I've been looking for these for awhile. One party had 3 males and needed to get down to one, so I was able to buy the 2 extra males. Their wings are clipped and I put them outside for the first time in their pen with a fence about 4 feet high. In no time they were out. The lady I bought them from said they wouldn't fly and I didn't need a high fence. Sadly, they aren't very friendly. They are about l year old. Do you think they will become more friendly and tame once they get used to me? They are so beautiful. I am hoping to get a female sometime, or some chicks.

Forget about the dark place for now! Let's go through the process in the proper order... First, we buy the bulbs, normally in late fall or early winter... at this point, they're primed to bloom by the grower, and shipped to the stores so they'll be ready to bloom around Christmas. We plant them, preferably in a gritty, free-draining medium that is mostly inorganic and doesn't hold moisture for too long. Hippeastrum bulbs can be prone to rot if over watered or allowed to grow in soil that is too fine and decomposes too fast. I use a bonsai type medium. It's better to under water, than to over water! The bulbs grow scapes and flower... as the blooms fade, they begin developing leaves. At this point, we need to give them as much sun or light as possible so they can bulk up and recharge for the next bloom cycle. We can begin feeding them every couple of weeks with whatever fertilizer you normally use. We want the bulb to grow lots of leaves. MiracleGro liquid works fine. Osmocote slow release granules work fine, too. Some prefer fish emulsion... whatever works for you. If you prefer to have your plant bloom again for Christmas, you'll need to give it a dormant rest beginning about half way through August. This is where the dark place comes in! At this point, stop watering the bulb and place the pot in a cool, dark location... usually a basement works well. Just make sure the cool, dark place is frost free! Some tip the pots on their sides to remember not to water. The leaves will die back, and this is normal. Check your bulb after about 8 weeks or so... as soon as you see new growth peeking out of the bulb, it's time to bring it back inside to a warm, sunny location, and resume watering. The bulb should grow new scapes and be blooming within the next 6-8 weeks, or so. Enjoy! I've included a link that will explain the process better than I can, but those are the basics. You can also allow your bulb to bloom on its own schedule, which would be early spring or summer... I don't force mine into dormancy, but rather treat them as houseplants. They rest and grow and bloom as they want. Good luck, and I'm happy that you got new bulbs! Here is a link that might be useful: How To Make Your Amaryllis Bloom Again

wow marti they are twins ! On mine someone took off all of the veneer on the top sides. The lid is the real wood. You have two alternatives. You can buy veneer and glue it to match the other. Or you can remove all the old veneer and expose the wood. Veneer was used to "hide" the foundation wood and give the appearance of something "better"...it still is today in furniture. As to the soy gel. Franmar is the only company that makes it. They are in WS. You have to order it and the price is the same from all sources. High but very very worth it. 1 gallon is the best price. You can even get it in 5 gallon size! It goes a long way. One warning...you can only leave stripper on veneer for about 10 min at t stretch. It will loosen the glue and then well you have a mess. No problem using it on the lid and drawers and lightly on the veneer top. The back of the bottom part of mine has very loose veneer at the top edge. I left the stripper on a long time....dumb...it is OK but looser and didn't accomplish much but lightened it a little. I figure this was a 30.00 piece and I am not going to look at the back underneath :) I may try using the sander on the top area where the veneer was removed and see what happens...DH says "NO"...we'll see. I am pleased though with how it looks. red...I can' t thank you enough for the great idea . I never would have w/o you ! I still have to clean the metal and repaint. Will post when I get that done . THANK YOU again. Caroline

1. Your house has great bones. It would look beautiful in any color. I'm advocating preserving the brick, though, because using that brick color was integral to the design of the house, is more appropriate for the era, and also because you can't get that brick anymore. It's historic & perhaps even rare. It's a golden color with a lot of depth & character, looks good no matter what the season, has a natural earthiness to it, and makes the house fit in with the land. And when the sun shines on it, it exudes a warm glow that's just so homey and lovely. 2. The Great Painted Brick Debate: caroleoh brings up a controversial post from last year about a house with gorgeous brick that the owner wanted to paint. The issues with that house were different though. The brick was only on the front, with vinyl siding on the rest of the house. The house looked nice...from one angle. The house looked disjointed from all other views. Also, the windows on that house were awful: unattractive vinyl windows, placed badly too (a lot of tiny windows on a massive facade). The owner especially didn't like how the windows were so prominent. The dark brick, though lovely, just made the bad windows jump out at you. She wanted to paint the entire house a soft, light color to unify the sides and downplay the ugly windows. She did, and it worked. There was a lot of heated argument about painting that brick, though. It was beautiful brick, but it's like the builder tried to cut costs elsewhere by using lots of vinyl, and the house ended up looking awkward for it. That pretty brick juxtaposed with all that vinyl didn't work. 3. Your example, snagd, is gorgeous. Your house could probably wear those colors & accessories very well, and I really can understand why you'd want to "update" the look of the house. In lots of cases, that works for the better. But I feel strongly that pretty old houses like yours are a dying breed. People "update" them or tear them down merely because of fashion. Here you have this exquisite historical home with authentic colors and design, all of which are still fabulous & beautiful. But you want something else, and want to make superficial changes that will destroy the historic character of the home, and perhaps the neighborhood too. (I'm saying all this without anger, btw, just trying to present a reasonable case for historic preservation.) Besides, if you clean the brick instead of painting it, you'll have more $$$ for the interior & landscaping :)