Hey Dutch,

That used to be the case here in Cambridge (Boston) MA too but in recent years it has changed tremendously. I remember when I was younger, the ground was still frozen with small piles of snow here and there. now the ground not only unfrozen but all the daffodils and some tulips are in bloom and all my peonies are at least 8" tall.

I too was feeling the spring fever and risked going out to my front yard to do some quick clean up before things grow even taller and I'll never be able to get to them. I'm glad you're home and please keep safe and sound.

Ok, I don't know how I missed all these gorgeous flowers!!! Amazing everyone!

Vlad, you have some gorgeous and different cultivars. What is the name of the flower under the picture of Revelation and do you grow these in the ground?

Hi Fred,

Probably 5-6 inches of snow with at least a 4" accumulation. It has been snowing all day, but no wind; so it was not a blizzard. I think I will wait a day or so before I go out, and it should all have melted off by then.

Oh Joan, this feels almost like zone 2 or 3 to me, a total different reality. I am glad thought that you can work from home. After 5 weeks of home office, I can say it is not easy, but I keep going on. My tech job pays well the bills and this is the only way to continue with the big plans I have for the plants. And snow after all is actually a great protector, especially for those plants that have sprouted and of course for the trees. I remember my grandma said: “Snow is your best friend in winter and in spring”...

Thank you Jody. These two pictures were taken in the greenhouse of my favorite breeder in Holland and yes, they are grown in open ground. The one on the second picture is still a number, while the one on the last is Maestro, my favorite. I shall have it in bloom in some weeks, have saved the best for last (in summer they tend to go more colored due to the sun). I love them all (probably well above 200 different ones by now, I stoped counting at a certain point). Love growing different ones and creating new crazy ones, have a soft spot for the little varieties, reds and of course cybisters.

Everyone, please take care of your families. It will get better!

Could not resist it, here is another favorite red (well, almost)

Gorgeous and one of my favorites too :-)))

And another red beauty (which I like a lot actually): Red Extra, a H. papilio hybrid

Florris Hekker vs Rapido, which one do you like more?

They're both beautiful but I like Floris Hekker because the blooms last a little longer. Unfortunately, Rapido lives up to it's name in that it blooms all at one and the beautiful blooms don't last that long :-(((

They last quite long with me (growing it for some years now). Do you know what is better at this? Scarlet Baby! Pretty similar flowers to Rapido, just smaller and with a more pronounced sheen and they last forever!

Yes and she's one of my favorites. I have a special love for the smaller growing ones :-)))) I also have a very small growing cultivar called Little Devil, but it hasn't flowered for a few years now. Hopefully this year, with a good fertilizing regimen, she will.

Fred, I am looking for Little Devil for years... Is it smaller than Scarlet Baby? Do you also know Vesuvius?

Little devil is a very cute and small cultivar with a scape height of about 20cm. I have heard of Vesuvius but that cultivar as well as Little Devil are very difficult to get in the U.S. and I think they may out of production :-(((((

I happen do have an offset of Vesuvius and it grows happily. Little Devil sounds like a dream

I present you a little, dark tresure:

Mini King

Mini King is quite handsome! I like the dark filaments with the contrasting pop of yellow pollen!

An explosion of dark reds, which one is your favorite?

I like the small, extra dark red in the front, slightly to the left of the photo. They're all very pretty!

A new variety, called Mini King

There's a sheen to the second from the right, plus its starry form, that appeals to me. :)

Red Pearl

Another true red, which I love:

Dynamite

This is a true beauty, Vlad! I start to like the reds more and more. I usually buy them as cut flowers, but maybe I should add one to my bulb collection too... :-))

There are so many lovely reds, that is hard to resist. Here is Lion King, huge flowers (25 cm and more):

I definitely prefer Dynamite. For me it has the perfect shape.

Here are a lot of Red Garden blooms

Hi Vlad,

What an impressive pot of beauties!!!! I love reds and these are a perfect example of them.

Would you like some Fred? I sure do not need so many of them and they multiply like crazy

What are they, Vlad? Red Garden? They're gorgeous, especially because there are so many of them alltogether!

Yes, these are Red Garden. Best part about it is that it accepts easily any pollen, unlike White Garden

Are these new bulbs or are you growing them for several years now? Is this really one cluster?

These are new bulbs Anja, 8 of them to be precise or 2 clusters as they offer them now. For some reason, Red and Pink Garden stick much less together than the other two, White and Striped Garden, which really grow like a cluster

Here is Red Beauty, something new

Hi Vlad,
This is absolute gorgeous!!!! I've never heard of this beauty, is it one of your wonderful creations?

Just beautiful!! Love that color with the green throat!! :-))

Oh I wish Fred, but no, this is A. Barnhorn’s new creation. It was realeased this season on the market

This is really beautiful; Vlad! I hope my bulb will wake up soon too! It reminds me of the Yungacense x Papilio Hybrid I'm growing. Not the shape of course but the colors, especially the green throat.

Vlad,

Is Red Beauty available to the public or is it one of those "not for sale" exclusives? Thanks to the lovely folks on this list via Ebay, I have a number of papilio x yungacense, papilio x mandonii & papilio x (yungacense x mandonii) coming along. If they're anything as beautiful as this, I'll be over the moon!!!

I bet some will be ever more special than these, Fred.

They are available within the EU, shall I send you one?

Vlad,
Oh my goodness, thank you soooo much 😁😁😁 that would be incredible but you MUST let me reimburse you.

At least for the delivery

Vlad,
Absolutely and for the bulb too, I insist!!!!

Here is a heilroom from Ukraine that was barely 1 cm across last year when I have got her. Do we like her? A cutsie, 8 cm across

Yes, we do:-))))

Vlad,

She's precious and reminds me of a red puniceum maybe?

It could be Fred, they call is Naughty Lady

Grand Diva in its true tone

My favorite color is - would be, I mean - symbolized by "aubergine purple". I think this color is yet to be attained.

I love that "color" in the vegetable garden. The purple eggplants are a very nice color contrast there as well as being very edible. But for hippies it is still a nice rich red that is my favorite flower color. For that matter for tulips, too.

Hello friend, I agree. A rich, red color - which we can already discover in the good old "Red Lion" which color looks "blazing" provides a good fraction of the "magic" in Knight Star lilies (Hippeastrrums) - and I had just purchased one (it yielded 3 scapes, 4 florets each, a nice reward for the 4 Euros I had spent on the bulb) in order to INDULGE in the red phaenomenon AGAIN. Nevertheless, in the German cut flower market, "Red Lion" had been replaced through "Liberty" then, and is replaced by "Ferrari" right now, and I can only guess why.