Amaryllis (Real name is Hippeastrum) is a tough bulbous plant. Its practically carefree. Growing them successfully depends which area you are in. I would suggest an excellent book by Veronica Reed called `Hippeastrum - The gardeners Amaryllis'. This book has everything in it about the Amaryllis.

Bummmmmp!

Mariava~

I planted my 'Supreme Garden' a few weeks ago and am trying to hold growth back on it by having it in the coolest room in the house--I have limited space at windows.

But I am very happy to have this one! When I received my "bulb", I was surprised to find it was actually a "klister" (as it is termed in Dutch) of 25 (!) bulbs af various sizes. There are a variety of bulb sizes in the clump: several larger sized ones, then good-sized offsets on those, and then offsets on those, with new offsets starting on the two largest sizes.

Amazing!

I split up my "klister" into smaller sections and planted the lot in a 12" pot. I love it already for the rapid offsetting and the nice foresty look of it when it is green. I like multiple Hippis in one pot, and these smaller-sized "miniatures" fit the bill!

Robert.

Aha! Finally some info. Thank you so much Raydio. Since I posted this message last April, I was a little bit dissapointed with the feedbacks. Well, I thought that maybe it's something new, and people just don't have anything to say about it. I have been reading about these "Garden Series" in Veronica Read's book. Their price is a little bit high though $18. But if they are Klisters, it's going to be worth it. I'll be ordering Supreme Garden soon and Lovely Garden in spring.
Have yours flowered yet? I'm wondering about how these "pixie like" blooms would really look like. Please update me on these...Thanks a lot again.

Hi Mariava~

When I was ordering my bulb form B&B, I too was shocked at the price: pretty steep for a small-flowering type, I thought....but the smaller-flowered "clumpers" are of great interest to me as I think their parentage contains some heritage from a couple species that also interest me.

'Supreme Garden' looks to have H. puiceum (equestre) in it.

My bulbs are just putting up a l;ittle green now but I can see the tip of the bud showing on at least one. As I was saying, I'm trying to keep them from growing as much as possible, but I may just have to do what I can to provide better light--I don't want to cause it to decline due to being in too bad an exposure--and since it is growing, I'll just have to wedge it in somehow.

The best picture I have seen is the one on B&B's site and since this is the first year of it's release, no doubt more and better pix will emerge.

A couple other "clumpers" are 'San Antonio Rose' (which also looks to have some puniceum) which is a real favorite with me because of the maroon stripe on the leaf edges and keel and 'Salmon Pearl', which looks to be a striatum hybrid or strain.

I haven't grown it, but I think 'Pamela' is a good multiplier for large pots and 'Pink Floyd' is another. I have 'Pink Floyd' and 'Salmon Pearl' but haven't planted either one yet.

Here's my "klister" of 'Supreme Garden':

{{gwi:379955}}

There are more bulblets down inside there and very small ones emerging right under the larger bulbs.

I'll be posting more when there's more to look at--tee-hee.

Robert.

Wow...that is a nice clump of bulbs. Thanks for posting a pic Raydio. Please do post some more pics of it's development.

B&B says that it is one bulb though, so I don't really expect a bunch of connected little bulbs to arrive. Or should I? And this picture on their site looks like a certain wild variety, I don't remember anymore, but I will research it.
Not to mention, that I can only see this variety on B&B's page. I could not find any other references on any of the sites so far. Can anyone help me with links?
I ordered one bulb myself, and I will happily plant it, I just think it is not a variety called "Supreme Garden." It already has a name.

I seem to recall that Park's had one called something similar to Supreme Garden earlier this year. I don't know for sure, so don't quote me on that one!

As far as looking like a wild variety, I hate to admit it, but I've had a collection of hybrids for so long that wild looks good to me. Isn't that strange? But true....

I do hope that it is closer to a species variety than it is to a hybrid. I have fallen for those. Now, it is a matter of time to see how hardy they are.

Here is how Supreme Garden looks like on B&B:
{{gwi:403141}}

Here is a species called Hippeastrum Puniceum:
{{gwi:403142}}

Isn't it really similar?

Here's my 12" pot of 'Supreme Garden' this afternoon.

{{gwi:403144}}

If you have Veronica Read's book, Supreme Garden is under the classification of Orange Brown Modern Hybrids (page 126-127).B&B's pic is very much similar to the book's pic too (plate 6.14). I ordered one of this too.
By the way, there is another hybrid of the same kind (klisters) called Lovely Garden.

I don't understand then why is only B&B selling Supreme Garden and nobody else. I saw Lovely Garden too. It's red.

Soultan...same way with RC being the only one selling Lovely Garden. Maybe because it's a newly released variety in the market and retailers are a little bit unsure if it would "click" or not. These new hybrid has a relatively small flower too...6in I think. Shipping cost will be something to consider too because looking at Raydio's pic...7in across...that is one heavy bunch of bulbs. I'm not surprised why they are selling it at $18 each. I got lucky with my B&B order and got an order confirmation yesterday. My Supreme Garden was not taken out from it (Yes!), but Jewel was. They will be shipped after a week I think. More time for me to plant my other bulbs and give space to this coming shipment in the refrigerator.

Many newly released bulbs are given limited production at first as has been mentioned to "test the waters" of public reaction. Bulb companies deal in large numbers and a bulb that isn't a big hit can quickly be dropped from production if it doesn't sell, sell, sell.

It seems that the beloved large-flowered hybrids will forever reign supreme overall, but the general appreciation for the smaller-flowered types is growing as well as the acceptance of the exotic forms of the cybisters and certainly papilio has succeeded in making a place for itself in the market.

I remember when the "butterfly amaryllis" (papilio) was very new and very expensive compared to the cost of a "regular" amaryllis. (More than twice what the "regular" ones sold for.) I lusted for it at once, but just couldn't see paying the price for it. Now that the price has become "more reasonable", the bulb is selling more. I think it was of interest to a lot of people who, like me, couldn't afford it (so to speak). "That's too rich for my blood" as we say, was the reaction of a lot of people.

I don't have any idea whatsoever as to the quantity of Supreme Garden produced for sale this year. Read says in her book that "Some growers start with only 1000 to 3000 bulbs to test the market's response before expanding production, while others begin with larger quantities." 3000 bulbs for the whole *worldwide* market.....how many would be allotted for the US out of that? Which market gets supplied first? I couldn't say.

It's that old supply-and-demand rule of the business world. An exclusive retailer can charge what they want, almost, for an "exclusive" new introduction in it's first year of release. The same plant's cost in subsequent years will be based on that first season's sales and the next season's supply as projected by the growers. If sales are too low to "bother with" (meaning that someone like B&B had too many left in stock that had to be sold at half price) they may order less the next year or possibly drop it entirely if the wholesale cost doesn't drop significantly in the second season.

We can't foresee what will happen with 'Supreme Garden' and 'Lovely Garden' as well as the new line of cybister hybrids as time goes by, but we're watching amaryllis history unfold before us. It's fascinating to me to be experiencing the history of a new market opening and I like being a part of it.

BTW: I paid the full price for Supreme Garden this year--way more than I wanted to-- but I weighed that against not having it at all if I chose to wait for B&B's half off sale. They were still in stock for the sale and those who got it for half really got a bargain. I don't regret not having waited, it was a "must have" for me this season, and I took the risk knowingly.

Robert.

Raydio...I don't blame you for feeling this way about Supreme Garden. As you can see, I have been interested in it since last April. Then I didn't have Veronica Read's book yet. After I bought that book, I read about these Klisters and got more interested about it. Not enough to get me buying an $18 bulb though. But after you shared your pic of your klister, I knew I just have to get one. I just got lucky that 50% off sale of B&B came on time. I can't wait till I get my Supreme Garden. I have a pot waiting for it now.

Mariava7,
You will be surprised by the shipping cost. :o)

Received my confirmation from B&B.They were out of Pamela, but are shipping Supreme Garden and Blossom Peacock.Cost of shipping is $5.00 to Michigan. It should be here Dec. 1, and we are to have a big drop in temperature. 67 Degrees here today broke record and on Friday there is a heavy snow warning. Sure hope my bulbs don't freeze.

Michigan is East of Mississippi River. Your shipment is with normal UPS rate and Ground Service. Hope your package still arrives safe.
If you have any problems, don't forget that all UPS packages are insured.

Thank you soultan. And I did forget that UPS packages are insured.

Soultan...I'm an old customer of B&B. I don't get surprised about the 10% of total cost of merchandise before discount and VA tax anymore...lol! At least I'm receiving my package tomorrow before the temp goes down to 27. Woooohoooo!!!

You guys just made me spend over $50. Boy, I really have to stop reading these threads where everyone is saving money. Anyway, I am really interested to see Supreme Garden perform here. I have been looking at it ever since I got their catalog months ago.

Plant_Guy

Here is a link that might be useful: My Amaryllis Page

It is interesting. They promised me yesterday morning immediate shipping and I haven't received any confirmation e-mail from them since. I cannot believe that so many people order from them that they are handling a huge backlog right now. When you search for amaryllis bulbs on the net, their site doesn't even come up, so I don't think they have thousands of orders to process now.
If they tell me that I should get a confirmation of the final cost by yesterday morning, then I feel uneasy this morning already.
If it takes so long for them to process the shipment, why do they think that UPS 3rd day select is a necessity?

raydio, Can you give some details on how you prepared your clump for potting? Did you remove many bulblets and how many and where from? Thanks, alice=geekgranny

soultan, did you place your order by phone or internet? I placed mine by internet. Every order I have placed I have received confirmation and shipping info very promptly. I think they require the UPS 3rd Day at this time of the year so the bulbs aren't sitting in a freezing place too long. Our temp is at 46 right now and it's supposed to continue dropping with heavy snow warning for tomorrow.

Mariava, I didn't know it was to get that cold in Virginia too.

Alice~

Because there were so many offsets in the clump, with many of them just starting out from under a larger bulb, I decided to go ahead and open up the clump to give them all room to grow and allow space for even more offset to come later.

I gently pulled the clump apart, separating it into smaller groups of 3 or more largish bulbs with whatever tiny offsets were there. There might even be a few singletons in there too.

I just placed them where they looked fairly evenly distributed in the pot. If there were offsets on one side of a bulb, I faced that away form the next closest bulb--that is, I made sure that the next bulb's side was free of offsets so that the two wouldn't be competing for the space between.

Since the pot is so large and the root mass not terribly big, I have only been watering lightly. I haven't tried to water to the point that all the soil in the pot has been moistened, just enough to moisten the upper portion where the roots are.

I added extra vermiculite to some Mir-Gro mix and have let it dry out some between waterings to help avoid rot on any of the damaged roots. Since there isn't much foliage, the plant can only take up and use so much moisture. I will increase the amount bit by bit over time, to go with conditions and the size of the plants.

I don't mind the look of clay pot, but if i wanted a showier display, I slip the big pot down in a nice cache, making sure that no water ever stands in the bottom of it.

Robert.

Okay, all.... now I'm really sorry I did not order Supreme Garden from B&B -- even though I eye-balled it a few times! Wah! I guess there's always next year.... Oooooooo, I think I've been bitten.....

;)

Anyone have any idea of what the posting made Nov 30, Advice on Amaryllis Care is about????????????????

I ordered Supreme Garden, Amputo and San Remo today and got confirmation so I hope they're all in stock. Great deal!

I placed the order by Internet on the morning of 27th.
It is amazing that everybody gets confirmation except me. I had to call them to send me confirmation. But there is still no shipping confirmation and no final numbers. I ordered three whole days ago. I wouldn't worry any other ways if they didn't press the time issue so much and if they didn't make me pay for 3rd day Express. If they ship it out on Friday afternoon, the 3 days only counts from the morning of Monday. So it is 5 days, 6 day, so actually the same as ground transportation. If it happens, I will complain.

Karilynn...I'm in southwestern part of VA, Appalachian Mountains area. Our weather here is so different from the eastern part like VA Beach. It is so unpredictable. This morning they said we're going to have snow showers tomorrow. Tonight weather forcast for tomorrow changed to rain/thunderstorms with 26 Low. And my bulbs are just like 250 miles away from me by now. If only I could go fetch them at the UPS warehouse...lol!
Kniphofia...If you got them in your order confirmation, they should be in stock. My order confirmation clearly stated that Jewel was all out. They even apologized for the inconvenience.
NCyasmin...Yes, Supreme Garden is sold out. You can always trade for a pup if you want. Looking at SG's bulb structure, I don't think it would be a problem...it loves giving out babies.

Mariava! Indeed, if Robert's "klister" is any indication these things are rather prolific! I'm thinking this is one that my neighbor has in her yard -- I didn't believe it was an amaryllis because of its trumpet shape but I'm sure there are plenty others like that (remember, newbie here!) and since SG is a newer introduction, perhaps not. Hmmmm. I've been lusting after hers--its a huge clump that can really use division, so perhaps in early spring I'll dig me up a bulb(let) or five... she said I could... really! I'll send pic-chahs when it blooms for an ID!

Thank you all for all your good advice/input/banter, etc.

BTW-- I have been trying to find "klister" in several online Dutch dictionaries and am having no luck. Makes me wonder about it's derivation.

V. Read uses it to refer to both the group of bulbs en masse, and also uses it to refer to the offsets themselves in the same sentence: "....bulbs surrounded by 10-22 klisters (a cluster of offsets) of various sizes which remained attached to the parent bulb."

Hopefully there is some documentation of this word's use in general beyond it being a name for this type bulb in the bulb industry.

Robert.

Huh...
B&B sent out my package to me without a price notification. I don't even have the chance to refuse the shipping if I deem the shipping cost too high. Amazing. What kind of a treatment is this?

That is strange.

I placed my order online and received online confirmation with shipping costs and total costs instantly. They emailed me a confirmation within seconds of my completing the order.

They sent another message acknowledging the order about 25 hours later. This email stated that I would be hearing from QuantumView about the UPS shipment which I did about 30 hours later.

The order was place on the 27th and I recieved it sometime today while at work.

I was very pleased with the process. Did you order online or via phone?

I ordered via Internet. On the morning of 27th. My package of 7 bulbs is 4.2 lbs. Something sounds quite off for me. I ordered Supreme Garden too, and if your descriptions are right, it should be a bunch of bulbs together, plust 5 large sized bulbs. Somethins seems off. Please, someone who ordered Supreme Garden from them, could you tell me what kind of bulb you received?

The first picture in this thread is what I got from B&B. I just heard from someone else who got one from them, but her cluster wasn't as large as mine and it wasn't in one piece as mine was when it arrived.

Robert.

Hi soultan - Received my bulbs today. They don't seem to have been damaged by the cold. Supreme Garden and Blossom Peacock. Blossom Peacock is a nice large bulb. Supreme is a cluster of eight. It doesn't seem to look as large as Raydio's photo of his. I was just now setting up an account at photobucket so I can take a photo and post it. I didn't see a weight on the box.

Karen

soultan~

Thanks for posting the picture of SG and the one from Brazil.

I agree SG looks like a hybrid or selection from puniceum. 'San Antonio Rose' *appears* to be from puniceum also, but bears that wonderful purple striping on the leaf backs to set it apart from others. However, according to PDN, puniceum wasn't involved! Here's what they say about it:

"From our friend Steve Lowe of Texas comes this newly released, dwarf hardy amaryllis from the late William Bell of Florida. H. 'San Antonio Rose' is an F1 hybrid between the winter-hardy H. aulicum var. stenopetalum and the now-extinct Brazilian H. traubii f. doraniae. The result is a charming, fast-multiplying dwarf, narrow-leaved amaryllis with dark red midveins on the leaf backs. In July and August, the (reportedly virus-resistant) clumps are topped with mid-sized rosy pink flowers...simply superb!"

I wonder if the stripe is a fluke and just happened or did one of the parents have it?

Could H. traubii f. doraniae be a punicium variant but is/was listed as the name it now bears?

Tony also speculates on the origin of his 'Voodoo' as being the same cross that produced 'Ackermanii' and AFAIK that it is, but I see striatum, myself.

Robert.

Oh phooey,I just missed out on getting an order in :(
If anybody would like to trade an offset from Supreme Garden or Lovely Garden come spring take a stroll thru my trade list. I would love to grow them next to some species for comparison. Lora

Hey Lora...you know my email. After seperating my SG clump, I got 9 seperate bulbs of it now planted in three 5 1/2in azalea pots. I really don't want that much SG to take care of. A lot of them are showing some growth (green tips) now. It's been TOO COLD these past few days here with temp lows going down to 8F. I'll save one for you and wait till it gets warmer before I ship it. The thing is, when is it gonna get warm enough?

Hi Maria :)
I know that "too cold" thing! It went from 67F to a wind chill of -10F in about 24 hours,shivvvvver! It is warming up a bit in the next few days but I don't know if it will hold long enough to get things through. Is there something tempting on my list or would you prefer other? Lora

Hi, everyone - This plant has been in my family for over 100 years. In 1912 it was given to my great uncle who was in the hospital for appendicitis. He subsequently died and his mother kept the flower alive in her yard. On her death, my dad divided the bulbs and gave them to lots of family members. We've always called it "Uncle George's Lily". It lives in its pot in my house, outside during summer months, then inside once it gets cold out. I move it to an upstairs room that gets bright western light in January, and it blooms late Feb/ early March. I love it and I'm so happy to have finally identified it!

Your blooms are definitely Hippeastrum, but Supreme Garden was registered by KAVB in 2003. Very doubtful that the bulb you photographed is Supreme Garden if it's been in the family for over 100 years.

Looks like another beautiful garden Hippeastrum, though.

Look around on Emaryllis.com to see if you find anything that looks familiar!!

K

Hi Shermani,

That sure is beautiful, but if it's from the early 1900's I would bet that it's one of the very early primary hybrids possibly involving H. striatum or pure H. striatum for that matter.

Warm Regards,
Fred

Shermani~

I agree with Fred. I'm seeing H. striatum.

R.

This post was edited by raydio on Thu, May 23, 13 at 22:31

The profile shape from this old pass along flower is far lovelier than Supreme Garden. I really think the profile makes the bloom MUCH more gorgeous and interesting! -Tina