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Amaryllis/Hippeastrum

Cyrtsanthus obliquus - An Amaryllid from South Africa

14 years ago

Hi All, I just returned from 3.5 weeks in New Zealand a couple of days ago, which was awesome (I'll try to post a few pics sometime), and came home to see one of my large Cyrtanthus obliquus blooming so had to get it out in the snow to take a pic (hope it was not too cold on it) to share:

{{gwi:427130}}

The colors are really wonderful in person and appropriate for the Christmas season as well :o) Dan

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Comments (13)

ajsblu_eyes
14 years ago
Dan,

I love your Cyrtanthus obliquus picture, it probably is even better in person. Thanks for sharing this beauty.

AJ
bluebonsai101
Original Author
14 years ago
Glad you liked it AJ.....was so happy I did not miss it while out of country :o) Dan
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They're all wonderful, Maria! Such an interesting variety of flora... I find myself getting more and more into the different types of bulbs and bulbous plants from around the globe... I don't foresee my collecting as having an end! Did I forget to mention, Dan, that in my perfect plant dream, I have plenty of help to keep those perfect greenhouses running smoothly? I could never do it by myself! Just my physical limitations, alone, would catch up with me... not to mention my age... In reality, I'd be thrilled with a nice sun room or glass conservatory attached to my home... large enough to hold my bulb collection and a few extra pots... maybe a chaise lounge and a little side table, so I could relax and read, and enjoy the sun streaming in. That would be nice! Next visit north, we're supposed to pick up a large MH light set-up from a friend of ours who has it in storage. Larry tells me that it should give me double the space for growing, so I'm happy! Maria, my Scadoxus bulb sat there like a lump for months before it showed signs of growth. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was firm in the pot with roots, I'd have thought something was wrong! It was so worth the wait, though! Us gardeners have to have patience, but that patience really does pay off! I can't wait to see photos of your new goodies in bloom! The turquoise flower sounds especially awesome!
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Hi Pat, Well, I wish I could say I had a nice camera, but in reality it is a 7 year old, 3MP Olympus piece of junk that is handheld only. I really would like to buy a new point-and-shoot, but just can not get myself to spend the money (other than to buy my 2 daughters one for their birthdays in the past 3 months) so I continue to use this old tried and true. Beyond that I simply use a piece of black cardboard that is leftover from one of my daughters school projects and place it in the shade about 3 feet behind the plant that is in the early morning sun so that it is not too harsh....that way even a piece of junk camera like mine will drop the background to total black because of the depth of field issues. Glad you liked it.....if I had a good camera I would likely not be able to take any pics :o) Dan
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HI Josh, I have no way at all to predict when mine will bloom to be honest and since very few of my plants have name tags in them I have no clue what most are until they bloom. Mine are stored bone-dry for 6 months of the year due to lack of space to keep more things growing in the winter. During the summer they get rain or water almost every day and as long as they are in full sun they seem to appreciate it. They certainly offset way more than they bloom though so I clearly do not have it figured out. I have not seen my S. chloranthum bloom in a couple of years so I have no idea where it is or even if it still exists in my collection. It was in amongst of a bunch of Rauhia that I purchased once so I think it is still in one of those pots. Since it is not much of a looker at all I never really paid much attention to it.....not a good habit I know :o) Dan
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Hi Paxfleur, Yes, Ammocharis are related to Crinum and in fact this particular one was once in the Crinum genus but was moved to Ammocharis so it is a very close relative!! These flowers are very small compared to most Crinum though that the average person is familiar with. I should say that this is normally a summer grower, but it is confused because it was shipped from the Southern Hemisphere so it took the summer (what it thought of as winter) off and is growing now.....since it is an Ammocharis I should be able to keep it growing all the way through next summer and then let it go dormant to get it back to the season it should be on. I asked my wife about the smell and all she said was it smells like an expensive perfume.....nothing like vanilla or citrus......my family is not that descriptive I guess!! I decided to try for an inter-generic cross and used some of my stored Crinum acaule pollen on it......the cross the other way is called a Crinocharis from what I am told, but I have no idea if it is possible to cross in this direction.....I guess I'll find out :o) Dan
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ryan820
14 years ago
Wow that is amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing such a beauty.

Ryan
jodik_gw
14 years ago
Wow, is right! Dan, that's a fabulous photo of a very unique flower! I love it! I'm glad you got back in time, and didn't miss its gorgeous blooms!

Can't wait to see pictures of your trip!
bluebonsai101
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Jodi and Ryan......glad you guys like the odd stuff as well. I need to get my pics in a format to post......I saw virtually no Amaryllids in bloom at the 2 botanical gardens I went to in Dunedin and Christchurch, but the walks to the waterfalls, etc. were just wonderful and the ride through the southern Alps I'll remember for a long time :o) Dan
e36yellowm3
14 years ago
Dan, very cool - I love the colors. How big is the bloom? (Hard to get a sense of size from the pic)
Alana
bluebonsai101
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Alana, Each individual flower is approx 3" long and the bell at the bottom is 1" across.....the total flower head is approx 5" across at the bottom.....nice size flowers :o) Dan
mariava7
14 years ago
It's very beautiful Dan! Thanks for sharing it with us. Is the plant easy or finicky?
beachplant
14 years ago
You do always have the coolest flowers! What did you bring back from New Zealand?
Tally Ho!
e36yellowm3
14 years ago
Thanks Dan - yes that is a nice size flower! Very cool.
Alana
bluebonsai101
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, Maria, I am in general the worst Cyrtanthus grower on the planet so I find most all of them tough, but this species and C. falcatus I've had success with for 4 years now so they must be some of the relatively easier ones....I've lost other species in the meantime so as I said, many are not suited to me!

Beachplant......unfortunately the only things to come back from NZ were a bunch of photos/memories, some T-shirts for the kids and a piece of greenstone for my wife and myself.....no plants :o) Dan
beachplant
14 years ago
Too bad, when I moved back from Hawaii I couldn't bring the plants with me. We moved in August, shipped the truck and drove from LA to Texas with no ac!! We got some very strange looks with Hawaii license plates.
Tally HO!
jodik_gw
14 years ago
Tally, that would have been so fun! What a perfect opportunity to kid people with comments like, "man, what a long drive... had the windshield wipers on the whole way!" or something along those lines! I would have been having fun with the whole license plate thing! :-)

Dan, it's too bad Australia and NZ have such strict plant import/export laws... but on the other hand, it's a good thing. I totally got into growing other Amaryllids and plants from South Africa mainly because I love the plants you always show! So far, I'm doing ok with Ledebouria from Kitty... and the Stenomesson bulblet you sent me is currently in leaf! I've also got Rhodophiala bifida bulbs I'm hoping to bloom, as well as Lycoris radiata, Hymenocallis, Habranthus, Crinum from both Tally and Cindee, a Scadoxus that blooms faithfully, and Sprekelia that oddly did not bloom this past summer.

I know some of those are not that rare or hard to grow, but I figure if I can successfully grow and bloom these bulb types, I can ease my way into the more rare and beautiful bulb and caudex plant types!

Cyrtanthus and more Hippeastrum species are on my list of future acquisitions!

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