Does anyone have rudbeckia maya seed ? This post was edited by vaflowernut on Fri, Jul 25, 14 at 9:06

Mike, Looks to me like you've got a lovely Dancing Queen..hope you didn't already have one..Yours looks like an Orangey Red and I know that First Love is a lovely soft (not too pastely) pink and white. And, I too got a Sweet Nymph in place of Pink Nymph..Your Sweet Nymph is very pretty, not as messy as mine, but the outstanding color kind of makes up for her disheveled look. Yours is prettier than mine was and your color is just gorgeous!! I think you've got two good ones there! I also got an Elvas as a mislabel instead of White Peacock so, if you've got more bulbs yet to bloom you might end up with an Elvas through the back door so to speak... Donna

Hi Donna, Before you order according to the number of flowers produced by others; please note that the lower number of flowers (2 or 3) per stalk is nearly always the result of pressure of soil on the sides of the neck and the upper curve of the bulb. All commercial hybrids are selected for certain characteristics. When a new color, color pattern, size, or shape flower is produced; the breeder selects among the similar appearances for strong stalks, 4 flowers per scape, etc. You can check this yourself by measuring the width of the neck of a new bulb when it has 2 flower scapes growing through it. Compare that to the width of the neck in the fall when only flat leaves are growing through it. The neck has to stretch 3 to 4 times the width of the fall measurement to let the flowers out. Since outdoor planted amaryllis bulbs pull themselves slowly into the soil, When the pressure on the top of the bulb and neck are too great you get 3 flowers per scape; then 2 flowers per scape; then no flowers but you then get extra long leaves as the bulb uses up the bulb sugars stored for flowering. Bulbs that have stopped blooming will bloom [usually immediately] if you replant them as this loosens the soil (and lowers the pressure) on the bulb. To keep the soil from settling in the first 2 years so you start having the problem of pressure on the neck and upper curve of the bulb again replant only the roots with the whole bulb on top of the soil. It will usually take many years before you have to lift the bulbs again. In the meantime those who have been getting few or none of baby offset bulbs will get them on the root crown at the base of the bulb. If you look at the pictures of the "Papilio" bulb that was repotted in a previous thread; you will see that in that small pot the bulb used about 60% plus of the available volume and the roots took up more than half of the remainder. If you replanted only the roots and and let the bulb rest on top of the soil in a 10 or 12 inch deep pot, they could grow more normally in the greater depth and volume of the soil so that it would be years before the roots became overcrowded and rootbound. Although many people use such a loose potting mix that they often get rootbound pots long before they get a bulb that stops blooming due to soil pressure on the neck, I do see bulbs that stopped blooming or have only 3 or 2 flowers per scape in pots. In conclusion: I would expect that 95 % plus of all Maguire bulbs both singles or doubles will produce 4 flowers per scape if the roots are planted with the bulb resting on top of the with the remainder producing at least 3 flowers per scape on the second scape and almost all 4 flowers on the first scape to bloom. HOPE THIS HELPS. E. Wm. Warren, Amaryllis Study Group amstgrp@yahoo.com

Gorgeous Hatta! It's a pretty close call which one is prettier, Amy or Andrea... Not sure I could choose. Boysenberry Swirl aborted the scape it had been sending up. I can still see the tip poking out, but it's dried up and brown. Anticipation pushed up a scape while I was out of town, I'll post photos as soon as she's ready to debut.