Happy BELATED Birthday Donna!!!
Hugs!
Kristi

Donna,

I didn't buy one, I was going to but I changed my mind and bought the dreaded papilio... What an awful mistake that was

Thanks Kristi, How did you know Christmas Day was my birthday? I wasn't on the GW list..(I looked)!!

Josh, If you bought that papilio from them then something must be very wrong! You all remember my gashed Ruby Star and that they were super nice about it.. sending me another and of course I kept the first one and it lived, all at their expense! This is totally out of character for them. The only thing I can think is that maybe they had lots of mislabeled and badly injured bulbs this year and they are just overwhelmed with complaints..and hopefully nothing is wrong with their customer relations person (Kathleen).

If my two bulbs this year Half & Half and Sophisticate (which by the way looks just like Half & Half with the same chocolate leaves and scape) are mislabeled, I'll live with it, but a damaged bulb like you got is just unacceptable!! Good Luck and keep us posted...

Obviously they have a bunch of glummies working in their warehouse (no offense to all glummies out there) who don't know which end of a bulb is up!! Hope you hear from them soon...

Donna

Donna

I bought this one and it bloomed true to the picture on their website and although the flowers are spent, the scape is still there and I couldn't find any chocolate/purple color anywhere. Looks like we will see soon enough what you have.
-J

Now I want one....!!!
:-)
Donna...the elves told me!!
:-)
K

Thanks -J Now I'm really intrigued!! And I may have two of them even though the bulbs when they came were decidedly different (or so I thought)!! The chocolate/purple leaves are really beautiful..should know in a few days..Oh, and Kristi, If my hunch is correct and this is in fact, Sophisticate.. (which shows chocolate/purple scapes on their website) ask her to throw one in when she mails you your RvR..they still have them on their website!!

Donna

Hi Donna,

Happy belated birthday from me too!

I purchased several Half & Half and Sophisticate bulbs from ETGB. They are resting in my cool room awaiting planting. I look forward to seeing your blooms. I'll let you know what develops here.

Cheers,

Blanca

DONNA :)

HAPPY LATE BDAY!!!!!!!!! How special you were born on Christmas!

Also, I'm quite dissapointed they haven't mailed me back, Kathleen and I had so much correspondence this past year and I've spent SO much money with them that I think I would be good for it. The sad thing is, they're policy is I must return the bulb back at my cost BUT they should have never sent it out looking as poor as it does :(

ALSO, my 'Sophisticate' does NOT have those dark leaves or scape, on their site 'Sophisticate' has purple scapes. I wonder if I got your 'Half & Half' and you got my 'Sophisticate' :)

While I really wanted 'Half and Half' I was incredibly intriguted by the other.

Josh

Both my Half & Half AND Sophisticate have the purple/brown backs on the leaves..no scape yet on Sophisticate just a brown bud..I'm thinking maybe I got two Sophisticates..?!? Well, this makes life interesting anyway..who would want everything to go smoothly..then we'd have nothing to gripe about!

Donna

Hi, Well, here is what I ended up with for Half & Half it should have been named Half Pint. I'm not particularly pleased with this..I do love the crimped edges and the color is pleasing..especially from the back..

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and with Charisma just to show how tiny this really is...

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and the one that came labeled as Sophisticate looks the same!

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I sure hope someone else got one of these..mine surely doesn't look like the one on their website or on the Emarillis site...

Donna

That really isn't 'Half & Half'... It's ugly too...

You need to write ETGB, it's not their fault tho. A lot of people *I know Donna ISN'T included* think that mislabeled bulbs are the fault of the company, they're not, they're the fault of the supplier.

Josh

This is a little off subject of this thread, but I saw Donna's pictures and I know you guys from your experience will know the answer to this question also.

The Amaryllis that I've bought this year, I've planted in 6 inch standard plastic pots. I have a Red Peacock that is wanting to tip over, it's top heavy. I tied the scape to a dowel rod and kind of balanced the top heavy flower.

I am probably going to have to buy new pots for these. What I plan to do, is when the Amaryllis plants bloom, keep them in the house; when they're not, they're going in the greenhouse or outside in the summer and staying in pots.

I know Kristi posted the picture of the Amaryllis in the gallon pot to show its roots. It was pretty root bound.

What is the recommendation for pots? What is the smallest size I could get away with using? When it comes to flowers, I don't seem to have a lot of space by windows for light. This is why I am trying to go for the smallest pot size that will work.

Donna, in the pictures yours look like clay pots. Are you using 6 inch or a larger size?

Summer,

It's advised to start with pots that leave only a little room between the bulb and rim of the pot. I think this is especially while they're growing roots, if you plant them up too fast the medium wont dry out quick enough.

I have a lot my bulbs in six inch pots but usually the square kind which hold more volume. Once they have grown larger and have large root masses I pot them up, if they have lots of offsets I'll move to a gallon size. I like to keep the offsets attached to create a wonderful display!

I plan to write an entry in my blog soon about potting practices. I'll post the link below, I made a post about buy Hippeastrum.

Here is a link that might be useful: For The Love Of Bulbs -- Josh's Blog of Bulbous Plants

I've learned a tremendous amount from the posts on this web site--the new ones and the older posts. I know everyone says to leave an inch or so, not much, room between the bulb and the rim of the pot. Which is why I thought the 6 inch pot size seemed to work.

Clay pots are heavier and maybe would help keep everything from toppling over, but they dry out faster in the summer.

Josh, I hadn't thought about square pots. I am guessing these are plastic? (Do you right off the top of your head, have an online source for these?)

I'll take a look at your blog later tonight. Thanks.

SummerPerson,

In a perfect world, I would try to have an inch between the bulb and the edge of the pot. That said, I don't always stick to this rule, I do however.. on many occasions when I have a rootless bulb, put them in even smaller pots..thinking that I will.. in the future when they have some roots.. just lift them from the smaller pots and plant them in the appropriate size. I have literally hundreds of clay pots every size you can imagine. The first thing I do when I go to a nursery (any time of the year) is to check out the pots. We also have a "mall" at our local dump where we have brought home dozens and dozens of clay pots in varying sizes over the years. I have a covered bucket of a bleach solution in our garage and ALL pots that have been used before (mine or the dump pots) get a good soaking in the bleach and then are well rinsed.
Back to pot size..starting a rootless bulb off in a pot that is too small won't really hurt the bulb unless you leave it in for too long a time. I also plant my seedlings 5 or 6 (of the same cross) stuffed together in clay pots but, I wouldn't advise anyone else to do this..I'm just lazy and have run out of room.

Josh, My Ugly Duckling must be an unnamed variety from Israel that snuck it's
way into the batch for a free ride to the US!! It has potential, but I certainly wouldn't have ordered one.. let alone two! Maybe the second one will be Sophisticate. The foliage color and scape color is beautiful..I love the brownish purple..but...
Maybe I'll email ETGB and maybe I'll send a picture directly to the supplier and ask them what is this?? I'll see, and then again, you know me, I'll probably do nothing.. I guess I'm just hoping someone else will get one and then they'll do it..

Donna

Donna....email me off list before you call ETGB!
Kristi

Donna thanks for the pot information.

Unless your new "ugly duckling" is some kind of expensive variety of Amaryllis, I think you got ripped off on that one. If it were me, I'd check into getting that one replaced.

I'd say the suppliers are not doing the greatest job of getting their bulbs labeled correctly.

Well there is always that chance that your ugly duckling will become a swan next year but not much of a chance it will become Half and Half.

Half and Half is almost exactly the same size (plant and flower) as Ruby Star. I bloomed them side by side. They are similar to each other with one (Half and Half) being more subtle in color than the other. The shape of the flowers are similar but not the same. I am sorry now that I didn't take pictures of them.

Half and Half is a really pretty flower and would be worth the effort to contact the people at ETGB for a replacement even if you had to wait until next year for one.

J

Hi Donna,
Let me know if dont plan to grow this one on -I would love to have it for my small collection. I find it quite cute actually.
Mike

Hi Everybody..Well I just emailed "K" at ETGB. I included several of the above pictures and I have asked for a credit towards one for next year..I made sure to compliment them on their stunning Ruby Star and Opal Star...Last year they were very accommodating so hopefully I won't have to wait as long as Josh did. I did mention this forum..!!

Mike, I'll give her another chance and hopefully next year she will make me eat my words...If I end up with 2 of these then I'll most likely part with one I'll let you know..Maybe at a later date when all the flowers are opened I'll send a picture directly to the supplier and ask what her name is..TinkerBell would be an apt name, but that's probably been taken long ago...

Donna

Hi Again,

I just had a very nice reply email from Kathleen from ETGB and she agrees that it is definitely not Half & Half..I was given the choice of another bulb now or wait until next year for another Half & Half. I will wait until next year, as I'm sure they will most likely have other new bulbs that I might want. She is going to forward my pictures to the supplier in hopes of finding out what this is and to let them know there are some errant bulbs in the shipment. She indicates that mine was the only one so far..Booby Prize? Once again, they were very fair and accommodating (with me anyway) and I have absolutely no complaints.
Service with a smile..

I do hope someone else out there has the real Half & Half..I'd love to see it!

She is loaded with pollen and I already put some on one flower of Evergreen..if anyone has any ideas and wants some pollen there is plenty and another scape with more flowers to open...maybe this "ugly ducking" will turn into a swan..she is definitly a mini and she does have some good qualities..5 flowers and the lovely chololate leaves and scape...

Donna

She's looking better, she's got 6 flowers..maybe they were using her to breed minis with..

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I like her...she has potential!
K

Love the frills on the edge of the petals Donna.

Well, Here we are again..and I think I owe this little lady whom I am calling "Tinkerbell" an apology!!

This is the last of 6 flowers on the first scape and I can see a dramatic improvement! Flower has opened up very gracefully and the color is deeper. The flower is still only 2 1/2" across and about 3" long..very diminutive. The second scape is slowly opening and I can see possibly the same number of flowers..maybe more!! I think I have a winner after all my complaining!! I think I will put her pollen on one of my Misties if and when they do bloom. I have plenty of pollen and more to come with the second scape if anyone is interested in breeding minis.

Donna
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I still want my Half & Half, but I'm glad I got this one too..maybe someone out there got one also?

Donna

My Charisma is just starting a scape, I would love some pollen to try on her.
Mike

Donna,

That last flower is a major improvement! I don't think my 'Sophisticate' is indeed true, the scape isn't the right color... It should be opening soon.

Mike..
Email me through GardenWeb with your address and I'll be glad to send you some pollen.. I've already put "Tinkerbell" on 2 flowers of Evergreen and so far they seem to have taken. I'm going to stick to the minis with this one. You're welcome to put it on anything you wish, but I would think twice about Charisma..which has some very dominant orangey red..my guess would be that Charisma would be too dominant and wipe out all the aspects of "Tinkerbell" but give it a try, I'm anything but a breeding expert, I usually just use what I have at the moment too...

Josh, I emailed Kathleen with the latest pictures and she is going to forward them as she did the others. Someone on her end and then someone on their end have been on vacation so she doesn't have any news yet.. but I'm confident she'll let me know when she hears something. She thinks..as do I..that this might be an unfinished product from mini breeding that got out by mistake (obviously)
My Sophisticate is doing nothing..same coloration as "Tinkerbell" but the bud is only up about 1" and stuck...What do you think your Sophisticate might be? Does it have the chocolate/purple scape, leaves and bud like mine?
When my two bulbs came, I took their picture and to me they look different..different shoulders and different necks..so I never even thought they might be the same..now they are looking the same..coloration wise anyway so I'm not so sure.

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Donna

Donna,

The bulb on the left looks like my 'Sophisticate' but the scape is green :(

It stands to reason that if one "unfinished" or "soon to be released" bulb got out then there might surely be more..maybe you got one too! I do believe Sophisticate IS supposed to have a smokey scape though.....maybe you got the real Half & Half

I also have Chico in bloom right now and the mystery 4" pink.
Would Chico make a mini?
Mike

Good Question..I don't know...Josh probably would...if your Chico is in full bloom now, the pollen probably wouldn't reach you in time...You can self Chico and it takes, mine all took and all I was doing was sloppily removing the pollen or maybe you could try your pink on one Chico?