The normal bloom time for Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) is early summer or late spring. If you want to force for blooming out of season, the energy of the bulb needs to be boosted by a full summer in the growing season. Then forced into an early dormancy which can be broken when you want it to bloom out of season. It is too late to force dormancy this year. I would let them go into normal dormant state in the sunroom and next spring after the last frost, either plant them in the garden, or sink the pot in the garden, and enjoy an early bloom, allow the plant to flourish through the summer until late Aug. or early Sept. when you can force into dormancy, and force into bloom after at least 2 months of the dormant state. You will probably be a little late for the holidays. Good luck. Al

you can 'force' them for easter ... google it all.. but generally.. figure out a cold treatment.. fridge or garage.. for the requisite period.. pot them.. either before or after .. depending on if you have room in the fridge for a pot ... and then bring them into the warm ... very fun ... english gardens might be able to tell you off hand.. thats were i used to get my forcing bulbs.. and while you are at it.. you might want to cut a few forsythia in a few weeks.. to force bloom indoors .. ken

aimee, as far as pinching the buds goes, there are those who do and those who don't. Experienced rosarians like Jeri do pinch buds on bands, with the idea that the energy that would be put in bloom production will go toward leaves. I have noticed though that on some of my roses where I pinch off the buds they seem to be producing new ones like crazy. The only fertilizer I use is alfalfa meal, which I pour on top of the plant and then water in thoroughly. I don't use the tea because it's too much work, although I think I've read that if you prepare it properly it doesn't have that bad smell. The alfalfa meal is just easier. If your bands have at least doubled in size I would apply about half a cup of alfalfa meal per rose. I'm no expert, though, and others may disagree. It's difficult to get a consensus on anything because we all tend to do things differently. The best thing is to try out what's comfortable for you and see how the roses respond. I personally use nothing chemical, whether it's fertilizer or any disease control method. Basically I just keep the roses that are healthy and bloom well with just water, leaf mulch and alfalfa meal. Ingrid

I have to jump in on this one -- In the original White Flower Farm book published by Little Brown in the 1960s, they say you can dig up any tulip when the foliage starts to dull. Not turn brown, not turn partly brown, and not totally senesce, just dull. The likened the color to a dull olive green I leave tulips in place for only *one week* after bloom, that is all the energy they seem to need. I pull tulip bulbs up (or dig the up, depending on the soil) and bag them in net onion sacks (or orange sacks) with the foliage and roots still on them. I was told by an oldtimer that the roots store energy and if they remain on the bulbs, the energy will go back into the bulb as they dry. As wacky as only one week after bloom might sound to you, can you imagine any kind of photosynthesis working when the foliage is folded over and tightly banded? I store over summer where they will be HOT and DRY. This is really important. I replant them at first frost when I dig the dahlias that are in the same spot over summer. Needless to say between years of tulips and dahlias and mulch, the soil is very friable and I actually pulled up most the tulip bulbs this year, like harvesting carrots or something! I noticed today the foliage is still a little green on them, even though they were pulled in April. Just thought I would post my method for you to consider. BTW, I don't have huge success with Parrot Tulips -- about 50% Lime