Michelle,

I'm so glad you got Hippie's for Christmas :) I saw that you got "Jewel" as well, you'll love it as it's very scented!!!!!!!

What company did these bulbs come from? I'd love to see the website, I can't believe they stick stakes in the bottom! (Well, Actually I Can!)

Josh

Well, here's an update...
All 3 basal plates feel callused over, And all wounds from the spikes feel healed enough, So I've planted them. I needed to, anyway, because the cover of the bud on the tallest spike of the bulb with two spikes is splitting open. My husband says that there's some very dark pink showing through. It will be interesting to see what color these bulbs really are. Oh, and it turns out, while planting this bulb, I discovered that it is growing a third scape!
Now that they're planted, I'll observe to see if the bulbs grow roots. I figure the one with just leaves is likely to be the first to grow some since it is not currently sending up flower scapes.
I must say, I AM excited to have more bulbs with flower scapes that are about to bloom soon. They will keep my Blossom Peacock company :) (She's just now opening her first bloom!)
Too bad these three bulbs are now known around my house as "The Rescue Trio." But thankfully, I can rescue them, and discovered they needed rescuing in time to do so!
Josh, see my next post for answers to your questions. Tried answering them in an earlier post, but it didn't like it. So I'm posting this first, then I'll try posting the other info separately.
Michelle

Hi, Josh.
Well I'll try again. The first time, the message was rejected. Then my computer crashed (too low on power and no warning [sigh]). Anyway...
I'm sure glad my mother-in-law found Jewel first! I am definitely looking forward to her blooming. But it will be a little while -- she is just beginning to put up a scape. I'd definitely buy other bulbs from the company SHE came from.
However, the other three, "The Rescued Trio" as they are now known here, were purchased from a large club store. The company that the store gets them from, in my opinion, is marketing these to people who want them now just for the blooms. I must say that the arrangement did LOOK nice when it was presented to me. The three large bulbs were in a heavy, black, rectangular glass vase with black, polished rocks around them. It looked to me like the rocks were keeping the bulbs upright. And two of the bulbs already had scapes! I did think it was a shame that there were several dried layers on two of the bulbs, but that's just because all of the other bulbs I've gotten so far this year had little or no dried layers on them. Also, since these were being forced, I was debating whether to transplant them right away or to keep them in the vase until after they finished blooming. And, well, you know what I decided...
The packaging did give a website to visit to get "after-care instructions" (use Google to search for "care.bloomaker" without the quotes). It turns out that you have to give your name, email address, and state you live in to get the details. I didn't feel a need to give them that info.
They have a video that we watched. Although it didn't necessarily show the vase we have, it did show other bulbs being held upright with spikes. And it explained that the roots are sliced off. That's when I went to see what the bulbs really looked like, discovered the spikes in the vase where you couldn't see them, and so on. And, we found their FAQ page to be enlightening...
I'm glad they're now transplanted. I do hope they continue to recover. And I am excited to have more bulbs about to bloom. It will certainly be interesting to see what the blooms really look like!
I know my mother-in-law got these for me because they were all ready to bloom. But, it would seem that these also came with quite a gardening adventure!
Michelle

Michelle,

You're quite the surgeon :) I noticed that the basal plates heal the quickest, they callous in a day or so? I got a "Donau" from Lowes Sunday and the basal plate was a good inch or so long, I sliced it down and little baby roots started poking out the next day :) I love nature!

This is a question in the "FAQ", what wonderful advice...

"When I pull the bulb out of the vase and rocks, I see mold on the bottom of the bulb."

This is their answer

"Please do not remove the bulbs from the arrangement "

Akkkkk! Who on the list recalls last Christmas's discussion about the Bloomaker product!?! Turns out, slicing the basal plate isn't the end of the world, but it sure seemed pointless for such big healthy bulbs.

I met the man who runs the company in Holland. These are huge, mostly Red Lion bulbs (as I recall). Seriously big!!

The photos were shot at HD in Dec 2009.
K {{gwi:439636}}
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Josh, the company's response to the question you quoted was what made me conclude that the company isn't really interested in selling bulbs for planting. They're site suggests that the bulbs can be planted, but clearly that's not their focus.
That's neat that you started to get new roots so quickly. Of course, I bet it helps to start with a healthy, not nearly so stressed bulb! I will definitely keep this in mind for when I trim my Nagano's basal plate. But, truth be known, I'll have my husband do the cutting on that one. That will actually need to be cut. For the Rescued Trio, everything was so soft and mushy that I was able to just scoop it out.
Kristi, I must say, even with the dried outer layers, the bulbs were quite large, equal to the largest ones I've ever gotten. I couldn't help but wonder how large they had been before the outer layers dried. They must have been enormous!
Thankfully, the basal plates were thick enough to have their roots sliced off, and even to have decayed portions removed, and still have a chance to recover. But the spikes also caused damage. Pieces of several layers had to be removed because of them. It's too bad that the bulbs had to go through such trauma!
Anyway, the good news at this point is that the bud covering of the tallest scape is in the process of splitting. It will be interesting to see if these are Red Lion or some other variety. My husband says that he sees what looks like a very dark pink peeking through, but we'll see what it turns out to be. By the way, this bud's scape is currently about a foot tall. How tall are the scapes of Red Lion?
Michelle

The Rescued Trio Update...
The bulb with just leaves: the two outer leaves are withering. I figure it's using them for food reserves, which is fine. Besides, these had been trimmed back by someone before I got the bulbs. However, the middle two leaves feel nice and sturdy.
The bulb with one scape doesn't appear to be doing much, at least above the soil where it could be easily noticed.
The bulb that now has three scapes growing: the buds peeking out of the bud covering now look redder (rather than the very dark pink). I thought the stalk might be growing some more, but when we measured it again today, it measured 1 foot (exactly).
I have not checked for roots yet. Since I just recently transplanted them, I want to give them a bit more time to settle in. But they do seem to be doing better now that they're in light (including some sun between our rain storms) and in soil.
Michelle