It certainly seems to have been a year of massively mislabeled bulbs! After having gone through most of the posts relating to this subject, I've concluded that this year was worse than any other! And it's not just the big box stores with pallets of boxes and kits of the cheaper common varieties, either... it's also a problem affecting the more elite bulb growers and companies that offer the lesser known varieties! I think it's mostly due to the re-popularization of the Hippeastrum! These bulbs seem to be enjoying another round in the spotlight, so to speak, and this prompts growers and sellers to hire more workers during the busier months of sales... these part-time, seasonal workers are inexperienced, and in the chaos of harvesting and preparing and shipping, a lot of bulbs are shipped out with the wrong tags attached! That's my take on the situation, anyway. If you look at the "big picture" of novelty and garden plants and how they've been bred and sold within the last ten years or so, you see that it's become all about the sale, and all about making the plants disposable so there are more sales... Those of us that actually take our Hippeastrums beyond the first Christmas bloom are a minority... I couldn't guess at a number, but I'd say that the majority of people buying "Amaryllis" bulbs and kits for the Holidays will bloom them out and pitch the remains. Just the fact that "garden amaryllis" are showing up in catalogs and on store shelves, some of them actually labeled as being hardy to zone 5, should tell us something about our society and how we've become dependent on instant gratification and how everything is made to be disposable! Welcome to the 21st Century!

I see Hippeastrum growing in my area in the full sun,in the fronts of houses. They become shaded about two oclock.The leaves do get sunburned to some degree,but the plants do quite well and flower well. I think full sun in Florida is a bad idea.I am located thirty miles above Tampa. It depends on the makeup of the soil as to how you plant the bulbs,or amend the soil. If your soil is sandy you can get away with Planting the bulbs deeper. If it has a lot of organic matter or clay and does not drain well,then you will need to plant the higher. A raised bed can be a good thing for low areas,and for soil which retains water too long. Del

I hate to put a damper on your excitement, but misting the bulbs would NOT be a good idea... in fact, many people water their bulbs from the bottom to keep excess moisture away from the bulb, itself... the idea is to get water to the roots when they need it, but to keep unnecessary moisture from sitting on the bulb, so as not to invite fungus or rot to begin. It's perfectly ok to stick your finger down into the soil to check for moisture... I do it all the time, and I have 50 plus bulbs in individual pots... I make sure to stick my finger as deep as it will go into the soil so I'm certain I've got the watering timing correct. I would highly suggest going to your local grocery store and picking up a package of small bamboo skewers... they usually run about a dollar, or so, for a package of 100... they can be cut in half, and the pointed end carefully inserted into the soil to about root level, as mentioned above in my other post. Leave the skewer in the soil, and every few days, pull it out and press it gently against your cheek... if it feels cool and damp, hold off on watering... but if you can't feel any moisture on the skewer, it's time to add water. More plants are killed by improper watering than by any other one thing! This is fact! There's no such thing as a "green thumb"... having a green thumb is simply having knowledge of plants and how to care for them, and using that knowledge! That's it! When you water your bulbs, gently pour water on the soil until that water begins to come out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot... then, allow the pot to drain thoroughly and dump the excess water that's left in the saucer. Never allow your bulbs to sit in water. If you prefer to water using the bottom watering method, fill the saucer with water and allow it to wick up into the pot, exactly as you'd water an African Violet... you may have to refill the saucer a few times... however, after some time passes, you'll want to dump the excess water out of the saucer so the pot isn't sitting in water that it can't absorb. On to the glass vase method of flowering these bulbs... be sure that the bottom of the vase contains enough pebbles or decorative glass rocks so that the basal plate, or bottom of the bulb, is held suspended above the level of water in the vase. You want the roots to be in the water, but not the bulb, itself! It's rather crucial to keep an eye on the water level when blooming them in glass vases. Once they are done blooming, you'll want to take them out of the vase and carefully plant them in soil. They will need to grow their leaves and be cared for well so they can recharge for the next bloom season the following year. As far as light goes, Hippeastrum bulbs require lots of sunshine when in growth mode! An unobstructed east or south window sill is probably best, although top quality grow lighting can be used, as well. While a bulb is in bloom, keeping it out of direct sunlight will prolong the flowering for a little while. It will still require light, of course, but it can be moved to a table or counter near a window, where you can better enjoy its flowers while they last! A lot of people take their bulbs, pot and all, outdoors to enjoy the spring and summer sunshine and fresh air... they will find a sheltered area, out of reach of bad weather and other dangers, and allow their bulbs to grow until the weather gets cooler... then, they bring the pots back indoors for winter. While outdoors, the bulbs will most likely require more water, and they'll require fertilizer, as well. I could write quite the book on how to properly care for your bulbs, but I think most of it has been covered already in past posts... proper watering and light levels are probably the two most important aspects of successful bulb growing, and it would definitely pay for you to do some reading here in this forum, and in the Container Gardening Forum, so you have a good idea of how plants and their root systems, and soils in containers, all work together. It all may seem a bit daunting, but I promise you that it's really all easy once you understand what your bulbs require... and the rewards of good growing and good plant care are very much worth the effort of learning!

Soultan -- Like you, I end up with excess produce, and am not interested in dragging it around to sell to a variety of places, so I take it all to our local "food bank". Do you have any food banks nearby? We have one called Second Harvest, and it's for poor people who are struggling to feed their families. Most people donate canned and dry goods. When I walk in with a load of fresh vegetables, they LOVE me, and they take everything I have. The people who run Second Harvest say that my produce is always gone in less than a day, and that makes me feel good, because I know it is going to people who otherwise would not be able to afford fresh produce. Anyway, that one thought. Also, before I moved here, I used to give all of my excess produce to a Women's shelter, and again, they always took everything and were very grateful. Maybe there's a place near you that gives away food or prepares food for the poor that would benefit from your excess produce, and you could drop it off at your convenience, and only make one stop. Jodik -- I would ADORE having more animals! You are one LUCKY LADY! We only have two puppies at the moment, and even though I love them, I was thinking more along the lines of some chickens, and perhaps a few goats or sheep. We have plenty of land for it -- 20 acres smack in the middle of farm country, so no one would lift an eyebrow if I did get more animals. Unfortunately, my work requires me to travel a fair bit, and while it is simple to board a dog or two, it's not easy to get someone to take care of farm animals. (My husband also travels, and sometimes we travel together because we own a business together.) Sigh! Well, maybe when we retire? On the other hand, with all of these farmers around, all I have to do is pick up the phone and I can get all of the manure, straw, topsoil -- you name it! -- that I want. The farmer next door "hays" our big field which keeps the thistles and unwanted trees under control (and he keeps the hay for his trouble, so it's a win-win). We raised chickens, ducks and goats on a "farm-ette" all the while I was growing up, which is why I know so much about using natural fertilizer (manure), and growing things --we had a HUGE garden -- grew enough potatoes and carrots to feed a family of 6 for an entire winter -- and we stored them in the "root cellar". Most young people today don't even know what a root cellar is! Or how to bury winter squash and other things in a mound in the ground to keep them until you want them in the winter. Or how to can tomatoes, for that matter. Or most of the truly wonderful things you can learn while growing up on a farm. Which is why we bought this land. I was so "hungry" to get back to the land. Our last house was on 5 acres, and I thought I had big gardens there -- and did -- but also had loud complaints from my suburban neighbors. ("It looks like a farm over there!" Well, duh, I'm planting a ton of vegetables in the back yard -- but vegetable weren't welcome, because they weren't "decorative enough" and besides that, my vegetable bed was "too big" -- the landscaping committee told me I had to make it smaller so it would "fit in" -- which is one of the main reasons we moved -- not because I had to make the bed smaller, but to escape things like "landscaping committees". We've been here 4 years now, and they'll be taking me out of here feet first, and that's the truth (hopefully when I'm in my 90's like the rest of my family!) Anyway, nice talking with both of you. All the Best! MacThayer