Hi Amaryll, Yes, I just like to get as much info as possible before doing the expt. so to speak....comes with the training I suppose. I also realize that if someone from zone 9 is giving me advice on how to grow one of my plants I should take it with a container of salt!! I find Hippeastrum to be one of the worlds easiest plants to grow, but I've not bothered to deal with seed before and I know that Hans-Werner has been working with seed for a long time and so I always appreciate his and anyone elses advice. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they just muddle through the winter and then I'll put them outside next summer of course. It is amazing how much larger and thinner the aulicum and calytratum seedlings are than the striatum and psittacinum. It's sort of fun so far. Unfortuantely all of my grow lights have more important plants under them so these will have to deal with southern exposure window light. Thanks again :o) Dan

I think a lot of people become interested in growing species because they began with hybrids, which sparked the interest to know and gain more! At least, that's how I became interested in the species! I think hybrids definitely have their place, and I do love the different sizes, colors and shapes available, and the ease with which they are brought to bloom and seed. Growing the different hybrids successfully has certainly given me the incentive, and the basic knowledge, to try growing some of the more readily available species. And yes, thank you, Dan... for playing a part in making species more available to the novice grower, like me! Now that I have several years under my belt of growing a couple of hybrids, and have recently expanded my collection to include many, I am looking more closely at the species for their simple beauty. While the manmade hybrids are beautiful in their own right, some perhaps a bit garish, there's nothing that quite compares to Nature's creations... I, also, recently acquired a couple of Pardonii Germa bulbs, and am happy to report that one is pushing up two scapes! I am extremely excited to see it in bloom! I am also thrilled with my new Papilio Butterfly, which has three blooms on its scape! Yes, three! I have a younger bulb of Papilio, but just couldn't wait to see the blooms in person, so I bought a mature bulb from RC. I'm very pleased with it's performance and beauty! Thank you, Lora, for the culture tips on the Germa! I'm happy to know I'm treating them properly, bottom watering and keeping them a bit more on the dry side. I also have them on a heat mat, which they seem to like, as evidenced by the growth of scapes! I concur that most plants aren't difficult to grow as long as the necessary research is done to find proper cultural information, and that culture is followed, emulating a plants natural habitat to the best of ones ability. Most plants can adapt a bit, I've found. You have a lovely greenhouse, by the way... I admit to being envious! We should have ours up and operational by this summer, and I am so looking forward to filling the space, however small it may be in comparison to yours! We have the HF 12'x10' awaiting construction. At some point, I'd like to acquire bulbs of H. striatum and a few others... and I can already see that a time will come where I will pare down my hybrid collection to only include those that I feel are spectacular and have a place in the breeding program I am working on.

Hi DaeN, I have all of these and many more species....they are all easy to grow for the most part. What I do is keep it simple....I use a mix of 1 part potting soil, 1 part pine bark and 2 parts perlite for fast drainage. I just barely cover the seed....you can often still see part of the seed......water them in very well (I usually water the potting mix first, put the seeds on, barely cover and then mist the top potting mix to saturate it)....and cover them with a plastic bag and put them under a fluorescent grow light.....I have had 80-100% success rate with his seeds doing this....I put maybe 20 seed in a 6 inch plastic pot. After they have grown for several months and are starting to look crowded I pot them up into a 10-12 inch pot and use the same potting mix and let them grow....I do not waste the space or time to pot them up individually. PLease make sure you understand which of these have natural dormancies in the winter and which do not...if they want to go dormant do not force them to remain growing as you will simply rot them. Most species take a good 3 years to flower just like their hybrid siblings, but some such as brasilianum can take up to 9 years from what I understand. I am sure you will get lots of suggestions, but this has worked very well for me over the past few years and I have gotten hundreds and hundreds of seed from Mauro. Best of luck :o) Dan

Hi All Here is a short list of the divisions. When I have a spare bit of time, I will try and find the complete classifications. Division I Species Division II Long Trumpet Division III Belladonna type hybrids Division IV Reginae type hybrids Division V Leopoldii hybrids Division VI Orchid flowering types Division VII Doubles Division VIII Miniature Amaryllis hybrids Division IX Unclassified hybrids This is the shortened list. I will type out the full list when Ive got a bit of time. Jodik, plenty of flowers just coming into bud at the moment. I will take some more pics when Ive got a chance. Work at the moment has just got busy, all the brits getting desperate for their bedding plants for the summer!! I really wish we could grow something interesting rather than Polyanthus, pansies or Fuchsia's !! Work combined with family, 1 national collection and taking over the Amaryllis belladonna collection, life is pretty hectic at the moment. The americans amongst you maybe able to help though.Im curious about the so called 'heirloom varieties' of hippeastrums, Amaryllis and Crinums. I'm trying to get an idea of what they are and whereabouts they are grown. So if any of you have any pics and/or info you could send me that would be great. Im curious as to what they look like, as the paictures Ive seen so far, all look the same, especially the Hippeastrums. Thanks andy