Wish I knew how to order some of these bulbs here in Malaysia. Just started to follow some of the 'dormant in the fridge' advice. Have just planted out mine in pots with a decent mix. But have also tried out planting them in sand alone. It's an experiment. Would love to report on how things are, if it's okay with the rest of the ole hands here? Thanks for that lovely show. Words cannot say enough. Gardening has to be the most rewarding activity for young or old!

Hippeastrums can live indefinitely. Breeding them to decline would create the difficulty of making it harder for sellers to mass-produce them commercially; mass-production requires rapid growth, so they have to be able to generate rapid growth. They propagate them by slicing the bulbs vertically into wedges which re-grow into clones; if you want those to be full size in 1-2 years, you need a bulb that is strong and easy. The reason why spring bulbs normally die off is that they market the ones that they can farm in very ideal circumstances, but hardly anyone lives in such ideal circumstances, so they decline. Think about the climate in the Netherlands... it's very far north, so the day is quite long in the summer after bloom time is done, meaning lots of energy for the bulb. Yet due to the coastal location it doesn't get as cold in winter nor as hot in the summer. But hippeastrums are one of the easiest houseplants I can think of, once you identify the proper conditions, and furthermore, since those are conditions produced indoors in a house, they can be replicated anywhere and in any climate. They way bulb sellers can get rapid turnover to keep selling hippeastrums is the following reasons: 1) Hippeastrums are often sold in pots with no drainage holes. That will kill them quickly. Maybe that's an intentional market strategy; I don't know, but they thrive with well-drained soil and cannot be submerged, and can also survive considerable drought. 2) People who don't know much about plants think hippeastrums are dead when they go dormant and toss them. 3) Hippeastrums are marketed as disposable plants so people just assume they're difficult and toss them. They may be prejudiced by more difficult Christmas-season plants like pointsettias; hippeastrums are MUCH easier. 4) Hippeastrums like a lot of light. Most people intuitively think that putting them where they keep other houseplants - on a coffee table, on a kitchen counter, on a fireplace mantle, etc... is plenty of light, but most herbaceous houseplants are adapted to grow under thick, dark canopies in rainforests in the wild. It's very low light compared to the average environment for a plant anywhere else, including under a temperate forest. Hippeastrums like what would be equivalent to "part shade" outside, which is going to be in the sunniest possible place inside your home: directly in the windowsill of your brightest window, most likely a South-facing one. Also, they can't be a few feet from the windowsill, or on a table next to the window... they need to be on the windowsill itself; the light is dramatically brighter there though most people do not perceive that. 5) Most people want their hipepastrums to bloom for Christmas but at home under normal light cycles they'll bloom February-May. 6) Hippeastrums are often sold in pots that are a little smaller than what they should be planted in. So, that aside, here's what you do to get them to not only thrive, but multiply. Pot them in high-organic soil with a lot of vermiculite or perlite, and make sure it drains well. I say a 60/40 mixture of potting soil to perlite will be ideal; it seems like a lot of perlite but it's what they like. Their roots are succulent so like a lot of air and like also to get dry periodically. Plant them high so that the bottom 1/3 of the bulb is all that's covered in dirt. Most of it will be exposed. Put them in a south-facing window or one that gets light most of the day. Direct sun is fine if it's through glass; the direct sun will likely occur in winter when it's less intense, while in summer the sun will be coming from overhead where it won't strike the leaves all day. You can keep hippeastrums in such a windowsill year-round if there are no trees that block out the light. If you choose to put them outside for summer, afternoon shade is best. Full shade is probably OK. Hippeastrums like diluted fertilizer every couple weeks starting after bloom time, and extending for the next 6 months or so. The more material a bulb is shedding in the form of dead flower stocks or leaves, the more fertilizer it needs to replace it, so I fertilize a lot right after they blooms go. The soil will get old and should be changed about every 5 years, though this has less of an impact on hippeastrums than other things. Let the soil get dry between waterings; normally over summer you get kind of bored with them (since they aren't blooming) and want to focus more on other plants, so the amount you of attention you intuitively pay them ends up being just what they like. They thrive on periodic neglect. Too much poking/prodding/turning/propping is bad for them. They prefer to not be moved a lot so that their leaves can develop the exact positioning to get the most of the light. Not only have I gotten hippeastrums to re-bloom reliably year after year, but they also reproduce by setting off bulblets that grow leaves while they are still on the plant, and take about 2 years to detach and become full-sized plants that bloom. In one variety (I don't know what it is), I got one bulb about 15 years ago and now I have about 7 of them, which I have divided between 2 pots so there are big shows every March. Mind you, 15 years ago I was about 11 years old, so if a kid can do it, it's very easy. In a more difficult variety, Apple Blossom, around the same time. There are 3 of them now... they are more picky, but they still grow. Red Hippeastrums are a little easier than other ones, I have no idea why. I've also taken seeds from hippeastrums and gotten them large enough to bloom on their 3rd year. That's in normal home conditions in a South-facing windowsill, where there were not a lot of plants/trees in front of the window blocking the light. Just be confident, and give them lots of light and neglect them otherwise.

Thank you for the kind words ajsblu_eyes, yes Jasmine is pretty and the next scape will be healthy and taller looking at the bud coming up. allan

You're very kind, Frank. :-) Interesting and resourceful don't begin to cover it! We're both what you might call "real". We don't mince words, don't own a pair of rose colored glasses, and we can survive on nothing but our wits if we have to. I gotta be honest... lesser people might have folded up shop and called it a day! You wouldn't believe the bad luck we've experienced over the years... it's like a black cloud formed one day, and has been hovering overhead, giggling gleefully at the horror it causes us whenever it chooses to strike! Where shall I begin? Let me condense it in the interest of time... we've been through a house fire, in which we lost just about everything... I was diagnosed with Lupus... we were in a horrible car accident in which I was seriously injured... and about 15 years before all of that, my husband was injured at work, when a huge factory bay door came crashing down as he was walking through, hitting him squarely on the back of the neck, causing massive spinal trauma. He couldn't walk for about a year, and has been mostly disabled ever since. Yep... it's been a helluva wild ride! But you know, life goes on. As a result of all our trauma, we're seriously poor... but what's money, really? It's a pain in the ass... and it can't buy what's truly important in life, anyway. We get by... without public assistance, I might add. Anytime something happens to us now, we laugh about it and chalk it up to our family luck! Somebody turned our horseshoe upside down, and all the good stuff ran out! ;-) Seriously, though... what can you do? Things happen. This is life. It wasn't meant to be easy. When life gives some people lemons, they make lemonade... I make lemon meringue pie! ;-) Hey, we raised three wonderful kids... we have three fantastic grandkids... and we have the greatest friends this world has to offer. We're rich beyond belief in all the ways it counts most. :-) I can't complain... well, I could, but who would listen?! I've been doing the same thing you're doing... researching plants and vendors, looking for my next victim! I'm thinking of ordering from Marble Branch Farms as soon as winter breaks... and I'm even thinking of trying more than just the Yellow Bird orchid... they've got a few different varieties that look promising. I've already started saving for a few plants! Your Staghorn Fern sounds awesome! You wouldn't, by chance, have any pictures of it you could share, would you? I'd love to see an indoor grown fern that huge! Many years ago, I inherited one that was grown in a small basket... but this was before I knew much about the growing process. Yep... I killed it. I think I over watered it. I've murdered a lot of plants in my day! It's a good thing there's no law against being a poor gardener! I think the one drawback to the age of technology is the instant gratification. People don't seem to have the level of patience they used to. No one can wait for anything. We have instant access to everything via the internet, microwave ovens and drive-thrus so we don't have to wait for food, and just about everything is made in the interest of convenience! Attention spans are short, no one wants to wait for anything, and there's a pill you can take for everything! Life has sure changed... although, our parents said the same thing... and their parents said the same thing. Progress is great... but society is trading out a lot of very good characteristics and values to have that progress. So... I don't know... and I completely agree with you... it's kind of scary to think of who votes these days! Although... there are still many decent, intelligent young folks out there willing to go the extra mile, to make a difference in the world, in a positive way. I wouldn't count out the next generation quite yet. It ain't over until it's over! ;-) Well... time to get dinner started and feed the old man! ;-) Have a nice evening, Frank!