Most of the named hybrids are about the same to grow... fairly easy once you understand their needs. They need lots of light, a porous medium, excellent drainage, careful watering, and they seem to prefer to be grown more like succulents. I feed mine a constant supply of diluted, weak liquid fertilizer, and they grow nicely. The two things that spell disaster for Hippeastrum bulbs are poor drainage/over watering, and freezing temperatures. I'm sure that the more reading you do here, the more you'll learn about my fetish for growing in an inorganic, gritty, bonsai-like medium. I find it's much healthier for the root systems, and I haven't had any fungal or gnat problems since I switched mediums. Growing indoors all year as I do, I find that my bulbs periodically drop leaves and rest... then, out of the blue they wake up and begin growing new leaves. And every spring, I get lovely blooms! These bulbs are not without their own set of horticultural problems, but they're few... and if you take precautions when first potting up new bulbs, you shouldn't have many issues. I use unglazed clay pots, an inorganic gritty medium, and I keep an anti-fungal powder on hand. Outdoors, the only real pest is Narcissus Bulb Fly, which can be devastating if it resides in your area. I'm paranoid, so I keep most of my bulbs indoors. Welcome to the Forum! Stick around and I guarantee you'll learn a ton of good growing information, and the photos everyone posts are gorgeous! Not only that, but this is the nicest group of gardeners you'll ever meet! :-)

Wonderful tour, Frank! Thanks! You've reminded me to put Baby Star toward the top of next year's wish list... I love that one! I wish my Apple Blossoms would do more than just sit here... I'm rather disappointed in their poor performance. I do have some new Sprekelia bulbs beginning to grow, though... those should be lovely this summer! Frank, there are a lot of easily grown amaryllids you're probably going to want in your own gardens... Crinum are the larger ones, with Hippeastrum and Lycoris following... and then there's Amaryllis Belladonna and the Peruvian Daffodils, Scadoxus, Sprekelia... and for smaller, but equally wonderful blooms, you'll probably want to grow several varieties of rain lilies! There are so many beautiful bulbs that are considered tender, though they'd do well in your area... I'm forced to grow them all in pots, but collect and grow them, I do! Right now, I'm on a mission to collect the different colors of Habranthus and Zephyranthes... I have pinks and whites, but no yellows yet. Oh, and Nerine is one I can't forget about! The lovely pinks and the airy, delicate shapes are spectacular! But, as you must know, amaryllids of all types just send me! I adore them all! I only wish Crinum were a little bit smaller... they simply won't fit in apartment conditions! Thanks, Frank! Beautiful photos!

Cody, Here's some photos: About every five years, I take five or ten aluminum cans and make a new pack of strips that will last me for a long, long time, as I only use them in potted plants. When those run out, I make a new pack. The sample one above only has a hole in it because at one time I used to put the tags hanging on wire stakes in my pots. They make too much noise for me when the wind blows and I like my current method much, much better. As you can see, the one above is from 2011. Heck, you can still see the ink (even though you don't need the ink). Carol

I'm still around, been a member on this forum for at least 8 years now??? My original palms died as I learned from my mistakes. I got into palms with a Mexican Fan palm purchased from Daytona Beach 13 years ago. It eventually rotted after being put outdoors too early one wet spring. Kind of funny, just this past year I purchased two new Washingtonias, both Filibustas because that original Washy was one of my favorites. Glad to see some of the members from years ago are still around. Johnnieb- Do you protect your palms at all anymore? Do you still have the Waggies?