How could you possibly be angry at such a beautiful face???

Oh, I could imagine one or two reasons to be angry at the most beautiful cat of the world - but not for a long time:-) He is truly adorable, Blanca!

This is my third attempt to post :-((( let's try this one last time. This is my "mini" striatum blooming at just around 10 inches (24cm) and she's a little darling :-)))

She's very pretty!!

Fred, she is really cute! I have a bud on my H. striatum too, it will be the first bloom of H. striatum for me but it will need some more time to open :-)))

Anja,

Definitely send pictures when she blooms :-)))))

Fred,

Sorry that posting is still problematic, but I really enjoyed your photo!

Jody, its gorgeous! Did you buy this bulb or did you grow it from seeds?

A self sounds excellent :-) Fingers crossed!

Oh Jody, just beautiful!! I'm thinking you got this from Telos as I have one too but mine has not bloomed yet. Definitely something to look forward too!! Thanks for sharing and yes, a self sounds like the way to go with one flower at least!!

Anja as Donna thought, his is a Telos bulb and the flowers seem to get better each year. Let's hope I get lots of seeds to share! Donna, I hope yours bloom this year as it is even prettier in person.

Words escape me at the sight of such beauty...

Jody, what do you think of putting H. Neopardinum
x psittacinum pollen on a plain white? Just a thought if you have one blooming...

I have this pot of Sonatinis: #1623 opening its first flower while Sunshine is already fading. The small trumpet is from the same bunch of Sonatini bulbs.

Lovely bright and cheerful looking, Anja!

This was supposed to be striped garden, but I don't mind since she is pretty, small and scented! Unfortunately her flowers are faded and it is to late to pollinate. Anja I refrigerated some pollen from the neopardinum psittacinum cross in case I get another bloom.

Blanca has been so kind (as usual) in letting me know that this (neopardinum x psittacinum) is most likely a diploid and, as such woudl be expected to be self-sterile. She did encourage me to try anyway as, well, you never know lol. Since I don't think I could improve this lovely flower, I am trying this cross to try to get a seedling that had more of the traits of one of its parents. I am taking a gardening class this year where I was told that I should have a purpose for any breeding I do. That should cut down on the seedlings, right? Lol. - Jody

Hi Jody,

I have one of your beautiful crosses of this one and I can only hope it's as beautiful as yours. It's still a little small but definitely getting bigger and may flower by next season due to a "new" fertilizer. I have been using the "blue stuff" since last summer and the ones I brought up from the basement have turned into mutants :-))) I have a Neon Rose at work that's about to flower and the scape is over 2 feet tall!!!! I highly recommend this stuff, especially for us northern growers that have no choice but to grow them in pots :-)))

Fred, can you send me more info on the "blue stuff"? I wonder if it can help the seedlings to grow and flower faster. I used the spray 'thrive' on them and they seem to be growing fast, but I didn't think to use a control group, so I don't know if it is faster, lol.

I am glad that your bulb of the neo cross is growing, but can't take credit for it as it is a Telos bulb.
They might have been seedlings, but, since yours is an offset of mine, it should flower the same. Oh, do we get to name her?

I love neon rose! It does send out tall scapes and since it likes to be crowded it can put out an incredible display when the bulbs are all blooming. Would love to see a pic if you get a chance. - Jody

Hi Jody,

This is the "blue stuff" I use for most of my plants. In the summer I use the all purpose full strength a couple of times a month and regular water/rain in between to flush out the salt build up. In late winter, I use it at 1/2 tsp per gallon every other week. The blossom booster is for late winter early spring regime.

Oy....for some goofy reason or other I can't post picture of what's currently blooming and I've already tried twice. I'll give it a shot later and see if it goes through.

Anja,

OMG!!!! That cluster of Sweet Lillian is glorious :-))) Your sweet little boy Timmi has very good taste. Your Terra Mystica looks beautiful too :-))) For some reason, mine hasn't done too well this year :-((( It looked like it was ready to send up a scape, then all of a sudden...it aborted. I'll try some TLC on it and hope for the best next year.

Both beautiful!! Timmi is living the life of love and luxury and isn't he the lucky boy!! My Terra Mystica bloomed very early in the season and I've got some scapes on my Sweet Lilians but not a pot full like yours!!

I'm still thinking whether there are different clones of Sweet Lilian or not. If you look at the many pictures RC has on its website you will find that some look more like your pink SL blooms and some look like mine. What do you think?

https://royalcolors.com/amaryllis/sweet-lilian/

Anja, your bulb is astoundingly prolific, and I love the photos of her floriferous family!

I attribute the differences we’re seeing to the increasing use of tissue culture in propagation, which is known to induce genetic variations.

Anja, I agree, Terra Mystica is a must have. When it first came out, I passed, but after hearing so much praise on this forum, I ordered one and was not disappointed. The color is truly smoldering and the picotee completes the picture. Your Sweet Lillian is amazing! Love the simple, lovely beauty of her. I am adding more pots with multiple bulbs as I really like the bouquet of flowers when they bloom together. Also, the larger pots are usually deeper which some of these bulbs like. Someone suggested buying seedling tree pots which I might try.

Fred, thanks for the info on the "blue stuff",I'm going to try it. I'll let you know how it works.

Hopefully this comes through as it's my fourth attempt...sigh.

Here is my exceptionally tall Neon Rose that I had to back up against the wall to fit it in the frame.

Here's one that just opened this past weekend.

Pajama Party

The base of that scape is beautifully colored. It will complement the flowers.

Signing off until Tuesday...

Wow!!! You weren't kidding!!! I don't think I have ever seen one that tall! Pretty though, as is PP.

Here's my Bogota :-))) One of my favorites.

Fred, Both Party and Bogota are beautiful, Bogota being one of my favorites too!! I have buds coming on both vatieties so you are a few weeks ahead of mine.

Well...it's an icky snowy and cold morning but my Neon Rose opened two of her pretty blooms over night that are helping to brighten the day :-)))))

Fred, thank you for sharing your beautiful flowers with us! And I love your Bogota overlooking the jungle:-)

Here is the H. Striatum. one flower is somehow damaged but the other is very elegant. I did not know that it would be so tiny! I love it :-)

Anja,

Your #1623 is gorgeous, full of speckles, lovely markings and thick picotee!! What's not to love!

Your striatum is adorable, I'm still waiting for mine to re-bloom.

Congratulations!! I ''love'' your Sonatini Pink Rascal x Emerald, it's beautiful!! If you could take another picture when its shape comes in or more flowers are open, we'd love to see it in its final form. I'll bet you can't wait to see the sister seedling, we can't either!!

Joey really loves it too and sends his congratulations also; he's having trouble posting!!

Donna

Anja, I love your photos!

(Pink Rascal x Emerald) is very interesting. I’m wondering if your ‘Sweet Lilian’ would accept its pollen, Sonatini #1623 pollen, or the reverse crosses: (Sonatini #1623 x Sweet Lilian) and (Pink Rascal x Emerald) x Sweet Lilian. Depending on compatibility, (Pink Rascal x Emerald) x Sonatini #1623 and Sonatini #1623 x (Pink Rascal x Emerald) also intrigue.

Love 1623, love spots!!! Your Pink Rascal x Emerald cross is so elegant. Looking forward to her siblings,

Oh Blanca, actually I had the idea not to do so much (if any!) pollination work this season! Actually I thought I was quite successful until now because I did not collect any pollen except of H. aulicum. But of course I will try some of your suggestions :-)))

I understood from what I read that Sweet Lilian may be sterile but her pollen works sometimes on other varieties. I also had no luck with #1623, neither as a pod partner nor with its pollen. But we will see maybe I just did not select the right partners...

Here are seedling one with two flowers open and seedling two with almost four flowers open in the background. They are quite similar but #1 is a little more curvy and the star is more pronounced and goes till the end of the petals while #2 has slightly bigger blooms and will have all four open at the same time.

I have another Emerald cross flowering for the first time: H554 x Emerald.

Anja, Both seedlings #1 and #2 are beautiful, I find it hard to tell them apart! Great job, you should be proud!!

I think when your #554 x Emerald opens the rest of the flower, it too will be eye catching!! Congratulations!!!!

Actually, I'm now on my other laptop and the picture is much more clear and i can see the beautiful lines on this flower as well as all the flowers to come!! Spectacular!!

Hopefully, they will all make offsets and you will soon have a pot full of each of all three of them!!

Ooh, ooh, ooh, Anja! My eyes are absolutely delighted. I think that you vastly improved H554 and WOW six flowers on her maiden flowering. My sincere compliments to you! I apologize for overwhelming you with ideas regarding your lovely (Pink Rascal x Emerald). My mind was spinning with possibilities.

I haven’t ever been successful in obtaining seed from ‘Sweet Lilian.’ However, I do have one or two seedlings with SL as the pollen parent. An eBay seller in the UK listed (Sweet Lilian x La Paz) seeds and specified “crosses guaranteed correct.” On a Russian forum, there was a photo of seedlings that were represented as (Sweet Lilian x Red Pearl) and (Sweet Lilian x Red Lion), but this is anecdotal information.

Although giant flowers are not my personal preference, one of the goals of Hippeastrum breeding is to produce larger, thicker petaled, longer lasting flowers. As diploids are crossed with tetraploid cultivars, we are seeing more and more sterile triploids. Some hypothesize that sterile plants may make more flowers because they aren’t using their resources for seed production.

Hi Fred,

I forgot to ask you to please post more photos of your pretties and to comment on the lushness of your jungle. :-)

Hi Blanca,

Thank you for kind words :-) We had a snowstorm early this week and a cold week to follow and we're getting a bit stir crazy!!!! Here's a couple of shots of the "jungle" that helps to keep me as sane as I can be :-)))

This is my one of seedling trays

And a wider view. Pardon the mess in the background :-))

Here's a triplet of Amputo that should have some open blooms pretty soon.

Quito that just opened today.

Last but not least a close enough relative, a clivia I grew from seed. This is Chandelier x High Noon (an interspecific pendulous variety) and her bright blooms are also helping to chase the blahs away.

Fred, your seedlings look amazing so neat and orderly, and healthy and I am such a slob!!

Will my Quito look like that!!! I can only hope so, it beautiful!!

Oh Fred!

I love your seedling racks and the additional views of your "jungle."

That is the most beautiful 'Quito' I've ever seen! Congrats on the Clivia too.

Is your 'Amputo' with three scapes a new bulb, or a rebloomer? When all those buds open, it's going to be spectacular. I adore the trumpets, so please post photos.

Hi Blanca,

Thank you :-))) I bought the Amputo last fall so it's her maiden blooming and I will definitely post pics when the blooms open.

Fred, these are all so beautiful!!! Your setup is drool inspiring lol! Everything is so lush and green. You obviously treat them well.

Fred, I can't wait to see your Amputo bloom! I love trumpets and Amputo is so elegant.