Hi Susie - thanks for chiming in. Yes! These are the bulbs you gave me. Thanks so much for posting a picture of what the blooms looked like. That is definitely a hymenocallis. I don't know enough about them to tell the different types apart. But I'm very happy to have them. I have had terrible luck with getting hymenocallis to grow, so I'm pleased to have some that are so healthy. The bulb I showed above that is a hymenocallis is liriosme. It has been in the ground for 2 years, and in that time has only managed to grow the two roots you see and two leaves that are about 3 inches long. I have several other bulbs, and they have all been doing the same thing - nothing. So I'm very hopeful that I will have better luck with yours! The bulb structure is different, so certainly they are a different type. Littoralis is a good guess. What month did yours bloom? That way I can be on the look out for it. Now that we know they are some sort of hymenocallis, what do you think? Should I plant the clump undisturbed, or should I separate the bulbs out and space them out when I plant them? Do hymenocallis hate to be disturbed the way crinums do? Or are they more like hippeastrums, and do well when divided?

It is an amaryliid, you have well concluded that from its overall appearance. However it is a member of another genus namely one blood lily Haemanthus (although this particular sort generates umbels of white blooms) Concluding from feasability I would guss that yours is one H.albiflos, because this species is particularly widespread - although the leaves of your specimen appear a little bit very stunted. Hans-Werner Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of Haemanthus albiflos

Remember my very tall Red Lion I mentioned in my OP back on 3/7/16: "I currently have a Red Lion and I don't like it that much. I find the red color too garish and the leaves extremely tall (beyond 3 feet). The leaves are so tall that I had to DIY supports for them. I'm now experimenting with watering the Red Lion with 5% alcohol to stunt leaf growth (on new leaves)." I trimmed off the leaves on 3/7/16. I started watering with 5% isopropyl R-OH on 3/19/16 when leaves had grown more than an inch. The alcohol did stunt the growth (leaves not growing as fast as they should). I felt so sorry for it though because the R-OH was leaching a lot from the potting mix (very colored drainage water). So, I watered it once with water on 5/2/16 and then resumed regular water watering beginning 6/3/16. This plant (Amaryllis 2) was an offshoot from my original Red Lion. It had never bloomed before and my original Red Lion took 4 years before it bloomed (after forced dormancy). Amaryllis 2 has a flower scape! That was a big surprise. I was actually scheduled to dig up my 2 Red Lions this month to give them away to someone who lives in a home with taller ceilings (because my Red Lions grow taller than 36") and just buy myself a few mini Hippeastrum (saw a couple of online stores selling them). Now, I'm curious to test if subjecting another Red Lion to alcohol for a few months, then resuming regular watering will induce flower scape production. Nah, not that curious. I'd rather have mini Hippeastrums.

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. I just discovered the Sonatinis last fall, and nothing has given me so much gardening pleasure in a long time. From Brent and Becky's I got Fire Dancer, Lemon Sorbet, and Ballerina (all South African). They came out of the shipping box and went right into bloom. I gave one out which I will not get back I guess, but all the rest bloomed and then leafed out and are still going just fine under my LED lights. All the bulbs came a little smaller than a tennis ball and all that I have left have added a little girth; so...