"Which will grow best and which are most likely to bloom?"

what a fun experiment, please don't let this fall by the wayside, keep us informed. my guess is that they were all planted to deep and were packed to close together to bloom and now that that has been remedied most of them will bloom next spring. at least that is m guess.

Well, Angela you took a lot of time and effort to plan your little experiment.. so, I hope they all bloom for you for your efforts! Can't wait to see what they turn out to be; something that you don't already have would be wonderful. Don't you just love a mystery?!?!

Donna

This sounds like such fun! Please don't forget to tell us how it all turns out.
-J

How great that you have so many bulbs from a single source. Your methodical depth and trimming were really well thought out. Photos to document should really help you! Good luck and post updates!
K

Thanks so much all! Mysteries like this are fun! The person who gave them to me has tried all sorts of things for multiple years with other bulbs from this clump, without any blooms. So it is also possible that temperature may be a factor too. Anyone in south FL able to report on how well hippeastrums do there? Do they bloom regularly, or better after a cooler winter?

Hopefully I'll have some interesting pics to post in spring!

waiting for further

Ok so I had "clipped" this thread so I could look at it later on if for some chance I missed an update, its been about 6 months, how about an update did things grow better in some areas did anything bloom for you. patience has never been one of my strong points but I am working on it.

Hey, thanks for asking! I did not notice much difference in growth due to trimming or planting depth, all grew some leaves. And due to the time of planting in the heat of summer, all but those in the most shade fully defoliated before growing new foliage. So next couple months will be the exciting time. Hippeastrum usually blooms here about March/April, and all of mine are essentially dormant right now. I usually start seeing scapes around mid February, so fingers crossed in a couple more weeks maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a bloom! So stay tuned...patience is hard isn't it?

Well, it is May now, and my hippeastrum season is just finishing. Johnsonii, which is my latest bloomer is nearly done. These mystery bulbs have not thrown up a single scape. I am about 90% sure they are not hippeastrums.

So what are they? Remains to be seen, but I am currently leaning toward some form of hymenocallis. In addition to not blooming during hippeastrum season, the foliage emergence pattern is a bit different. Spring emergence of new leaves is slower than my hippeastrums, and the leaves have a bit of a curl to them that hippeastrums don't when they are new. Also, they have a faint lighter colored stripe down the center of the foliage that is very similar to type of hymenocallis I also grow. So we'll see if they do any blooming later in summer.

Thanks for watching the experiment!

Thanks for the update

how about another update.

Your bulbs apear to be Crinum,another member of the Amaryllis family.I can't tell for certain in a photo.I have some which have refused to bloom for 15 years.I have had one Hippeastrum seedling which did not bloom for 14 years,then bloomed an almost black, very double, large bloom for one year. Then, it and all its many offsets died within a year.

These bulbs did not bloom this year, but I believe them to be hymenocallis. The foliage growth pattern and times match best. I've decided to end the experiment as I need room for other things, and I generally have little luck getting hymenoccallis to bloom. I'm certain they are not crinums, the foliage pattern is wrong. I have 6 or so other crinum varieties to compare to, these do not have the rosette leaf stucture crinums do. Whatever they are, they are amazingly resilient. I passed them on to another gardener who wants them as foliage plants. Thanks everyone for journeying with me!