Your bulb in the garden in California may not go into a dormant period, depending where you are in California. Nornally it will bloom in May in the garden. Here in Sunset zone 15 they always go dormant when the weather cools. They are planted with 25% of the bulb above the soil in an area shaded from the west. Drip irrigation keeps them growing all summer. I remove the daughter bulbs and plant them separately. I do not fertilize the planting bed but do keep it fertile by additions of compost spring and fall. Red Lion is probably the most common of the Amaryllis sold for Christmas time blooming. Mine are several different cultivars received as Christmas gifts. Al

Hi All- I bought my DoA from Bluestone's sale last summer. I planted in a 1 gallon container so she was keep moist at all times. My DH did all the pinching; something I haven't got the hang of yet. Don't really understand where you should pinch. She was planted last fall 2007. When we removed her from the container she had an amazing rootball. We planted her deep w/some bonemeal in the bottom of the hole. The pictures are of her very first blooms ever! I am so proud of her and I think she is a very pretty clematis. Now I need to find a vitacella to grow together w/my Henryi that is about 8 years old. He had wilt the first 3 years and this year he has just started blooming. I was thinking of VV but would love a nice blue like Ramona. How would Betty Corning look w/Henryi? I hear she is a great clematis and I love the bell-shaped flowers. I want something with color to really stand out w/Henryi. I guess I am not really sure what I want but would love some suggestions. suebot in CT

Taking cuttings of big plants in early spring or autumn often sacrifices bloom on the big plants. However, if the cuttings root quickly, they will often bloom instead. This is especially true for late blooming sages. Long-day blooming sages are not as susceptible to temperature effects on the timing of bloom as short-day blooming sages. I've seen season momentum like effects on blooming, which seem to happen when the jet stream stalls and extended abnormally hot or cold patterns occur as much as two to three months previous to the anticipated bloom time. I haven't seen a "normal" blooming season for many years.

Thanks for the advice from a month or so ago! I managed to avoid doing anything drastic to my limelight and it eventually started to leaf out in mid-May. I think the little guy is gonna make it. That said, your helpful words couldn't keep me from doing a little experimentation. I happened to be reading a book about pruning and noticed a passage that said that pruning a small portion of a branch can rejuvenate it. I snipped off a few branch tips and the first leaf emerged two days later. I'm not certain that the pruning did the trick, but given what I've learned about plant hormones and pruning, it may have helped. If any of you have any thoughts on this, let me know. And here's the limelight: