with a rod holding the bulb up until the roots set(3-4 months for new bulbs). No water left in the saucer overnight.
NBF & other larvae can be cooked with straight hotline water in an insulated container like you put hot food or cold drinks in with a tight lid for 2 hours. The hot water from the spigot will not hurt the bulb. Bill

Bill,and All,

Actually, I found Indian Fairy to be currently my most beautiful Double. Indian Fairy from Maguires..other than the virus issues (which is why I didn't post the picture) the flower is astoundingly beautiful. I managed to get flowers the second year although only two this time. Did you get one in your order from Maguires?

I have a Double Dream ordered and if it looks like the pictures will certainly be tough competition for Indian Fairy...

Donna

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The last picture shows more pink which in reality it isn't. The first pictures are the accurate color and it is very fragrant to boot! But, it is no longer available and like I said, mine is virused...;-(

I got Indian Fairy a year ago and agree it is a beauty. More shades of color as inside many of my favorite Maguire hybrids and well balanced patterns. My favorite peacock is Exotic Peacock as beautiful as Sweet Nymph. I handled a case of both and a case of Double Dream last fall with.excellent performance of all. I would be very surprised if you had a bad experience with any and even if you look for different characteristics than I, Double Dream will be near the top of your list.
Everyone is welcome to try this. Write down a list of your 10 favorite or 5 favorite doubles. I expect that 7 of them were bred by the same man. Not the grower- the breeder. Enjoy Bill

I got Indian Fairy a year ago and agree it is a beauty. More shades of color as inside many of my favorite Maguire hybrids and well balanced patterns. My favorite peacock is Exotic Peacock as beautiful as Sweet Nymph. I handled a case of both and a case of Double Dream last fall with.excellent performance of all. I would be very surprised if you had a bad experience with any and even if you look for different characteristics than I, Double Dream will be near the top of your list.
Everyone is welcome to try this. Write down a list of your 10 favorite or 5 favorite doubles. I expect that 7 of them were bred by the same man. Not the grower- the breeder. Enjoy Bill

I got Indian Fairy a year ago and agree it is a beauty. More shades of color as inside many of my favorite Maguire hybrids and well balanced patterns. My favorite peacock is Exotic Peacock as beautiful as Sweet Nymph. I handled a case of both and a case of Double Dream last fall with.excellent performance of all. I would be very surprised if you had a bad experience with any and even if you look for different characteristics than I, Double Dream will be near the top of your list.
Everyone is welcome to try this. Write down a list of your 10 favorite or 5 favorite doubles. I expect that 7 of them were bred by the same man. Not the grower- the breeder. Enjoy Bill

Oh my God, Donna (my jaw drops to my knees... :-O )
What a gorgeous flower! It makes me take the next plane down under and go to Mc Guire's farm myself ;-) !
To do next best thing, I think i'm paying a visit to Mc Guire's website when i'm ready here. But i have seen their website before.... it is so crowded with lovely hippies, that you really don't know what to order. You wish you could have them all, lol...
BTW Donna, I've found Lady Jane :-D big smile.... I did ordered it... now it's just wait and see if it's indeed... ahum... a real Lady ;-)
Bill, thanks for the advice! I'll try to order Sweet Nymph and/or Double Dream. I'm a bit short on space here, which is why i asked the question about doubles.
When i discovered the damage, larves were already very big and were nestled in de middle and under in teh bulb. Just one per bulb, but damage was more than enough to really destroy the whole thing. Such a pitty. I have many times wanted to try hot-water treatment, but i'm really very affraid of killing the bulbs. I do not have a god thermometer to measure the water temperature.

Hi Holentina, OK hot water heaters have a top temperature setting in the U.S. of 148 F for people who use dishwashers. (Please tell me the topsetting in Europe.) Several years ago the Holland Flower markets required the treatment of hippeastrum bulbs with 159 F. Recirculating hot water for 24 hours due to a bad mite outbreak. This went on for 3 years. I looked up the methodology in the Actahort reports and for 28/30cm bulbsto reach 123 F in the core (center) it took 130 F plus degrees hot water for up to 2 hours. So if you put your bulb in a styrofoam drink container (with a tight lid) covered with straight hot water from the spigot. for 2 hours, it will cook the larvae in the core without killing the bulb. Replant the bulb roots and it will either recover or it will die from the larvae
THE BASAL PLATE WILL REGROW A GROUP OF NEW BABY BULBS.
damage. Keep pulling off the dead bulb layers and the basal plate will

To Add to Bill message above when he says THE BASAL PLATE WILL REGROW A GROUP OF NEW BABY BULBS..They DO!!

I have Flamenco Queen (I posted a picture of the NBF larvae) that I actually did nothing but pour captan down the wound and it is is splitting and growing into two bulbs! I will admit the damage wasn't as bad on Flamenco Queen. But, I have a Rainbow (AKA Aphrodite) that is sending up offsets all around the dead bulb (about 4) and I have a Lady Jane that got devoured too and that has also formed several sizable offsets. There is another too I can't remember, maybe a Red Lion...leaves shooting up from all over the pot!

I could kick myself because in past years I have just chucked the damaged bulbs and to think I might have been able to get offsets by just leaving them be!! Live and Learn..I will admit that I DID loose a whole pot of papilios (about 4 or 5 bulbs) nothing regrew on that one :(

My method now is to scoop the rotten contents of the bulb out with a spoon to the best of your ability, put a teaspoon or so of captan down in the hole and go on with your life..

As always, my method is the "fly by the seat of your pants" approach as I always tend to the lazy way of doing everything.. so, by all means try Bill's method above too!

Donna