Look for the Hadeco sonatinis that most retailers carry, they're quite small.

Look for 'Little Devil' 'Cupido', 'Bellismo', 'Trenito', there are several others as well labeled Sonatinis!

Josh

Josh,....thanks for the information. I'll do a search for the Sonatinis and give a look.

Frank

If you scroll all the way down you'll find the Sonatinis, they have all their cultivars with pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hadeco Hippeastrum

Not all the Sonatini's perform well. Cupido was not very attractive, Little Devil had very poor production of flowers and Bellisimo had flowers that didn't last well.Lucky Strike was anything but lucky, Little Star was small-few flowered, and Piccolo was disappointing.
Avoid Zombie (flowers look down) and

Josh: Thanks for the link.
RainforestGuy: Thanks for your opinions. That's exactly what I needed. Critiques on plants and flowers! Great! Half of the plants on the market, including Hipps. should have been in compost piles. But that's my opinion.

While checking to see what was new in the Hipp. choices - after a 25 year hiatus - I came across Emaryllis.com. It is probably the one site that actually states opinions, and I found it to be very helpful. I could see by looking through all the "new" introductions on the market, that the Hipp. world has changed very little over the years. Same garish colors, messy looking doubles, etc.....

And again, thanks for the info. and opinions.

Frank

For me, "AMICO" proved itself a weak cultivar, with poor growth. I was disappointed - to express myself "mildly".
Now I resort to miniZ out of my own production. I pollinated "Pink Floyd" by "Giraffe" and I obtained beautiful miniatureZ from that genetic combination.

Please consider that "mini" is not an absolute category. A genuine "mini" is one that does not only produce small flowers but produces Small leaves, also. That means, that the area requirement for a specimen during the season, is
LITTLE.
"Baby Star" is according to this definition a MINI.
"Fairy Tale" and "Estrela" are not.

Two siblings from "Pink Floyd" x "Giraffe"
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Hi Frank, I'm not sure a Bonsai pot would be big enough for a few of these minis, but something a bit bigger would work. I love the minis (Sonatinis) because you can group them easily in 3s or 5s. In fact, even Zombie that has a droopy head looks excellent grouped as the blooms layer and prop each other up:
{{gwi:426970}}From 09 / 10 season

I also have the "Breck's Hardy Collection" that I grow outside and am extremely please with them. I didn't get Orange Rascal in my group, but did get a red one, a red/white striped, a yellow, a double white and an amazing pink one. Come to think of it, I need to order more of these this fall!

Here's a pic of the red/white striped ones with some violas so you can get an idea of size. On the left you can see the spent red blooms a little taller in scape but still a small bloom. {{gwi:426971}}From Spring 2011

Alana

The sonatinia's I think perform as well as a I would expect considering their size, they aren't nearly as vigorous as the large bulbs such as 'Flamenco Queen'.

Sometimes Frank you have to give them an extra year to really provide the flowers they should be producing, they need roots to provide sufficient water and nutrients to the bulb which create nicer flowers.

Josh

Hey guys,....Thanks so much for the input, and also the very useful critiques regarding the "Sonatini" hybrids, and how well, or not, they perform.

The mini-flowered Hipp. that I'm searching may not even exist. I envision a small-leaved plant, with flowers no bigger than an individual Clivia blossom. From pics. posted on this forum, "ORANGE RASCAL" comes about closest to what I'm searching for.

The growers of "ORANGE RASCAL" tell me that they can't keep enough of this plant in stock, and they have started a program to increase production of this bulb, and it will again hit the markets in the future. I hope that it will NOT be part of a random collection of "Sonatini" hybrids.

Anyway thanks for all the pics. and info. Much appreciated.

Frank

Frank,

I've not seen any flowers the size of a Clivia, I may be sending you on a wild goose chase but I grow Eithea blumenavia, the flowers are incredibly small as well as the leaves and it's VERY similar to Hippeastrum, it used to be considered in the Hippeastrum genus.

It's a quite beautiful plant, mine blooms up to four times or so a year and offsets at a VERY rapid rate! Below is a link with pictures.

Josh

Here is a link that might be useful: Eithea blumenavium

Dear Frank...oh my gosh...clivia blooms are sooo tiny!! I have some small Hippeastrum in my collection. The smallest bulbs and leaves belong to H. San Antonio Rose. The blooms are small by comparison to most H. hybrids, but nothing like clivia blooms, which to my recollection are about 1-2 inches or so across.

These are very hardy and have a beautiful red stripe up the back of the leaves.

Good luck!
Kristi

Here is an article from when it was referred to as Hippeastrum but it has some nice information!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hippeastrum blumenavia, Living Jewel

Josh, Kristi, et al. ......

Thanks for all the great information about miniature Hipps. The article and pics. of the H blumenavia were very interesting, and food for thought. San Antonio Rose equally as interesting.

Thanks for helping me shop around.

Frank

A species variety, Hippeastrum striatum, has flowers about the size of a daylily.

It's the very first type I was every introduced to since they've been in my family for generations and my grandfather grows them. When I was a kid, he had dozens of pots. Eventually they got scale insect and he tossed them all out (he's not even remotely sentimental) but luckily had already given some to me, so now I have the lineage, and I think there are a few scattered here and there in my family.

They are probably one of the easiest to grow because they need less light. I've kept them in a North-facing window and they still managed to grow and multiply. When they get root-bound they produce hundreds of little micro-bulblets you can give away and challenge your friends to get them blooming in a year under ideal conditions (difficult but possible).

I believe mine may have a mosaic virus - which they've probably had forever since my great-grandfather was a tobacco pipe smoker. It doesn't seem to affect them much and they've never transferred the virus to any others, and only a few of them show signs which disappear if the plant is grown in brighter light. It's either a weak strain of the virus, or else not a virus and just a characteristic that they form checkerboard-like patterns when grown in low light.

Some F-1 and species have small flowers such as this one I grew for several years.
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houstonpat:

What a beautifully, simple flower. Glad you put the chewing gum in the photo to show scale of this plant.

Is this a species Hipp?...or, hybrid? If a hybrid, did you make the cross?

Thanks for the information/inspiration.

Frank

I bought a boxed kit last year and got a very mislabeled bulb that produced a beautiful tiny orange bloom. I'm hoping it's a little stronger this year...will wait and see.
Kristi

This is a horrible photo, but it is shot against some small seedlings for prospective. One shows the color and the other shows the shape. Probably no more than 1.5" across.
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Bronx,

That looks to be Hippeastrum striatum var. petiolatum which has incredibly small flowers. Hippeastrum striatum is the basis for many of the miniature plants produced.

I have several of the so called "Tea Cup" Hippeastrum from Japan and have been very pleased with these varieties. I was lucky to obtain them from a traveling grower who went to Japan in trading rare plants from hawaii. I was able to get several unnamed hybrids from miyake nurseries with interesting compact foliages and well developed small flowered hybrids. Unfortunately i didn't take any shots of these from last year but hopefully be able to do so this year.
The flowers are well developed, look like true miniature types with stunning stripes, star patterns and flowers that look out like an orchid.
The bulbs are small, very small and I am amazed how they can produce three spikes form a bulb the size of a golf ball. Leaves are very compact, some just a few inches in length. My goal was to breed these with the various species that is out there. But for me this means saving-freezing pollen at one portion of the year to be used in the other.

I think the best way to get great small flowering hybrids is to start with small flowering species and begin your own breeding program.

Rainforest guy,

I'd love to see some of these hybrids, I've been wishing to get some for quite some time with no luck :(

I have been lucky to have about ten different japanese tea-cup varieties. They have bloomed well for their first showing and hopefully this year they will do even better.
I wish the Hadeco varieties were all great. Some of their smaller flowering stuff (mid size) Alfresco is a good grower. I wish they were more hybrids like this one.

Josh
I'd be willing to trade some of these with species if you're interested. I am not of the school to cut up a bulb so it will take some time to naturally offset on some of these. I will check to see if any has side bulbils after this coming year's flowering cycle. Some of these are F1 hybrids of Japanese miniatures crossed with species. Perhaps I could get some seed from my contacts in Japan.

Old thread but this is one thread were both "orange rascal" and "striatum" were mentioned.

What is the difference between the Orange Rascal and H. striatum? When I looked at photos, their flowers look very similar.

H. Orange Rascal is a Sonatini (see Sonatini.com) and H. Striatum is a species. H. Orange Rascal may have H. Striatum in its background...but then again maybe not. There are many hybrids that look similar but have enough slight differences so as to be distinct.

I have both of them and the only difference I see is that striatum has light markings on the top three petals/sepals. Orange rascal may have striatum/petiolatum in it's bloodlines but it looks more uniform orange.

Do they grow to the same height?

Don't know off the top of my head, but you should be able to look this up easy enough. Google it! :-)

I have several cultivars of striatum that are both mini and closer to standard in height. I purchased a cute little dwarf striatum from Telos Bulbs and few years ago and it only grows to about 8" to 10" in height. I'm hoping to use it in making some smaller growing (space saving) hybrids next flowering season. If I'm successful, I will gladly share them with whoever wants some.