In my experience bulbs are heavy feeders. Whether you try to grow using organisms and a rich mix or whether you try to grow with a rich mix and plant food, organic or not, soil can be about the same. It should feature lots of digestible organic matter and lots of air, also a gentle texture. Amaryllis roots like the best of everything. My mix starts with a light potting mix, which should be fragrant of compost, not just peat. I add washed fine gravel or sand, some perlite, and a bit of charcoal. When wet it stays where a root pushes it, holds the root system in place but is easily removable in transplanting, and because I keep bulbs in clay remains highly oxygen-rich and sweet. Sun issues here are easy. All the plants want as much as they can get behind a big window in NYC. The question is more who will tolerate the subordinate position by being higher than the more one next to the window and more efficient in photosynthesizing. Cold tolerance by roots takes precedence over sun needs here. I'll know more about species preference by this summer's results. My hybrids, though, seem noticeably variable is growing efficiency. Will the species vary as well? I wonder.

Thank you both for the info. I looked at Telos, and yes, they can ship to Canada. The catch is that you need an order for at least $100, a phyto for $50, a preparation fee between $15-50, plus cost of shipping. That comes to more fees than the plants' worth. I figure that it would cost around $225 out of which $100 would be for the bulbs and $125 for the fees. In a few words, it is prohibitive. And the choice of available plant is limited and not quite what I'm looking for. I also found: http://amaryllis-plus.com/. They can ship outside of the USA, but their site doesn't say much about it, but I would say it seems less costly than Telos. The choice of available bulbs is also limited to just a few species, the most easily available ones. Another one I found is http://www.shieldsgardens.com/. They ship outside of the USA at a reasonable cost, but their choice is even more limited than the 2 others. They have one that I would want: mandonii, worth $45. I also checked Mauro's site, but not many species available right now. I seems to be a very reliable place though. So far, the best place I found completely by chance is http://www.thegardeningwebsite.co.uk/hippeastrum-national-collection-applied-for-junius-des-brisay-c8505.html. It doesn't say enough, but if what they say is true, it ought to be the largest collection of hippeastrum species in the world, and it may become the largest supplier of such bulbs in the future. I wrote them to get more info about what they can do or not. As for import/export, I used to import orchid plants in quantity several years ago. It was a doable thing at that time. Now I see some very nice peonies, irises, daylilies, etc. south of the border and not available up here. When you write to these suppliers, many will answer they wont ship outside the continental USA, and most (not to say all) certainly not to other countries because exporting has become too much of an ordeal: lot of paperwork, often changing rules, certificates of all kind, prohibitive costs for customers, long transit time, losses because of long transit time, etc. Many that used to export not so long ago wont do it anymore today because of that. And here in Canada, they sure don't make things easy to anyone who wants to import plants nowadays, no matter where from. It is a challenge to find out what the rules are, there are high costs for the permits, and anything coming into or going out from Canada by mail will take at least 30 days. I very recently sent a small envelope of hippeastrum (Fairytale x self) seeds to a lady in Louisiana and it took almost 5 weeks to get there. The only safe and fast way is courrier services, but we all know what these cost. I have no doubts that in some places it can be quite easy to import/export plants, but from my own experience, Canada is most certainly not one of these places. So, there we are. I'm waiting for some answers from the ones I wrote to, and I'll see what happens next. If it never sees a happy ending, I hope these posts will at least inform other readers about the pitfalls involved in trying to get hard things to get. Don't worry, I'm not discouraged... yet ((: Laurier My web site

Hi Pat, This was a recommendation to ifrazer25 in Brazil for the species psittacinum that like many hippeastrum species is becoming rare in the wild. The only native species hippeastrum in US was Puniceum found in Louisiana.I believe it is the widest natural ranging species found in Columbia , several carribean islands, and Mexico at least. I am sorry you have had problems putting scapes in vases. This has become a standard technique for me if a scape breaks due to weather, animals, or clumsiness. The key is FRESH WATER EVERY DAY(can't stress this enough). If you do this, the flowers on most varieties will last longer than on the bulb. BillWarren

have Hippeastrum mandonii plants (Rare) clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by lovegarden z9 CA (l0vegarden@yahoo.com) on Mon, Jan 11, 10 at 11:10 I have some Hippeastrum mandonii plants these consider still new and rare. Last year we have these on Ebay for $50 to $90 per plants. See flower below. http://photos.gardenweb.com/garden/galleries/2009/08/hippeastrum_mandonii.html?cat=prized_flowers I am looking for. MURRAYA koenigii (curry leaf plants/tree) a lots Thanks, Snow Email l0vegarden@yahoo.com