Hello!
I mostly have just been lurking on here, but now that I have Hippeastrums again you might see me posting more often! I'm 25, was raised in Florida, and then moved to central Illinois for school. I'll be heading out to Washington in about a month to start my career! I've been gardening since I was 6, and growing Hippeastrums since I was 13, and still remember my first 'Red Lion' box kit. I never had seen a flower that huge before! I was hooked after that. Last year I was hit hard by CHAD and got 8 bulbs on sale. After some failed cross-breeding attempts with those hybrids, I sent my collection down to Orlando when I went home for 6 months. Sadly, almost all of my bulbs caught HMV down there and had to be destroyed =( What I found noteworthy though was that Papilio and 'Half and Half' were immune, and that Papilio couldn't take the harsh Florida heat, but 'Half and Half' thrived. This as well as the loss of my collection got me hooked into some serious breeding interest! Now I have 11 hybrids, 13 species, and 6 more species on the way. My goal is to collect all 91 recognized species...sometimes I'm a little too ambitious! I have everything growing indoors because of the harsh winters here, and did some experiments with Tapla's soil mixtures and the lighting conditions used by, um, 'covert indoor gardeners,' to create a nice controlled environment that all of my bulbs enjoy. I also have a lily breeding project I'm planning to start next spring, but that will be outdoors because I have a very sweet kitty who lives with me. I'm also interested in writing, chemistry (got my degree in it), and tinkering with just about anything that can be taken apart. Hopefully if my breeding efforts are successful, I'll have pictures of my new hybrids to show you all in a few years!

Picture is of me with a Aplinia hainenesis I grew from seed that is about 1 year old.

Welcome Rythen! Glad that you jumped out of lurking mode into posting. Nice collection you have going. 13 going on 19 species - congratulations! Did you start these from seeds? And growing an alpinia from seeds - I thought they were grown only from rhizome - learn something new everyday here. Well, again welcome and I hope you keep jumping in and posting. Sounds like you will have a lot to share. - J

Thank you for the warm welcome, JS! The species I have currently were all obtained as bulbs, but 4 of the newcomers will be started from seeds from Mauro! I'm hoping to someday come across either a bulb or seeds of H. brasilianum, because that species is known to be fragrant, and fragrance is recessive in Hippeastrums. This makes introducing the trait to hybrids difficult to say the least! And Alpinia are not true to seed - my seeds are most likely from 'Pink Perfection' x self. But they grow readily from the seed in a germinator, and the plants are very vigorous. Wonderful houseplants for sure. Might be something I can offer to trade after my next trip to Florida this Christmas and I gather some tropical seeds again!

Testing to see if the 150-post limit has been lifted....if this goes through, it's 151!

K

Hello everyone!!

Please let me take this event that Gardenweb just changed new website style, etc...to introduce myself. My name is Themmie, 33, from Thailand. I have fallen in love with gardening since I was very little. I always have a dream to have a small nursery and with a very kind support from my special guy, Surasan, we have just started our small nursery for Orchids, Hippeastrum, Zephyranthes, Habranthus and Crinum... Well, it is still a weekend hobby as we have other things to do during weekdays.

Here are some from our nursery...

Amaryllis · More Info

Welcome Themmie!

Hello all

I'm Cath (Catherine). I'm french. I live near Paris. I've recently been infected with a naughty CHAD form (resisting all treatments and even an empty wallet)
I've been lurking on this forum for a few months and now that I've learnt a lot, many many warm thanks to you all, I feel it would be fair to share what I can (hem... for now I'm afraid it's near nothing except perhaps a few photos)
At least, I'm no more a ghost on the forum !
At the beginning of winter, when I gathered my frost sensitive plants in my little greenhouse, I spotted an old amaryllis bulb I had bought a few years ago, but never understood. I remember trying to repot it, take care of it, but it grew a few leaves, lost them, managed to stay alive but smaller, and it did nothing. I found no really helpful information (but I didn't bother very much I admit) and later, I forgot about it.
Then, when I saw in october it was still there, green and willing so badly to live, I decided to learn about it.
Soon, I was oooooohhh and ahhhhh and stood gaping looking at all the photos on the net, all the offers, all the different colors and shapes... And I discovered your forum.
From then on, I've been reading, learning, hoping, dreaming... Fatally, seeing your so beautiful photos, I needed to buy some bulbs. But then it's soooo difficult to choose and select and there are so many attractive sites... I ended up with much more bulbs than I should have bought for the good of my savings. The chad voice tells me "more ! more ! more !!!" but I have no room left and my partner is getting tired of this invasion.
The fisrt one that bloomed for me was Aphrodite, and this one left me in awe. The second one that I really fell madly in love with is Chico. The shape is incredible.
As I have seen some of your crosses, I began saving pollen, and playing the bee all around. In the beginning, I tried to keep everything under control and label each attempt. But some labels were ill-tied and fell, and sometimes, I had no time to write and cut and tie.
So now I end up with a few seedheads with names, and a bit more with just the mother name.
Next year, I will be (I hope) more rigorous.
Thank you again for everything you share with us newbies, and for reading such a long post (sorry for that, I won't do it again !)

Anna from Quebec here. -26 Celsius overnight for many days now! I was born in England but have been living here since 1967, so it is well and good home now. I am an archivist in a university, and my passions are cats, plants and gardens. I have over 100 hipp bulbs, amongst other horticultural "disorders" :) I buy new ones each year because I must have blooms for holidays and winter, and yet I cannot toss any bulb that is green and healthy, despite it's refusal to re-bloom. I am "famous" for my winter garden-window shots, often featuring one of my furry house companions, such as this:

This is LV (Little Voice) rescued from a frozen flower pot after last year's ice-storm. Here she is this year:

Limona and Daphne now in bloom.

Brrrrrrr-bye for now!

Catherine, welcome...we love long posts! But what? No photos??

Anna, you look toasty warm in your scarf and hat! And your kitten is now a full grown-up cat! Such a lovely photo...and a lovely cat to grace your garden-window shots!

Kristi

Hi all, I am not new to GW. I am on it since 2002 if I remember correctly. I am on fragrant forum mostly, although I look at Florida forum and others. I have been following this forum on and off for years, although I rarely post here. I grow few things including orchids, bromeliads, bulbs, fragrant plants, roses and just about anything that interests me.. As my neighbors say "you can dig up my yard after you finished digging up yours!!" I did start a youtube channel about my growing experiences.. It is about my own personal experience and what worked for me..

Radha.

Trying to bump this up! To as to the end, you need to scroll through and meet us!!

Hey there Kristi! Chaz here. Been kind of inactive for a long spell now. We've left CA and have settled into the Columbus Ohio area. Hopefully the last move for a long time!

Dearest Chaz....we sure miss you! Do you have any Hippis left?? At least the OH garden would be more like the Haverhill (AMAZING) garden!! I hope you'll chime in more and more. I really miss the "ol" group (notice I don't dare say "old"!)...Jodi, Kitty, Larrisa, Noni, etc!! The list has been a little quiet...usually by this time people are posting new blooms!

hi! I am 50, married with 2 kids in college...when I was young I went to dental school. We moved to Aguascalientes, Mexico 8 years ago, before that we lived in Mexico City. I started to grow hippeastrums last May, I have 5 adult plants and 90 seedlings. I am very sorry you have to read my English.

Rosina...your English is good, so no need to apologize! It's so exciting to wait with you for those blooms! You have lots of room in the yard for more plants and room for those seedlings to grow? Is that a Cocker spaniel?

Many of us post about pets too!! I know you'll enjoy this forum. We are a friendly, pretty informal group!

And i am very glad I found it! Molly is a mixed bred, both of our dogs were rescued.

The black lab is El Pequeño Sombrita

Rosina, your English is perfect!! Plants and animals.... you most certainly are in the correct place and a welcomed addition to our forum! Donna☺☺☺

Cute...with her head down and her stubby tail, she looked like a Cocker!! Now more of a Schnauzer cross!!

Hi,

My name is Kavitha, we are family of 5 with 2 little boys and a girl(dog). One is always missing in the photos. I love plants and animals. I am from India but living in US now. I know more about tropical plants. But now I started learning about native plants and growing them. My 2 kids love to help me even though I don't need their help. Whenever I go for shopping they looks for plants and tell me that I don't have those plants. And whenever they eat exotic fruits, they collect the seeds and tell me to plant the seeds so we can have more plants and more fruits to eat.

I have good collection of Jasminums, Amaryllis, Peonies, figs, jujubes, pomegranates, few tropical fruits. I like to grow vegetables too. We moved recently and I am preparing my garden. I will post my garden photos soon.

Hi Kristi,

Thanks for reaching out. I was a little hesitant about how houzz had taken over GardenWeb and and gave it the "bundled" feel so I boycotted it. I miss the old GardenWeb but decided to give this another chance. Happy and Healthy New Year to all. :-)))

Namaste....I have Indian pepper plants and a Hoya....i practice Ashtanga

Dear Fred.....WELCOME BACK and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! The format has changed, but the old gang is still lurking around! There are some great new "Hippi friends" too! Same vibe, different year!! :-)

hey fred, just ignore all the white noise … it just takes a while to get used to it … welcome back

I've just started with my Hippis again, after losing some of those beauties I had it was just too painful. I've purchased some generic christmas red flowered bulbs, nursing an apple blossom, and two pots of seedling Striatum. I've been mostly concentrating on orchids these days. I miss the ol group too, hoping to get a little more time on my hands to get back into this group again.

Hi Bragu,

Thanks for the welcome back. I think in time I will get used to the new Garden Web and I will take your advise to just ignore the white noise.

I shall introduce myself. Name is tom, 28 years old, from northern illinois, full time college student majoring in plant biology. I've only posted a few times, but I've been a lurker for YEARS. I actually feel like I know all of you, even though nobody knows me. (That sounds kind of creepy, I know)

Hi Tom! I think we all bounce between being active posters and lurking - I know I do :) The nice thing is that its always been a friendly neighborhood - maybe that's why we always gravitate back here. - J

My name is Pavel and I am from Slovakia. ( small country in Central Europe).

I am new to this forum, but I'm not a novice in the cultivation of Hippeastrum. I grow hippies. many years. I'm just a hobby breeder - lover Hippeastrum plants.

I watch this forum for many years ... There are great people ... and beautiful flowers.

And sorry for my very bad English.

Welcome Pavel!

You certainly do have a large and very healthy looking collection and we all wait to see more pictures from you of your crosses that have bloomed as well as regular flowers that bloom for you. I know your experiences with these plants will also be of interest to all of us!

Don't worry about your English, it is perfect!!

Donna☺☺

Thank you Donna,

Photo 3 is H.papilio and H.papilio x Splash - first bloom 2015 summer.

Very pretty, I would never have guessed that it was a cross between papilio and Splash! It goes to show, you can never predict what you'll get! The results reminds me of my Clown.

That particular papilio looks particularly green, it's very pretty.

Looking forward to seeing more of your crosses as they bloom. Perhaps next time you can start a new thread, this one takes too long to get to the end!! ;-) Donna☺☺☺

Welcome Pavel! Wonderful amount of hippeastrums you have and they look good.
I would like to see more of your plants and your breeding.

Lovely cross in the last picture. Resembles Fairytale I think.

Hello everyone,

I've posted here some
times in the last few days, and I think it's just polite to introduce
myself properly.

I'm female, in my
thirtieth and living alone with my two cats in Hanover, Germany.

I'm relatively new to the
world of Hippeastrum, even though I bought my first one around eight
years ago. A No Name Red (Orange sovereign?) from a home improvement
store. I have always loved her, but I've never really informed myself
about her needs. I've never repoted her, watered irregularly,
fertilized rarely at best, never put her out on my balcony, and in
spite of everything, every single year after her forced dormancy she
produced two scapes, each with four big flowers.

Just a year ago, I found
out that there are more Amaryllis than red, white and striped, by
stumbling over a picture of H. Picotee. And I thought, there a
flowers like that?!

Since than I've informed
myself about Hippeastrum. And I bought much to many of them on the
internet :-)

My No Name Red had a
lovely summer on my balcony last year, and the bulb got nicely big.
Under proper care than, after eight whole years with me, last fall
she finally produced her first two bulblets and simultaneously... she got a
scape with six flowers.

Sorry for the long story.
I just had to tell it. I have learned much from this forum already
and I just wanted to say thank you all for it.

Best regards

Peridot

Hi again Peridot, your no-name red is beautiful and very healthy looking. The fact that your bought 'much too many of the on the internet' proves that you are in the right place and fit right in with the rest of us :) - J

Hi Peridot,

Welcome to the list and I enjoyed reading your story. Hippeastrums are wonderful and they are extremely addictive, but that's a good thing. Space...now that's a different story. If you're anything like the rest of us, you have far too many of them and not enough room. This is my problem, but that hasn't stopped me from getting more and starting new seedlings :-))))

Warm Regards,

Fred

Hi,

I’m 64 and live in Watertown, MA (zone 6b) with my husband and 2 cats.
I’ve grown various orchids in my house since about 2000. I’ve been actively growing
Amaryllis for about 4 years, although decades ago I bought a Hippeastrum
striatum fulgidum at the New England Flower Show. It grew quite happily into a
large specimen with lots of offsets and bulblets, but last fall (2015) it
decided it wanted a garden in the sky and went belly up, except for a few bulblets,
which I’m trying to grow. Still don’t know what happened to the mother plant.
Might have been a virus brought in by fungus gnats.

I’m a casual grower, enjoying the flowers, but no attempts at
crossing or propagating. For a couple of years, my amaryllis collection has
been summering in pots and window boxes on our sunny deck, but this year, I’ve
been having a real war with squirrels (or at least one sociopathic one). At
first the problem was just digging, but last week I caught one that had pulled
up a bulb and was chomping on it. I chased him and he carried half of it off. I
sprinkled the soil with red pepper flakes, powdered cayenne and peppermint oil,
to try to discourage this, but today I found my Magic Green beheaded. The two
flowers were lying on the deck, lightly chomped; the bulb dug up, but not removed.
Another plant’s bud had also been bitten. I brought a Gervaise that is just starting
to open inside, and moved the pots and boxes next to the deck door, where I
hope my cats will notice the little bugger and scare him off. I hope he doesn’t
attack the two others with buds.

I’ve lurked on this forum, occasionally hunting for solutions
to problems. You guys have a lot of expertise in growing amaryllis and if I
have a question, I know I can find an answer here. I also enjoy seeing all the
photos.

Here are photos of two of my amaryllis – Aphrodite, which
bloomed in April and Cherry Crush, which bloomed in May.

Dee

Welcome Dee!

I'm from Massachusetts too (South Shore) and so is Fred!!

Your Cherry Crush is gorgeous as well as your Aphrodite! We live in what seems to be a squirrel and chipmunk farm and only occasionally do they bother the bulbs. The chipmunks do plant sunflower seeds in the pots though and I just come along and cut them off or pull them up when they sprout.

My plants are in wagons/carts on the lawn or on tables in the side yard and tables on the decks. Maybe the fact that mine are elevated from the ground helps, I don't know. Of course I am a heavy bird feeder and the critters get do get their fill of sunflower seeds so perhaps that's why they more or less don't bother trying to eat my bulbs. They do a job on my magnolia blossoms in the spring though, they have their favorites!

Donna

Hi Dee,

Welcome to the list. I live in Cambridge and work in Watertown at Watertown Savings Bank at the Main Office, please come by sometime and introduce your self.

Warm Regards,

Fred

Thank you, Donna and Fred.

Putting the plants on
something to raise them off the deck sounds like a good idea. The bulb massacre
didn't happen in previous years. This year we have a chipmunk too, but it was a
squirrel that was caught red-handed. After the digging began, I wanted to discourage
the squirrels from coming up on the deck as a shortcut to a nearby tree - a
squirrel superhighway. I pruned the tree, but maybe that’s just stopping or
slowing them down, and then they start exploring the deck to see what’s there. Or maybe they get frustrated and take it out on the plants.

This is the second year
I’ve had Aphrodite. It only had 2 flowers, but they were about 8 or 9” across.

Fred – very small world -
that’s my bank - and it turns out we’ve met! Usually we go to the Coolidge Sq.
branch, but sometimes the main office. Last year we came in to make some account changes. I was going to ask if you have an orchid
in a bell jar by your desk, but I
kept the business card and hey, it was you!

All The Best,

Dee

What a blast from the past! Nice to see people still posting in this one! :-)

My collection of bulbs has changed a bit, and we've added more grandchildren to the family, but I still can't resist a Hippeastrum or any of its relatives!

I have a large Minerva blooming right now, and if I can figure out how to post pictures with this new phone, I'll try to add a couple!

Happy Growing, Everyone... and welcome to the wonderful world of bulbs and those who love them! :-)

Hello, I've been lurking for a while and only recently became a member. Since it seems like everyone knows everyone on this forum here, I decided it might be good to introduce myself.

I'm a university student living in British Columbia, Canada. My grandfather passed his love for plants on to me by letting me tag along as a little kid while he tended to his garden.

My love for Hippeastrums began early on. One day my grandfather took me to a garden center (I think - it's been a while) and I saw one of those boxes with dry bulbs in them. I could not believe that the spectacular flowers shown on the box really could come out of the onion looking things, so of course I had to have one. Sadly, everything went downhill from there. As you all know, it's impossibly easy to get a newly bought bulb to bloom. Getting a bulb to maintain condition and rebloom was another matter. I could not keep a single bulb in good shape. At first I was too impatient and kept disturbing the plants and checking on the roots (mind you, I was 12 or so back then) and of course, amaryllis resent disturbance. Later, as I familiarized myself with Hippeastrum care, it turned into a tragic-comedic sort of affair. Every summer I'd put my bulbs out in the sun with high hopes, and every summer I'd end up disappointed. On several years it was devastating hailstorms. One summer the plant sitter just didn't water them at all while I was on vacation. I couldn't keep them indoors because I didn't have windows that got any meaningful amount of direct sun. Sometimes they just didn't thrive for reasons unknown (in retrospect, I suspect inappropriate drainage). One time it seemed like I was guaranteed to succeed. I had a large, healthy-looking bulb by the end of august that naturally (I thought) dropped it's leaves for dormancy. Then I lifted it for cleaning and found a strange, soft hole at the base of the basal plate. You all can probably fill in the rest of that story yourselves.

This year it seems like I have finally succeeded. The two Mont Blancs I rescued last year are still plump and healthy more than a year later. One of them went dormant in december, while the other dropped a few leaves but still seems active. Their roots are extensive enough that I could lift the entire 5 gallon pot by the necks of the bulbs if I wanted to. Here they are enjoying the sun.

My recent success also gave me confidence to order from Royal Colors this year. My order of two bulbs seems quite measly, but I don't have much space in the current apartment.

Flamenco queen

Samba

Hi Pterodroma,

Welcome to the list and family :-))) I love your story and it's quite similar to mine only it was my Grandmother who passed along the genes for the love of plants. Your hippies are very beautiful and definitely keep growing, experimenting and make lots mistakes...that's the only we learn:-)))

Fred

Ah yes that old saying that experience is a harsh teacher - you take the test first and learn the lesson afterward.

Welcome, Pterodroma!!! You have joined an fantastic and somewhat eclectic group of hippeastrum admirers and we all welcome you!

Donna

Hello everyone! I've been lurking on here on and off for a couple of years, so I thought I'd introduce myself! I'm Justin and I'm from Orlando. Gardening goes way back in my family and I have always kept plants, but I am relatively new to the Hippeastrum world. I have been growing them for a little over 3 years now. I have had trouble growing the hybrids down here because of the mosaic virus, so I have amassed a collection of mostly species bulbs that are resistant to it. I've become that one guy in the apartment complex to have a balcony that looks like a jungle! I also keep some orchids and have a vegetable garden, both of which I am also new to. I hope to get to know you all better and see what blooms the future brings!

HI Justin,

Welcome to the list and to the Hippeastrum family :-))) As you well know they're quite addictive provided you have space and even if you don't it's amazing how you "manage" to find more space. Please send a picture of your jungle balcony, it sounds wonderful.

Fred

Welcome Justin.

We look forward to seeing your balcony when it's in bloom, and we would all be very interested to see which species you find are resistant to the moasic virus. Papilio seems to be the only one that comes to mind at the moment.....but hopefully there are more.

Donna

Welcome Justin,

Yes, please let us know what species you are growing. Would love pics if you have any.

Anyway glad you decided to come out of lurking.:)

Fred - I know what you mean! I got a shelving unit so I could put more plants underneath. I put my seedlings under there because it's partially shaded.

Donna - I'm going to make a new thread for mosaic virus info.

I should have taken a picture of my balcony while my H. puniceum was blooming! It has wilted already. Nothing else is in flower right now, but I'll be sure to get a picture next time!