Hi, Tammy! Welcome to the Forum! In your other thread, I provided a link with basic information on how to get your Hippeastrum to re-bloom... bulbs can be forced for specific time frames if you have the proper environments to do the necessary preparation. Let's start at the beginning... most hippeastrum bulbs are harvested fresh sometime around August, I believe... these would be all the hybrid bulbs grown mainly in Europe, The Netherlands, Holland, etc... the ones that end up on the store shelves or are advertised in catalogs before the Christmas Holidays... these bulbs are cleaned, sorted, and put through a cold storage, or dormancy, and then shipped off to suppliers around the world for sale by retailers. At this time, they've been primed to bloom once potted and watered. The normal time we all make our purchases is in autumn. We know the bulbs are fresh, and there's less chance of rot or fungi at this point in time. Since the bulbs have all gone through their cold storage, or dormancy, we know that the majority will bloom about 6 to 8 weeks after we pot them up and give them a little moisture so their roots can once again grow. If you purchase an adult bulb now, pot it up and water it, it should take about 6 to 8 weeks to see scapes/blooms... though I'm not certain who is selling bulbs right now that have just gone through a dormancy. This is the time of year when most bulbs are leafed out and recharging by gathering sunlight and food. The above encompasses adult bulbs that are being forced to bloom out of season... the natural season for most hippeastrum bulbs is spring flowering, followed by a period of leaf growth when the bulb is recharged through photosynthesis, and then a fall or winter resting period after which the bulb blooms again as the days grow longer in early spring. I hope something I've said has answered your question... the majority of us die-hard growers purchase adult bulbs in fall, when we know they're fresh and primed.

Dear Anna, At least you have great memories of Bandito and he was so photogenic. Your photos will seem incomplete without him in them. Take care...from one pet lover to another, Kristi

A little more about re-blooming. Earlier I said a bulb can bloom as many as three times a year. That is a general statement and how many times a bulb will bloom will depend on the genetic heritage it has. plant guy reports that none of his large-flowered Dutch hybrids has ever bloomed more than once a year. That is usually the case with most modern hybrids. One reason is that they will send up 1, 2 or 3 scapes at a time depending on the size of the bulb. In sending up 3 scapes, for instance, the bulb needs a year to prepare the next scape for blooming. If a medium sized bulb sends up only one scape, in 3-4 months (but sometimes less--it's not a hard and fast rule) a second scape may be ready to go. You may have seen this happen--just as the first scape has finally dried up, a second emerges. Sometimes it's 2 at once then a 3rd later, kind of in an extended blooming period, not so much like well-separated ones. Some years they may do one thing and the next they do another. If it doesn't happen, it's not necessarily anything you did or didn't do--you really can blame it on the bulb! They may lack that particular disposition due to genetic heritage. I wasn't specific enough when I said a Hippeastrum *can* re-bloom, it seems and it sounds like I meant *any* of them can. That's not what I meant you to get from that. Not all of them can re-bloom and should not be expected to. It *can* happen, a second or third blooming--but it depends on the specific bulb. Grow them all as best you can anyway! Cultural handling can vary from year to year and any combination of factors can play into this, as far as known re-bloomers goes. If I had a striatum that *didn't* give me at least one re-blooming after 3-5 months--something is wrong. Striatum is one species that regularly blooms 3 times a year under good conditions. Only one blooming a year--you could do better.....If you get a second blooming, you're doing better, but cultural conditions could still be improved.....3 cycles of bloom--that's the way to do it! Commercial breeders are interested in bulbs that *don't* offset prolifically and will send up multiple scapes all at once, *one time* a year. That is to benefit the cut flower trade as well as the home grower--one big show or one good "crop" of flowers is what it is all about. So many people are happy with a holiday Hippi blooming once--its scary how many people just toss them after that. That's all they want. As far as breeding good multipliers goes--this is counterproductive and the last thing commercial growers are interested in. The offsets pull on the mother bulb and slow it's increase. They are not needed in large commercial ventures: they section or chip the bulbs for rapid increase and do not rely on offset production. So anyway, some modern cultivars *will* re bloom. In my small collection, this year I had a second flush from Rilona, Dancing Queen, Piquant and as I said, H. striatum. Right now I have a third flush on one of my striatums. This is my first season with the three named hybrids, so I don't know how reliably they will re-bloom for me, but I'll be expecting that it is quite possible based on what happened this year. Is it possible that the re-blooming was due to their being newly planted bulbs? Could be...I just couldn't say. Next year will be interesting....... Robert.

Dahlias probably can't be over-wintered in your area. If you get frost in the ground, you shouldn't leave them in over the winter. Of the 43 varieties I grew this year, they took between 8 and 84 days to grow enough to get above ground. The average was 31 days. You wouldn't want them to be above ground while there was still frost in the air (this gives you and idea of when they can be planted in the spring.) They should start blooming between 90 and 120 days after they're planted. Each variety should describe whether its an early or late bloomer (or neither.) They'll then bloom until frost kills the stem. Then can then be lifted, stored over winter, and the tubers planted out next spring. Alternatively, you can take cuttings in the spring...see my propagating dahlias photo set: Cheers, Russ