Hello Hippi growers,

I used to post on this forum long, long ago, when it first started. I stopped posting here after NBF destroyed my hippeastrum collection and disheartened me to the point that I stopped growing these wonderful bulbs. At the time, I vowed off hippeastrum, but, oddly enough :) , after a couple of years, a few bulbs found their way into my care, and then a few more, and.. So here I am again, happy to be re-addicted, and happy to see a few people I knew and many I haven't "met," yet. You are all posting gorgeous photos!

I live in the Northeast US and grow my hippies as houseplants. Right now, I've got a number in bloom and wish my camera worked. I'll see what I can do about that.

I started hybridizing again -- just a little bit -- last year. At the moment, I have only one seedling. (Only one?! It was from what I believe is a dip x tet cross -- Lemon-Lime x Exotica. I decided to see if L-L would accept tet pollen, and I suppose it did, although not, um, *willingly.* There were only 3 viable-looking seeds, only one of which germinated.) This year, I'm excited about an Exotic Star x Bright Spark seed pod. It's still ripening, so we'll see what happens.

Anyway, if you're still reading this novella, thanks! It's nice to be back.

Amanda