Your bulb in the garden in California may not go into a dormant period, depending where you are in California. Nornally it will bloom in May in the garden. Here in Sunset zone 15 they always go dormant when the weather cools. They are planted with 25% of the bulb above the soil in an area shaded from the west. Drip irrigation keeps them growing all summer. I remove the daughter bulbs and plant them separately. I do not fertilize the planting bed but do keep it fertile by additions of compost spring and fall. Red Lion is probably the most common of the Amaryllis sold for Christmas time blooming. Mine are several different cultivars received as Christmas gifts. Al

this is a pic of my red lion from HD. i had to try different lighting, different angles, and lots of pics to try and get the red that i thought was most accurate. the natural daylight was the best for me. i tried taking the pics the night before with florescent lighting, and the pics all came out orangesh. if someone else has a better way to capture that red, i would like to know also :)

Okay. Thank you That is one good picture. The new leaves in the center can be seen to, now. Please be aware, that sometimes, the scapes in Hippeastrums fail to develop properly and rather hold on and will wilt.This appears to be occuring with these scapes right now.(The scape in the front look wrinkly). OR are they actually still elongating?If not, then try a rescue move the pot to a place with more heat from below. Temperatures of the substrate of up to 26deg CELSIUS are safe.

Agapanthe, those are very beautiful, delicate looking. Someone asked for a photo of the last scape of Painted Desert blooming. Here you go. You can really see the papilio in this one. Four flowers to the scape. Rereading the posts...I hadn't even considered the thought of selling them on eBay. I guess if I have some extras to give away, I'll post it here. I don't think I can give any to my family...they are plant killers! I haven't tried selfing it. I don't have room for more plants!