Every year, I gift my daughter and two daughters-in-law with Amaryllis bulbs for Christmas... I don't buy them until December, usually. I will buy the kits, dump the pot and soil that come with them, and pot the bulbs in clay pots using a very porous, gritty medium. By getting them later, the girls will be able to watch the scapes grow and open into blooms, and then can care for them as they please. It's normal for most of the hybrid varieties of Hippeastrum to grow rather tall scapes/stems. I don't think think there's any way to make them shorter. I have a Lemon Star that is about 2 feet tall. Some varieties are taller than others... as long as they're getting enough light, they'll grow fine. As for the rot... you can carefully unearth the bulb, and using a clean, sharp knife or blade, cut away any rotting flesh, taking care not to cut the basal plate at the bottom of the bulb (where the roots grow from). Dust the raw flesh with Captan powder, or another anti-fungal powder, and re-pot, making sure to keep the cut part of the bulb above soil level. It's ok to have the bulb very close to the soil surface... just stake the bulb so it doesn't fall over. This can be as simple as a couple of thin wooden stakes stuck in the soil, tied loosely around the scapes or leaves. In other words, support the bulb so it doesn't fall out of the pot. It will heal and root into the soil just fine. My advice would be to buy next years bulbs a bit later... or buy the kits and give those as gifts. Also... take care when watering... Hippeastrum bulbs do not like wet feet, so allow the soil to dry out in between waterings. I hope some of this helps you...

I ran across this most excellent link last summer where Emmerich wrote about her experiences in hybridizing on the robin. I can't find the link but saved it as a word doc, so excuse the format. It was very helpful for me reading it as to get a perspective of what it's like to hybridize. Debbie, I think the majority of your ?'s will be answered here, at least from one hybridizer's perspective. Stamile is usually pretty good about helping folks out in his descriptions. An Excerpt from a post (with permission) from the DAYLILY robin. Subject: Pedigree charts - do you or don't you? From Karol Emmerich in very chilly Minneapolis, Zone 4, Region 1, where the sun is finally shining and the days are getting longer. Hybridizing season will start here in the greenhouse in about 2 months - pretty soon I will start to count the days:-) Donna Lockman asked about keeping pedigrees. When I started breeding daylilies seriously, I looked at what the leading hybridizers were doing and tried to figure out what I'd need to do to be able to produce flowers that could equal that kind of quality. 1. Numbers - Many leading hybridizers produce vast quantities of new seedlings each year - 30,000 to 70,000 are not uncommon. Most of them live in warmer climates than Minnesota, so they can plant seed- lings relatively close together and see the results of their efforts relatively quickly. Up here, we need to plant seedlings about a foot apart, because by the time they bloom on a decent scape, they're often clump size and would crowd anything planted closer. I knew that the acreage required to plant and irri- gate and the effort to weed and evaluate that many seedlings would be impossible for me. However, I noticed that there were a few outstanding hybridizers who only did 5000-7000 seedlings a year, so I fig- ured there was at least a possibility that I could succeed at those numbers. I decided that the best path for me was to spend more time on the thinking end of my crosses - working as smart as I could, rather than relying on the numbers game. It would require keeping the very best records about parentage that I could and gleaning every bit of information from them. 2. Parents - Obviously, using good parents is very important. But how does one figure out which of the many pretty ones on the market are good parents? (Over the years, I've found that gorgeous flowers can produce ugly kids and ugly ones can produce stars.) Frankly, the only way to know which plants are good breeders is to actually see the kinds of kids they produce. Some hybridizers show that kind of in- formation in their presentations and on their websites - many more do not. So my approach has been to do lots of experimentation. I started off doing tons of short crosses (3-5 seeds per cross), carefully label- ling each and compiling data. My main goal in the early years was amassing vast amounts of information about how each plant I was using would breed. I number each promising seedling and note its parents (and the parentage of those parents). I make a notebook of each year's seedlings, and include all rele- vant data. I also develop a master book each year that sorts what I've planted by pollen parent and then by pod parent. Each night I record the results of that day's promising seedlings. I'm able to quickly dis- cover if certain parents crop up again and again, and I'm able to use that information to make crosses the next day. Once I find a superparent, I will use it in many crosses. After ten years, I'm still making short crosses, although I will make heavy bets on a given pod or pollen parent - using them with many other parents. Over the years, through all the record-keeping, I've learned how specific plants work - which ones give good scapes or height or hardiness or dormancy or good color or large flowers or consistent "breaks" in looks. When I find those that consistently produce breaks in looks - and there aren't many that do - I use them a lot, since that's what makes hybridizing such fun to see something that's never ex- isted before. When I prepare slide shows, I will often show the complete family tree, often going back 5 or more generations - to demonstrate exactly how I got to a given seedling or new introduction. Not only is this informative to those in the audience interested in the thought process of making crosses, but it also teaches me a lot about what I might want to do in making crosses for the next season. I also learn a lot of interesting things - for example, lavenders started showing up all over the place this past year from different parents, none of which was even close to lavender. I was able to trace almost all of them back to a common sharky purple grandparent. Donna asked about unknown parents. I try very hard to keep tags with each cross, and just to be sure, right after planting, I make a map of the entire site. Time con- suming, to say the least, and not for everyone. Sometimes, despite best efforts, before the map is made, the tags can be off by a plant or two. And if they're not mapped, after 3 years, the tags can fade or break or be eaten by a deer or fall into a hole dug by a critter. Karol at springwoodgardens.com Page 20 20 Breeding basics  Karol Emmerich (this is primarily notes and a listingÂintended as primer and a rough outline) - Put Tet with Tet, dip with dip - Use pollen thatÂs viable: 1) not the white stuff 2) Can freeze it or 3) can pick the flower in the morning and put it in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. - Make sure to buy at least some daylilies which are pod fertile - Think about what you want to achieve  eyes with edges, reds with white edges, pinks with sharks teeth, exotics, and spiders  and what you think might help you get there. - Cross with the best things you can afford  what does the best mean? Based on what youÂre try- ing to achieve. If youÂre having a problem with fanciness, buy the fanciest things you can, but unless youÂre working in a GH, make sure theyÂre winter hardy. If a problem with branching, choose well branched parents. If a problem with things too short, choose taller parents. If colors are dull, buy things with rich clear color. Study the genetics, and see if you can learn how the plant breeds. Some pretty parents are duds, and some ugly ones  like Darla Anita  make gorgeous, well-branched kids. How to learn how a plant breeds? Not always easy. Some folks  like me  share all their crosses. Many wonÂt, since they consider it a competitive secret. But if youÂre spending $250 for a plant, would be nice to have some idea. In my catalogue this year, I showed a number of the seedlings from Heartbeat of Heaven, plus many more on the website  and at all the events I spoke at this year and last, I distributed a list of all the crosses I made to get its kids and grandkids  and will share them with anyone who e-mails. That said, my introduction this year called Peace Beyond Understanding was never bred with before it went on the market at a higher than average price. I didnÂt understand what possibilities might be locked up in it the way Larry Grace, the renowned yellow breeder did. He looked at height and great scape and Tet Siloam Ralph Henry and figured it was a good bet. - Line breeding can help you move quickly, although it will still be someone elseÂs look. A number of folks cross Stamile pinks with each other, for example, and theyÂll get pretty Stamile-looking pinks. But an important goal for anyone doing this seriously is to eventually get your own look  the way youÂll see IÂve done with purples. - When you make a cross, think about what the outcome might be. Make the cross with the thought that the kids will be better in some way than the parents youÂre working with. Take the flower with you when you breed  try to look at the face carefully and see how it seems to go with the other one  I used to try to do it from memory or pictures, but you lose the subtleties of color and form and patterns. LetÂs talk about characteristics that are dominant when you breed, for better or worse: Most important for northerner is hardiness! ItÂs the platform on which the flower is built  with- out that, you have nothing. While itÂs possible to get hardy seedlings with tender parents  e.g. Intelligent Design from Ancient Reflections and Mask of Eternity  youÂre more likely to get lots of holes  see my 16399 and its kids  or Tet Painted Rose  etc. Unless you want lots of holes, make sure that at least one of the parents is very hardy  preferably both. I admit that this has been my biggest challenge, since I used lots of tender things because of their fancy faces  which is what the northern plants were missing. ItÂs also harder to work with some hardy dormants in the GH  many donÂt look good or branch or multiply well  thatÂs why I tag all my dormants inside and make sure I donÂt throw them away. And I leave them outside until I know if theyÂre good or not. Page 21 21 Next, if the flower wonÂt open, you donÂt really have a flower. Best to use good openers with good openers, untangled with untangled. If you love a slow opener that has other wonderful characteristics  like the great color in Vatican City and Joan Derifield, or one that gets easily tangled on its ruffles, use it with a terrific opener. For example, I wanted to do purples, but knew that a lot of them were out of the Tet Grand Masterpiece line that is very dominant in terms of poor opening in the mornings  Shaka Zulu, Mountain Majesty, Vatican City. So I used the tender Lifting Me Higher, which flopped open all the purples. Poor bud count also appears to be dominant. Every once in a while 2 low bud count parents will give you decent bud count, but not worth the agony  make sure at least one is good. This year IÂm using one thatÂs to die for pretty and a huge breeding break with 8 buds  but only on things with 30 plus buds. Short scapes are dominant. My Rock of Salvation is only 18-22"  good bud count and makes gorgeous kids  but a large percentage of them are 18-20" which I consider shorter than de- sirable on a 7" flower. Larry Grace produced the most beautiful yellow faces in the world  with good branching  but he started with short scapes  things like Larry Grace, Key Lime Ice, etc  and got them so bred into his lines, that most of his things are short  the reason he went nuts for Peace Beyond Understanding, and why the plants heÂs buying to start his new breeding program are lots taller. I personally like ones that are at least 30 inches  hard for me to cross on shorter ones at all  I just donÂt want to bend over to look at them  but if they have a great scape and gorgeous flower, IÂll put them with something very tall and pray. Nasty foliage is dominant. Most things out of Shimmering Elegance will show leaf streak, includ- ing my Rock of Salvation. So why introduce it if too short and sometimes bad foliage? A huge breeding break in terms of size and form, and folks who see it gasp. Best to avoid it  can take a couple of generations to get around  but sometimes you need what the other characteristics can bring to the table. Rot is dominant  not a big problem in the north, except that many things that rot in the heat and moisture of the south will winter rot here  the AdmiralÂs Braid line, Larry Grace, Key Lime, Ed Brown, Ancient Reflections, etc. Just be sure to put a rotter with a non-rotter. IÂve found that Pat StamileÂs pinks are usually a good match for rotters and seem to inoculate the seedlings against it. That said, I understand that a lot of PatÂs pinks get rust  again, not a problem for us, but might be something to think about when selling your plants in the south  except most of them spray anyway. My big concern is hardiness, and PatÂs older things have been critical in bringing that to my program. As I said earlier, virtually every flower has a flaw. Eyes appear to be dominant. Nasty color is often dominant. I know that if you cross 2 things with a "matte" finish or a muddy color, youÂre unlikely to get crystal clear color. From the outset, I tossed those, so now I donÂt have to worry a lot about it. I think if you use clear daylilies with each other, the babies will be clear. But I also know that nasty Darla Anita can give some gorgeous clear kids. Substance can be dominant  all of the kids of thick Rock of Salvation are thick. Many of the spidery and exotic things from the south breed thin. Lack of sunfastness is another issue to deal with in darker things, and I think itÂs also dominant. I love purples, many of which melt  so I used Lifting Me Higher and Tet Lavender Blue Baby, which have no traditional purple breeding in their background, and as a result, most of my purple kids are sunfast. IÂve also found that if you use darker things that have yellow in their background theyÂll be more sunfast. Page 22 22 Bloom season  not sure on this one, but I know that almost all my purples out of Late Mid to Early Late Heartbeat of Heaven are also LM to EL. When making selections, look for all these things, plus: Insect resistance  aphids and thrips in particular. Some are thrip or aphid magnets  I donÂt know if they pass this on, but not worth taking the chance? In any event, introduce only if blooms are usu- ally flawless. Watch out for premature openers  might be passed on  thatÂs where they start to open the night before and dew or water gets in. Look for well-spaced branching. Ideally look for things that are self-cleaning instead of gloppy, but frankly, that one is low on my list unless a HUGE mess. CMO appears to be dominant

If I find them when in bloom,I try to set a pod on the scape This will keep the prolif growing and maturing as long as the scape is green I air layer the profif on expensive cultivars after setting pods. Some growers use Dap paste to cause prolifs Charlie

I agree that a lot of unusual occurrences are weather related. Smorz's comment re stress and instability also make sense, as does Dave's - becoming more aware of our hostas in general makes us automatically zero in on anything unusual. Dave, your remarks encapsulate brilliantly. I think more and more of us are "stopping to smell the roses" - not just admiring them from a distance. Flower scapes on Krossa Regal are tall but not as tall as last year, Sagae had noticeably shorter ones. Pandora's Box is re blooming with 2 new scapes! It came with 2 flower scapes back in May when I first got it. Generally speaking, in my garden it appears that flowering on ALL perennials is earlier than last year...even with our very late spring. I attribute that to our cooler nights and fluctuating temperatures.