Wonderful! I love Papillio Butterfly! One of my favorites! And any flower with a green in the name is ok by me! I love green and part green flowers!

Looking good!

I've never seen a papilio bloom in real life, I'm sooo excited! :)
I hope the Emerald won't wait too long with it's bloom since I wanted to cross both of them. My Picotee doesn't seem to be flowering this year, it's rather busy splitting into two! Looks interesting, but I would have loved to try to pollinate the papilio with it ... ;)

All my other plants will be in a friends basement till January ... any idea which cross would be interesting then?

betonklotz, I assume that the "Fishing Dentist" might be Dorschi.

Papillio is amazing up close, in person! You will love it!

You could always save some of the pollen from your flowers, then pollinate when the others come into bloom. I have sent pollen to others, and I have read about several people who save their pollen for later use. I haven't done so, myself, but I know it's possible. A search within the forum will net plenty of results on how to save and store it.

My Emerald, received last year, had some rot issues... I was forced to perform major surgery on it in order to save its life. I performed cuttage on the bulb, and was lucky enough to have several tiny bulblets grow from the pieces. It will be quite some time before I am able to enjoy a bloom, but that's ok... at least I saved it!

I think you will greatly enjoy both your Emerald and your Papillio! They are both gorgeous flowers!

It seems that Papillio has two distinct bulb forms, each from different growers. We discussed it quite a while ago... and it was determined that there is a round bulb version, and an elongated version. I have an elongated bulb.

Papillio is the bulb sitting on the top shelf, right at the corner. Notice the shape...
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Here's the bulb when I first received it...
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And here it is in bloom...
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Yours seems to be the more rounded version. Mine was purchased through Royal Colors, and I think we had talked about the fact that others who got their bulbs through Royal Colors also had a more elongated bulb shape.

Anyway... it's really quite interesting! I'm very excited to see how your flowers look when open! I think there was a slight variation between the blooms of the two different shaped bulbs... if memory serves correctly.

Awaiting your blooms with much anticipation!

Hmm, interesting. I know via Haweha that the clone sold mostly in Europe is a selfincompatible one (there should be a selfcompatible one lurking around), I never heard about the bulbs shape. I did hear about variation in the colour pattern. Well, we'll see.
Mine does seem a little more elongated compared to my other bulbs but yours does strike a really interesting shape. When it has bloomed I will put in on the bright south window where it's slightly colder.

I got pollen from a friend (my cross Minerva x "weiÃe" {{gwi:376697}} [gotta love the garden gnome in their neighbors yard ^^]) and have stored pollen, best thing to do is just to leave it exposed so it can dry out well. But I have no other Diploid which could receive the papilio pollen ...

@Manfred: Oh, of course I know him.

@Mariava: That I can do now, yes! ;)

Betonklotz...Thanks! Don't you have a nickname we can call you?

Use the search engine of the forum on "Papilio". You will find loads of information since way back in 2006. Sir Hans (Haweha) frequently comes to this forum during those earlier years. He has taught us a lot in here specially about papilios. I really wish he'd drop by once in a while.

Hmmmmm...Maybe I'd try to visit Exoten again and surprise Haweha and Dorschi!

Klotz (= block) will work ;) (Good thing is you don't have to pronounce it, I guess you'd have quite a lot of problems if you don't speak at least a bit German!)

Haweha also wrote a lot on the German forum, he wrote a compendium for the care of Hippeastrum with a special paragraph for the species H. papilio. It's well to read and easier for me in German. I do think I read some of his posts back then here regarding the possibilities to cross with papilio and so on, which I found via google search.

Ooh! That's a beautiful white! I like the very faint red striping on the upper petals, and they seem to be quite thick and substantial. Very nice! And, of course, I love the green eye!

It's so interesting to see slight signs of a flower's genetic history... and to be able to put a name to some of the ancestors, even though they may only be guesses.

Yes, Sir Hans is greatly missed... he taught us a lot about certain aspects of the Hippeastrum. I miss seeing photos of his blooms!

That's why I needed her for my crosses. Those linings just showed up in high age when this friend of mine was feeding her with water from his aquarium with added liquid fertilizer. It's his oldest plant and the bulb has a huge circumference ...

I would love to know the name of this variety, but when I compare this photograph with pictures online of simple whites ones I have problems to see the slight differences but to also include the normal variations that every flower shows.

I know, while Haweha is still active on the Exotenforum I haven't seen one of his superb crosses recently.

betonklotz-I shared much of my pollen with others for their crossings last year. If you wish, I would be happy to send you pollen as I get it. I have maybe 30 different amaryllis. Is there something in particular you want? I can list them for you if you like. I am always happy to share with Amaryllis lovers, especially enjoy sharing globally! I can send you an album link if you want to wade thru a ton of photos.

Cindeea, thank you so much. That's really a nice offer of yours. But now that I have to think about it, I'm not coming up with anything. There are a couple of big-flowering hybrids I would like to try but you know, chances are pretty low that I get one of the flowers I expect pollinated.

Red Pearl or any other variety that's that dark I'd love to give a try. I especially love this one but I'll find a way to add it to my collection. So any really dark cross would be great.

Lipstick, Siberia and Masai are crosses I never found in any international shop. I especially like the three of them since they're having so few red marks and would be an interesting pollinator for papilio. Cideea, I guess chances are low that you have one of these particular ones and from the other red-white I would try Ambience but Haweha allready did this, so I won't go there. I'd love to create something completely new ;)
Oh, I forgot, x jonsonii would be great too! There is so much variety in this cross that the outcome would be quite mixed.

I'd love to try yellow ones and pink ones ... perhaps Starlet, Candy Floss, Yellow Goddess
Oh and Yumemitai would be superb.

Oh god, you got me started. And yes, I'd love to struggle through tons of pics!

Haha I love your enthusiasm, betonklotz. Please tell me your first name, betonklotz is a tongue twister! OK here's a link to my 2007-08 album full of photos-not just blooms, but pots, seed pods etc. And who is to say they will bloom in time to match yours. I will alert you as they come up. And I have others not in this album-not so many reds, though. Right now I have Striatum pollen(see my post of Miss Ethel). Her pollen is very good with many small, trumpet types. I have had success with Magic Green, Misty and a couple others. As well as Johnsonii I also have Vlammenspel and Vitattum-both are red/white mixes. I will let you know as they bloom. Also, Maria, Blanca and others can tell you how long Pollen can last and how to store it if you want to wait for specific flowers to bloom. Best of luck to you and I will look forward to talking more. give my best to Sir Hans!! He is a wonderful man and I wish he would visit us here more. He has shared so much

My album:

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaryllis 2007-2008

Congratulations on your Papilio, betonklotz. That's the one that I blame for my addiction!

I find it interesting what you say about jonsonii, perhaps that's why I feel so confused about which flower actually is jonsonii. I do need to do some more research.

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Those are pictures from my Mom's neighbor's yard. My Mom died last Sunday, so I have had very little sleep and time to do anything.

I have more pics, but no time to look for them now...

I hope the ones that I posted helps. Johnsonii is quite special!

Ann

Hi Clancy, till now I just saw different pictures of the johnsonii online. Some where white with red lines, some where red with a white star? If all the flowers on these pictures where really johnsonii then it has to be that a primary-hybrid inhabits lots of variation ... since lots of Hippeastrum have a self incompatible system, a big amount of their chromatomal settings are heterozygous. Perhaps that could be an explanation ...

Cindee, I'm not that comfortable posting my real name online, but Ann already did it, I'm called Carl. I guess my first name won't hurt ...
I do like all of these varieties but since it will just take a couple of weeks before papilio opens it's flowers (I hope it hurries, I won't be here over the winter holidays) it would be a bit hasty now. Tanks again for your offer, I'd love to share in future with you!
But if I now ask for pollen from you, you're then hurrying to get it to me before the 17th. December (don't know how long a letter takes from America to Europe), then papilio's flower has to be open ... and if I don't succeed in pollinating one of the blooms it was all for nothing.
First thing I'll do is to store papilio's pollen and try it the other way round ... perhaps even the reticulatum decides to flower somewhen next year ...

(((Ann))) Hugs sweetie. I have been thinking of you and your Mom, may she sleep peacefully.

OK Carl, there, that's easier to see. Me, I just put it all out there! Lol Anyway, if you wish pollen or seeds from me anytime, just let me know. I have a pap that has been to young to Bloom thus far. Hopefully it will get the itch this winter.

Dear Ann, may I echo Cindee sentiments... peace be to your Mom. Hugs to you... it's a difficult time, I know. You're always in my prayers.

Those are beautiful pictures of H. Johnsonii... I love the clumps around that tree! I keep wishing that I could grow them out in the gardens... what a sight that would be! But, they are relegated to indoor shelves... oh well.

Larry and I have been known on the internet practically since its inception... mainly through our old kennel websites, bulletin boards, and forums... so, it's really no big deal to us! We don't do online banking, or anything that a criminal could use, so it doesn't really matter, I suppose! If someone is looking for us, they'll find us anyway!

I'm very interested to see how Carl's Papillio looks! I want to compare it to mine and others that have been posted. I, too, have a couple of young Papillio bulbs... too young to bloom, though. I'm hoping for flowers within the next couple of years.

Ann, I haven't seen your post before I wrote my last one here, you know that it can take me a while to get my English writings together.

Now again I am stuck because I don't know how to express myself, but I hope that you will understand my intentions either way. I'm really sorry, I know that you've been through a lot lately and I wish you all the strength you need right now. I have seen pictures of your mothers plants that you posted on the exotenforum. I hope that these plants will flower for you in the future to remind you of your mother and to help you in your grief ...
Just now the last of the hundreds of flowers on my Schlumbergera-cactus are opening. It's a cutling from a huge plant that was in my grandmothers possession. It's been in our family for a long time. It's a nice reminder and it made my smile to see it in full bloom.

{{gwi:433252}}
This picture is not perfect ... already most of the splendour's gone (ok, it weren't hundreds of flowers but close to!)

Cindee, I just pollinate so few that I can take care of the seedlings ... I've said it like a thousand times now, I just run out of space (Ok, everybody here probably does, but with three windows I'm pretty limited).

Jodik: Perhaps we could share papilio pollenand check whether we can obtain papilio seed this way. But maybe mine isn't papilio at all!

Carl, that Cactus is gorgeous! I've never seen it grown into a tree shape like that before. Mostly I let mine cascade down the side of the pot & shelf. I've got to try that. I imagine that the "trunk" part is very old, though.
Alana

Thanks a lot Alana! I do like the form too. What I did was to cut the segments that just had one semgent attached to them and those that grew thin and long. When it's ready with flowering, I'll cut again some of the segments, I can post pictures then.

Dear Ann, I'm so sorry to hear of your mother's passing. Mum's are special people, and more so when they're good friends. I really appreciate your help with Johnsonii, they're beautiful photos. Sometime down the line I'd like to post photos of the ones I have here, one of which is from my mother's garden.

Thank you for your information betonklotz (how about BK?). I really enjoy trying to learn more, though I know I've got a long way to go yet. Your Schlumbergera is lovely - and I can imagine hundreds of flowers on it. I think your shaping is really effective and shows the flowers off differently to a 'cascade'. I know those as 'Zygo' cactus.

Jodik, I've just had another look at your Papilio (I think it's a great photo, by the way) and mine has slightly different patterns. I must now check the bulb shape.

First of all... your English is excellent, Carl! You express yourself very well! I have a friend that lives in Upper Swabia, and she tells me that English is a required class in school... she speaks English practically better than I do! I'm amazed at how well most of Europe converses in English, and it's rather embarrassing that I don't know any other languages!

Second... your beautiful Schlumbergera looks like a flowering bonsai tree! It's really gorgeous! I love the trunk, and the pot its planted in... it's perfect!

If my Papillio blooms this spring, I will save and store the pollen. I can then send it to you, if you like. I don't know if it will bloom this coming spring... it didn't bloom this past one. But if it does, I would be happy to share its pollen!

"Short on space" is a term I'm very familiar with... although, I don't let it stop me from shoving just one more bulb in! I did some shuffling of pots today, so my Christmas cactus could have a cooler place next to a window. Tomorrow, I plan to move a few resting bulbs from upper shelves to lower shelves... and to re-pot some young seedlings into hanging baskets. I have no choice but to go up! I have plenty of space for hanging baskets!

Once again... that's a lovely cacti bonsai! The flowers are so pretty... but it's the plant form I really like!

Clancy, BK is all right with me, sounds like DK - Donkey Kong ...

The Schlumbergera has seen rougher times, I guess just now I am treating it right. I want to take more off from the sides so that it can grow in height. It's a really artificial habitus but it also reduces the space the plant need on the windowsill. When the cacti are exposed to a lot of light they turn red-ish which is also nice.

Tanks for the compliments on my English. I like the language a lot and I try to watch every American and British movie in English. Here in Germany everything is synchronized, mostly really well but I still prefer the original. I know my English is not perfect and when I'm writing I'm trying to improve and mostly work with an online dictionary in another window opened to use different vocabulary. If I do grammatical mistakes please point them out, that'll help me a lot! I now also have some lectures and seminars in English and working with English scientific texts will be more and more important in the future.

If I'll find the right hanging basket, some of my plants will also go up! At least one for each window in my room.
Once my papilio's opened I can send you pollen so when yours decides to flower we will have a proof that they're not clones!

English must be difficult to learn, having so much slang and so many different ways to say one thing. I couldn't imagine trying to learn it as a second language, especially with my poor memory! I think you're doing very well... who would have thought that television could play such a role in teaching and learning languages?!

I've been thinking of using orchid baskets and an orchid type of medium for a couple of bulbs... mainly my two young Papillio bulbs, and maybe a cybister. A couple of species types grow more as epiphytes in their natural habitat, so why not try it? I think it sounds interesting!

I'll post a photo of my Christmas cactus sometime later today... then you can see what rough looks like! This poor little guy is in sad shape right now! I hope the cooler windowsill will help. I'd like to see it bloom some day!

I think English is a rather simple language. What I like about it is that your relatively free, you can say stuff in a lot of ways and whenever your switching from a really simple sentence structure to a more unusually one, it always sounds good.
I'm trying to re-learn French at the moment which is much more difficult. Especially because your not so easily exposed to it like English. I've had it in school for four years and forgot everything. I think I'm getting better but the progress is really slow ...

I still looking for a hanging basked that's got a ... ok, here my english fails, I have no idea whether there's a word for it. Directly translated from German it would be "underpot", where the water from the pot can float in, I know you wrote it once, saying that you're using plastic ones with your clay pots because they're cheaper ...
Ok, and I need such a thing attached to the hanging basket, otherwise I wouldn't be able to water from below! ;)

Oh, what I wanted to write was that I've just been to the supermarket where they sold the Sonatini (I wrote about them in holantinas thread). Some of them had red marks on the stem and the bulb felt squashy ... I picked the last three ones that where in an acceptable condition:

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Their label said they where all white but I also saw a red-blooming one with a white label ... I put the half-litre malt beer bottle there for a size comparison. You can see how tiny the scrapes are.

I'm not sure if I should repot them now straight away ...

I think the term you're looking for is "drip saucer"... and they actually make a cheap, thin plastic type that hooks onto the underside of a hanging basket to catch excess water. I'm not sure if they would be available in Germany, though. You could always just bring the basket to the sink, water it, and then once it absorbs a good amount, take it back and hang it up.

Those scapes look very tall and thin! I'm wondering if they might be a bit stretched from lack of proper light... though, I know you will provide them with a much better environment than they previously had!

Depending on the current medium they're in, and how wet they are... well, I'd let them dry out quite a bit before watering again, and I think I'd leave them alone until after they bloom. But once they are finished, I would get them out of the pots and soil they're in, and re-pot them into better circumstances.

Would you believe, I took two years of Spanish and two of French, and I barely remember any of it? Yep! At the time, I needed the credits to graduate, and taking a language was considered easy credits! I do use a bit of Spanish now and then, but the French is all but forgotten!

Here is my Christmas cactus... it's in a 4" pot, and it's quite pathetic looking!

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It's supposed to have white flowers, and it was in bud when I got it... the buds all dropped when I got it home, and it's been going downhill ever since. I'm surprised it has survived this long, at all! Hopefully, moving it to a cooler spot will help.

I've googled for this product and just found plants already in such a kind of hanging basket ... I wouldn't like to buy the plants just to throw them away ...

I did repot them since I couldn't endure the bad looks they had. The bulbs weren't as firm as they should be and their roots where jammed into these small pots so that I could pull most of them as a chunk, there where some red spots but nothing alarming. I put them in a nice claypot with the rest of the reptile bedding-perlite mix and added gravel and Seramis. The later one should reserve some more water.

You cactus doesn't look to bad, just keep him on a somewhat light spot and don't overwater ...

Well, if you're speaking some Spanish, thats good! But with French you probably made the same experience as I did, never used it anymore and there it goes ...

I got bored and took two pictures:

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Beautiful! They will look awesome all opened at once! Just like a giant bouquet! I love groupings of bulbs potted together... it's a lovely look! And your medium looks great, too!

I took a look around at our local stores for those plastic saucers that attach to hanging baskets, but I couldn't find any... I think they might have put them away for the winter season. They'll make an appearance in spring, I'm sure, when the annuals and hanging baskets are displayed for sale.

You could always devise your own attached saucers... I'm not sure exactly how you'd attach them, but if you could find the thin plastic pot saucers, I'm sure something could be made up.

I buy them by the dozens... they're only about .29 cents apiece, and they help protect the wooden windowsills from moisture. Plus, they're a bit deeper than the clay saucers usually sold.

I thought about buying two, one of them in a size bigger than the other. This pot gets Big holes cut in the sides where the water comes in, the other gets small holes at the bottom.
I could also just put a hanging basket up and place a regular pot in it but that'd look like an interim solution ...
I'm thinking about improving the looks of my room. I'll get a couch soon from Ikea, build a coffee table myself and I'll hang some more posters and pictures up to make it more comfortable. My room's got a cold and clean look, I like it that way, and a pot in a pot just doesn't fit in here! :D

I like the composition on the pictures, sadly my camera's got some problem with green colours. I tried my best but you can see a lot of "picture noise" on the stems and the clay pot (yes, I went for clay ... my mother likes them better, she's a classy lady ;) )

I think the picture looks fine... but then again, my eyes are old, so maybe you see something that I don't. I don't see any "noise".

Your Mom is smart, as well as classy! It's a nice pot, and I think it compliments the bulbs well.

Thant makes me stupid, thank you! :P
But yeah, you're right there. At least with me being stupid, I still refuse to see the benefits of clay ... ;)

You're certainly not stupid! You can be smart along with Mom, you know!

There are just different ways to approach container gardening. I think I lean toward clay, in part, because it's a more natural product. Plastic is forever in our environment, and doesn't have the hydroscopic properties clay has.

And here, I thought I was complimenting your Mom! ;-)

But really, it is a lovely addition to the bulbs... it's a good look.

I agree there. But I still can't see myself handling all the clay pots at home. Plastic is just way more comfortable. I can drill holes in it and since I'm running around in the flat with my pots all the time, it just works better for me. I don't really care for the looks, a pot is for me just a container where the plant is in. And the plant is not some kind of furnishing (?), they're my hobby that's all.

But, I wanted to get back to the Christmas-cactus. I wrote that it was again time to trim it. And just now I was in a mood for hacking and slashing. See for yourself:

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And the Sonatinis once again ...

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They're really all green! What a luck, I thought at least the last one could be a red one. But now they'll look really precious in that pot.
Sadly I can only hand a picture of them blooming to my mum.

Wow! I don't know that I could prune quite so much off a lovely plant such as that cactus! Ouch!

On the other hand, they do require trimming if you want to maintain a certain shape and look! Please post photos when it blooms again... I'm interested in seeing how it looks now, with flowers!

Nice buds on the green Hippi! Yep... it sure is green! :-)

Well ... first I just wanted to cut here and there ... and then somehow I got into a kind of rage! :D

"Block" (Is really Carl, yes?) I am wondering if this green budded hippie is not 'Lemon Sorbet'

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The bud shape sure looks like mine did.

I will have to up load shots of my first seedlings to bloom, also used a white, to give you an idea on what you might get.

Hi, Ann!

Hi! Hans!

Bye, all y'all!

Rebecca

See in the pictures where they're still in the small plastic pots I bought them in?
The label that sticked in has no name (except for Amaryllis - Sonatini) on it, so I went on the Hadeco site and the picture there for Lemon sorbet is exactly the same as on the label! Good guess! :)

So you asked for my crosses: The first picture shown, there they are. I still don't know the name but I took pollen from a dark red one (my moms) and put it on my white. This plant is still at my parents, when I moved out I just took my seedlings with me. I'm really looking forward to next year when they get out of the cellar and I hopefully get some blooms!

Here's a shot from last season of one of the Minerva X White Christmas seedling I kept:

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This one was nearly solid white:

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Hope these will give you an idea on what you might expect, since your red was a solid color you may or may not get any patterning. I had grown out 22 seedlings, kept only those I liked the best and sent the rest to my GF in GA to plant out in her garden where I am sure they will do really well. Three years from seed to first bloom when pot grown under fluorescent lights.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:433237}}

I did a Minerva x white cross too this year. I've already seen some of other peoples results that where as diverse as yours. I like the one on the third picture best, perhaps the markings will darken with the coming blooms!
Thanks for showing! I'm always interested in the outcome of crosses!

For my white x red-crosses I predict solid red blooms with green throats, but we'll see!

The Lemon Sorbet is finally open:

{{gwi:433273}}

Very nice, Rebecca and Carl! Lovely flowers!

Now it's been exactly 2 month and today I'm moving my plants indoors again. On the first picture here in the plants haven't been watered for a month (the bigger pots for more than a month) so they already rested a bit before ... I guess it should be enough now.

I'm anxious to see which of them will bloom for me again and how many leaves they will produce this time.
First I'll leave them on the heated windowsill, once the first leaf has emerged they'll be watered slightly from below. When the flowering bud has emerged fully from the bulb they'll again get a good gulp.

All right, I'm off to the friends cellar, another friend of mine helps me with his car. They all think I'm crazy but that's nothing new ;)

Do you mean 2 months for a dormancy? If so, 8 weeks would be a short dormancy... I think 10-12 weeks would be a more adequate nap, myself. I believe that's what most books recommend. For myself, of course, I allow the bulbs to rest as long as they like. The lengthening days will help wake most and tell them to send up scapes.

Us gardeners are not the crazy ones... it's those who don't know the relaxing wonders of working with Mother Earth that are crazy! ;-)

No, 1+ month without water and 2 months in the cool basement.

Ah yes, relaxing it is. But now that they're all back on my windowsills, I can't keep my hands off them. I have to force myself to leave them alone for now or else I'll care them to death :D

Ah.. ok... I see your timing.

Yes... if I'm not careful, I baby them to death, too! I keep telling myself to have patience... just watch them. :-)

I'm so happy that my very first seedlings had, as it seems, enough time to build up flower stakes. It's clearly to see for #01, #04, #07 and #13. I guess most of the other ones will soon show their first scrapes too but two or so of them couldn't compete against the other ones after the last repotting, they developed very few leaves but perhaps even that was still enough.

The whole name I've given them is wxr#01 ... - wxr#14 (white x red). I'll keep this name for future pictures but will open a new thread for my 2010-blooms.
So than this thread can finally rest in the depth of this forum ;)
The next one to bloom will be Picotee!