Welcome back Jodi! Missed ya girlfriend!

We had a great X'mas...as always. :-) The girls had a lot of gifts from Santa and I had a X'mas flu! LOL!!! I did manage to cook the family a good meal inspite of the coughing, fever and muscle pain. Family is the best medicine.

Jodi, I am glad you had such a good Christmas and your bloom awaited your return!

My Christmas...don't go there! Snowed in, kids couldn't have gotten here even if they had tried and we did not want them to try...then a sick grand daughter when they did try to come kept them home until too late for our family party. Youngest daughter has a beau in town for just the holidays and could not make it up but she is coming with him for New Years Day so I got over my blues once she called.

Sad note when you have 5 kids you love and they love you but you end up only with the one who lives with you for a major holiday...Thank goodness for Zach! We made it out to visit our disabled daughter the day after Christmas...had to use chains to get down the highway and then got stuck a block from her house, but did get her out to buy a new computer and to go to dinner with us. We sure wish we could get our girls from Maine home with us for a holiday, but since they are farmers I guess we will have to pack up and fly there if we want to be with them! (Well, they will be our for our older son's wedding in August, anyhow!)

Must say, I was sure glad not to be flying at Christmas...our youngest daughter's boyfriend got stuck flying into Portland and ended up spending 3 of his holidays in San Francisco!

So, I at least had my flowers to mess around with. Got all the RC bulbs properly planted in their pots, and cleaned my work room. Outside Plastic greenhouse collapsed under the snow...did not just collapse but shattered the poles on one side and they tore through the plastic...total disaster! We had 14" of snow in 3 days, and that, while not muh for some northerners was extremely rare for us, especially so early in the season. I just wasn't prepared for it, having just arrived home from a 10 day vacation.

ON a good note, DH is making noises about geting me a proper
growing room/greenhouse next winter with some of his "dangerous duty" money from his business travels. Oh boy, I have to go research!

Maria, I'm so sorry you were sick for Christmas, but glad your family had a nice time, and a nice dinner, in spite of the flu... I hate being sick, but I usually end up with the flu or cold after returning from the Holidays! I hope you're feeling better now!

Lizalily, I'm sorry to hear about the poor weather hampering your family's plans, and breaking your greenhouse! We drove north on a sheet of ice in high winds... the trip that normally takes 4 hours, took 6 hours because of poor weather. But we were determined to see the grandkids for Christmas! We carefully and slowly made our way north, and had a very nice time! The day after we arrived, the ice and a lot of the snow melted in the warmer weather! Today, the trip home took less than 4 hours... we practically flew home on dry roads!

I don't know if you have a Harbor Freight in your area, but you can check out their greenhouses online... they have a couple of really nice ones at very reasonable prices. Of course, you'll need help putting the kit together, but if you can catch them on sale, it's a great savings! There are a lot of manufacturers to check out, though... good luck with your search! I hope you're able to get the one you want!

I plan on spending tomorrow evening reading my new Hippeastrum bible... from what little I've seen thumbing through it, it's a great book! I'm so glad I asked for it, and so glad my special Santa was listening!

Happy New Year to all!

Hey Jodi, Good to have you back all safe and sound. That was a dangerous trip you took, but am glad you had a great time. Gorgeous pictures! Yep, that's Carina all right. It's so strange to look at her blooming at your house. My pot of Carinas is sound asleep, have not whimpered yet. Great close-up of Silver Squill; mine is also still sleeping. It's a strange phenomen how the greenhouse will start to awaken come about the middle of Feb. The bougainvillea have lost most of their leaves, the bulbs are sound asleep, and not much is happening. Right now, I'm focused on the basement and the plants under lights. This is where all the new bulbs are. I feel they're doing rather well under fluorescent lights.

My Christmas -- well, like Maria and Lizalily, you don't want to go there. You've heard of someone picking up their newspaper and their back going out, well I was leaning on the kitchen counter. When I straightened up, my back didn't. It's been a very painful time. After three chiropractor visits, I can now breathe w/o pain again. Oh, and that dreaded CHAD struck again. Just so happens there's a supermarket on the way to the chiropractor. I have now purchased 9 new bulbs @$1.98 each. A few are marked, most aren't. But one of them is marked Angelique, and does appear to be as marked. Gee, I wonder where these bulbs come from since that one I'm told is out of production.

Hoping 2009 is a wonderful year for everyone, Happy New Year!!!!

Kitty

Oh, Kitty! I'm so sorry to hear about your back... I can definitely sympathize with pain of that sort! Good to hear that chiropractic visits are helping, though... it's amazing what a good spinal alignment can do for the body! I wish it were that simple for me!

As I recall, Angelique is a delicately colored beauty, and a highly desirable bulb to find these days! You're very lucky to have found yours! Who knows what bulbs some growers may have lying around, and which may be sent out with an order? A stroke of luck on your part to find Angelique!

I must say, most of the bulbs I have growing under lights are doing well... they seem to not notice the difference between their artificial sun and the real thing... for now, that is. I know they'll want bright sunshine when spring gets here again! There is no substitute for nature!

After a bit of research, I've found that a few varieties of the Silver Squill are available for purchase. They're considered rather rare succulents from South Africa, I believe. I find the variety you gave me to be highly interesting, and I can't wait for it to begin multiplying! I can picture a large potted grouping all in bloom at once... gorgeous! It's definitely one of the most unusual plants I have! Besides the LEDEBOURIA, I find Lachenalia another highly interesting plant... both its leaves and its blooms are very unusual and interesting! Both hail from South Africa.

CHAD seems to split off into several veins of plant interest, and is not confined to bulbs, and most certainly not to Hippeastrum bulbs, alone! Whatever the plant type, the urge to collect the various hybrids and species is overwhelming at times! Finding the desired plant type on sale is most irresistible! I think there are tentative plans to travel to town tomorrow for supplies... in which case I'll have to stop at the various large stores to check on bulb sales and availability! I doubt I'll find them as cheap as you did, Kitty, but a sale is a sale! I could hardly come home empty handed! I really hope I can find a Grand Cru and a Pink Diamond among the after Christmas specials!

Glad you're back Jodi!! Lovely blooms you had waiting for you!evergreen is just Exsquisite, and your babies have grown very big and healthy! Happy New Year , and heres to more chad, so we can be glad...groan! see you all next year!

Kitty...That Angelique could be from South America(Brazil) and not Dutch grown. Geeezzzz...could you grab one for me when you happen to be in that store again? I would love to have an Angelique in the collection. The Dutch growers have stopped growing them.

Welcome home Jodi! Glad you had a great holiday and hope you have a great new year! I know I missed your posts here and I'm sure I'm not alone!

I have tons of pictures that I need to sort through and post. My Lemon Star seed pods are busting open and there are hundreds maybe thousands of seeds from the 8 pods. I selfed the first 8 and then crossed the 4 on the third scape for fun! I think yours may be almost finished as well. I am SO excited! Exotica has 2 scapes growing seeds and the third scape has 5 blooms opening now. I am such a proud daddy even though I can't take much credit for the wonder of these guys!!!

Happy New Year to everyone!!! Time to party like its 2009!

-Frank

Thank you all so much for the wonderful welcome home! I'm so glad to be back! It's great to visit family and spend Holidays with my children and grandchildren... I really wish we lived closer to them. A 4 hour car ride isn't really that far away, except when you're in excruciating pain! It would be so much nicer to live right around the corner, or down the block, or even a few miles away! These car rides are not very gentle on my poor decrepit old bones!

While we were gone, I was afraid my Lemon Star seed pods would mature and drop seeds all over, and I thought for sure I'd miss the blooming of Carina and Star of Holland... I also have Jungle Bells trying to poke a bit of green out its top.

I got really lucky, and none of the scapes opened. None of the seed pods opened either!

I'll have Evergreen, Carina and Star of Holland to cross... and then, I should have Jungle Bells and Pink Diamond blooming about the same time.

Get those photos uploaded, Frank! It'll be nice to view your blooms! I think you'll find breeding and harvesting your own seeds a lot of fun... and growing them is another experience you'll enjoy! The process does take a lot of patience, but it's so worth it! I'm very excited, looking forward to the day my first seed grown bulb flowers for me!

Kitty, you're very lucky to have found that Angelique! I thought I had read that it was a tough one to locate, being out of production.

Beetle, I think Evergreen is the most unique cybister I've ever grown! Even Larry thinks it's extremely awesome, and he comments on it frequently! I think the two seed pods from the first scape are a lost cause, but I am going to try again with scape number 2.

Well... we have less than 4 hours until the New Year arrives... this year, I'd like to lose about 25-30 more pounds... and sometime during 2009, I'd like to quit smoking. I know I can accomplish the first thing, but I'm not so certain about the second thing... and so, I make no promises. However, I'm closer to making that final commitment than I ever have been, and that's a good sign. I feel confident that I will quit... I'm just not sure when I'll set the actual date. It will be during 2009, though... of that I'm certain.

I'm very tired today... I hope I can make it to midnight! If not, I wish everyone a fabulous New Year, filled with all the joy and hope we can ask for... I wish everyone good health, good fortune, and good love! You are all very special people, and you all deserve the finest this life has to offer... all the best through 2009!

Maria, Thanks for the info on Angelique. You're probably right on its origin. Actually, I already purchased all they had. Since they were all potted in that ground up peat, all but the one actually marked Angelique with the sick scape got repotted. They were in worse shape than they appeared. Although they were quite rotted, the basal plate on all of them was good and even trying to grow a few new roots. There's one good scape to go, so perhaps it may self-polinate (I'll isolate it) so we can grow babies.

Had not planned on staying up tonight, but there's only a few minutes to go, so may you all have a healthy and happy new year and a little prosperity thrown in for good measure :-)
Kitty

Ohhhhh...take very good care of that Angelique Kitty. Give it a lot of TLC. Pax lost hers to rot. :-(

Jodi...Almost all of my attempted pollination on Evergreen has failed using both dips and some tet pollens. I do have 2 seedpods left but are still very young to tell if they will make it. I don't know if it's the stress, cold weather or it simply being not fertile as a seed parent. One is putting out it's second and third scape so I will try again. What else can we do but try...right?

My Lemon Star is finally opening up tomorrow. 2 scapes at the same time. Good to know that it is fertile. I have some friends abroad who are wanting seeds of a green variety. Some of them are so deprived out there not even having a Lemon Lime.

Maria, I've found that both Lemon Star and Limona are excellent, very generous, seed givers! I had several full seed pods from Limona last year, and this new Lemon Star has 5 seed pods maturing as we speak! I selfed Limona last season, and I both selfed and used Evergreen pollen on Lemon Star. So far so good with both the cross and the selfing... time will tell, though, as the Evergreen crosses are younger seed pods on the second scape.

This makes me think that the green flowered varieties, the hybrids, are very fertile and accepting... perhaps I can try breeding Evergreen with Carina, or maybe the Star of Holland that might not be Star of Holland... once that bulb gets its new name, I'll try some crossing. If you need some seeds from green flowered hybrids, Maria, I'd be happy to share! It looks like there will be quite a few!