Beautiful.Another for the want list.

Oh Maria!!! She is so gorgeous and you have captured her beauty perfectly.

It looks like Mrs. G and LL are courting and sparking. Can't wait to see the progeny.

Best,

Blanca

Maria,
I've put myself on a purchasing moratorium this year. I'd break it in a second for that Mrs. G beauty though!!!

gone2seed, these are quite common so you should have no problem getting one. I used to import and sell them by the hundreds from India but then the growers in Thailand started selling them for next to nothing so it became a waste to import them.

Really lovely pics by the way!!! Hippeastrum 'Mrs. Garfield' has been a favorite of mine for quite some time :o) Dan

Absolutely stunning... Maria, you are an artist, the camera your brush! What wonderful pictures you paint! And the subject is incredible!

What a match the two will be, if they produce... the progeny will be exciting to see!

Even if I'm completely out of space, I'd have to bump one bulb to fit Mrs. Garfield in! I must keep my eyes open for one!

Thanks for sharing her, Maria... she's beautiful!

Thank you and you are all welcome. It is my utmost pleasure to share such a fine "lady". Can you believe this hybrid has been in production for 146 years? WOW! I definitely deserves to be known and have a post of it's own or put up in a "Hippeastrum Hall of Fame".

By the way, take a close look at it's pollens. It has the white-est pollens I have ever seen. It also have 5 flowers in this first scape. I received this bulb last season with just 3 leaves I think. I grew it indoors last winter in a bright window (60-70F temp). It kept it's leaves, grew some more leaves and gave out babies. I brought it outside late spring and it just kept on going and growing and bloomed. The mother bulb is just 18 cm. around and has 5 bulblets attached.

I highly recomend Mrs. Garfield. It is a nice plant even without flowers. It is also an easy grower for me in my growing conditions compared to H. reticulatum.

Bluebonsai is right about Thailand exporting Mrs. Garfield to US for like $10 (I think). I almost ordered but I just cannot accept the pictures of the bulbs they would be sending. It's too scary for me. I've had enough with sick and virused bulbs. This Mrs. Garfield came from Glasshouse Works. It was quite expensive but it was a healthy one. Just be very careful of who and where you purchase your bulbs.

Delightful, thank you .

After looking around a bit, I must agree with you, Maria... but then, you know what they say... you get what you pay for! I think I'd rather pay a higher price, knowing I'd receive decent, healthy bulbs.

With her variegated/striped leaves and her lovely face, she's definitely one I'd like to have in my own collection! I've been saving for the orchid festival later this month, but maybe I'll have to shift a few dollars from the orchid budget over to the bulb budget!

Maria is right, this is much easier than the true sp. that is was crossed with as it requires far less humidity, etc,. to grow. One thing that Maria did not point out but that is quite obvious if you have both is that the stripe on Mrs. G and most other hybrids has a clear yellow coloration whereas the true sp., is incredibly white. I remember when I first got mine a few years ago from Udai Pradhan in India (the originator of the Hippeastrekelia 'Durga Pradhan') I was stunned that these were almost impossible to find and yet so incredibly beautiful.......and these spectacular pics show it off fantastically!!

I only live about 3 hrs. from Glasshouse Works....I should go there sometime, but it is always tough to find the time because it is not on the way to anywhere :o) Dan

Here you go...

Pic of the plants...

Mrs. Garfield (top) with H. reticulatum (bottom)
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And the leaves...

Mrs. Garfield (top) and H. reticulatum (bottom)
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and Mrs. Garfield's possible seedpods...

Light green, almost white
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Maria, your bulbs always look so healthy and happy! I think you must have the perfect climate for them... beautiful spring and warm summer, coupled with just enough cold weather for them to rest in the garage, without too much trouble moving them back and forth! I could never leave my bulbs out in the garage... they'd be mush!

I know the real reason your bulbs look so great... you spend a lot of time properly caring for them... it shows! You're doing a wonderful job, Maria! Way to grow! :-)

Beautiful flowers Maria. Bravo !
I wish my Mrs Garfield or striatum would bloom for me sometime. :(

This is my Mrs Garfield lookalike. It has variegated leaves and, right now, is pushing up a scape. I plant it in a 8" pot and put in it in my yard, treated it as evergreen as my other tropical plants.

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This is the flower, picture taken when it bloomed, in August last year
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Mrs. Garfield is a beauty! I can't wait until my little bulb matures and blooms! Thank you for sharing!

So pretty! I love Mrs. G!!! She is certainly a heavy off-setter too! Gosh, my 2 little bulbs are so small it will be YEARS before they bloom. I know gardener's are supposed to have all this patience, but I have NONE...LOL!

Thanks for sharing with us!

-Frank

If gardening doesn't teach patience, having children certainly does! Even having pets can teach us a certain amount of patience! I don't mind waiting... the anticipation keeps you going, knowing there's a huge reward for being patient!

Susan

Thanks for the compliments!

"Mrs G" is pretty common in my country. They are easy to grow, produce lots of offsets and,will flower freely with minimal care. No dormancy is required.

Hatta

P/S : Yes, gardening teaches us to have lotsa patience.

Just an update on this thread...Mrs.G is very picky! She aborted all pollinations. :-(

BUT, I had her pollens stored. I got to use some of it last season on some hippies but all failed too. I will be using them this season and pray harder. Hopefully we can have more variegated hippeastrums.

I really do like the variegation in the leaves... it's very pretty. It's also more sensitive to direct sun. I think I may have sunburned a leaf on mine. I've moved it to a spot that gets indirect sunlight.

My 'Mrs Garfield' decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with me yesteday. As usual, the bloom is lovely.

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With black background!
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From the side
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The whole plant
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Thanks for looking!

Hatta

Wow! What a beautiful, healthy looking specimen! I sure hope mine grows into something that nice! I've got a little bulb, and I know it will take some time for it to mature... I can only hope it looks half that good when it grows up!

Thanks for sharing! She is a beauty!

Beautiful!!!
Jan

What a great Valentine's Day suprise Hatta! Very, very pretty!

-Frank

Thanks Jan and Frank. Mrs Garfield is beautiful!

Jodi, your Mrs Garfield, under your tender loving care, will surely bloom better.

Hatta

Maria, I was searching the net for "H.reticulatum var. striatifolium" to compare against HoustonPat's photos of 'Silhouette' and came across your post here. Hope you don't mind me bumping this up so others can see your beautiful photos.

Pat, your photos of 'Silhouette' appear to be more of a lavender color vs. pink/red, is that just due to lighting? I know sometimes cameras can play tricks with red colors. If that shading difference is real, then you've definitely got a winner! Both 'Mrs Garfield' and 'Silhouette' are quite lovely in their own rights.

Ryan,

To accomplish your goal, you will need to compare a photo of the true species H. reticulatum var. striatifolium to Pat's "Silhouette."

Mrs. Garfield is actually a hybrid of H. reticulatum var. striatifolium x 'Defiance.'

-B

Ah, thanks. My bad. I misinterpreted Maria's post to mean that H. reticulatum and H. Defiance came together to create H. reticulatum var. striatifolium. Still learning the hybridizer lingo. Thanks for the correction.

My pleasure!

The best way to know the differences between these reticulatums is to see them in person....side by side perhaps. The leaves already have a big difference. Different clones have different leaf shapes and stripes. I now have 3 clones of Mrs. Garfield growing here and they are NOT exactly alike. One is from Glasshouseworks, one if from Thailand, and one is from India. I will not be surprised if their flowers would also vary in color, shape and pattern.

The REAL specie H. reticulatum var. striatifolium has dark green leaves with a very prominent "pin stripe" like white line that runs in the center of it's leaves. Mrs. G's leaves are lighter green with wider cream/light green stripe. The specie has rounder/wider and shorter leaves than Mrs. G. It also has that pinkish/purplish hue in the underside of it's leaves. Mrs. G is a lot more robust (leaves, bulblets and flower) and not as finicky in growing conditions like the specie. I will still need Houstonpat's patience to see my specie retic bloom...lol!

I have doubts that the "red reticulatum" that Thailand sells is the true specie. I have one of this given by a very dear friend. It is VERY different in leaf color and stripe than the true specie reticulatum.

Try growing some. They make very pretty plants even without flowers.

They are quite attractive plants with or without flowers. I'll have to check out Glasshouse's website.

Do you think the differences in the Thai bulbs are due to inferior breeding stock? Or is it just a climate/location difference? I remember a thread on here with a similar discussion about H. Intokasi and the differences between the African and Brazilian bulbs (pure white vs. fine red streaks). How much do you think climate and location play a part in the variations?

Maria--

How big are the blooming sized bulbs of Mrs Garfield??? I found someone selling them but they said the blooming size of these bulbs is only an inch! That doesn't seem right at all. An inch is pretty small especially for a bulb, unless its a crocus.

Thanks..

The Other Ryan

I saw that as well. 1 to 1.5 inch diameter bulbs.

Glasshouseworks didn't list a bulb size on their website.

I bought one of these (labelled as Chinese hibiscus) on eBay 3/27/10. It took a 7 months to come out of dormancy. It is now pushing up a variegated leaf. I believe it is H. Mrs Garfield but won't know until it blooms. The greenhouse is kept betweem 50 to 60 deg F. at night.

Here is a picture of the specie Hippeastrum reticulatum var. striatifolium in bloom, It was collected in Bahia, Brazil, in three years this plant has made AT LEAST 20 offsets. I'll take some pictures of the pot later!

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I'm wondering - does anyone got the seeds using Mrs.Garfild as mother?

Any source of good quality Hippeastrum reticulatum striatifolium in Europe or perhaps there is a grower that coud ship to Europe?