Absolutely gorgeous flower!

Billy Rae

My SIL's amaryllis is blooming right now also. My Naked Lady Amaryllis has not once bloomed since planting them about 5 years ago. I know those bulbs must be huge because they were well over 4 inches diameter when I planted them. The leaves come out every year, but nary a bud.

Just stunning Karen, thanks for the lovely treat; its markings (dark on lighter) are quite striking! I never knew these could flower other than in Winter, my lesson for the day ;>)

That's a beauty! The background yard area looks lush and wonderful, too.

I have to say, that I often look at the blooms pictured on the forums & think to myself, "How attractive", and move on. I have come back to this thread now for the third time; not because I thought the commentary in subsequent posts would be especially interesting - I came back to enjoy looking at the bloom. What a beauty, Karen!

Al

Wow, what a nice response. Thank you, Billy Rae, Mentha, Karen, Jen and Al.

'Charisma' is my favorite Hippeastrum. This one barely survived its first winter. Right after I bought the bulb, it put up four bloom stalks, one after the other, without actually rooting. I thought it was going to rot out and die, but it did eventually produce roots after several months. By then the bulb was so small and used up, I thought it would be years before it flowered again, so I am happy to see the flower now, even at such an odd time. (We manipulate Hippeastrums to bloom in the winter, and the natural bloom time, if I recall correctly, is early spring.)

Today I discovered Charisma isn't the only one. I have a NOID white bloomer putting up a stalk, too.

Jodik would really like this one - I'll drop her a line to be sure she doesn't miss it.

Al

When I lived in Nebraska I had an excellent gardening friend--I'm sure she's gardening in Paradise now!--who grew Hippeastrum very well. She had lived in California for some years until her husband died and she moved back home, and she said down there they bloomed twice for her every year, spring and fall. I grow mine in the ground here in south Louisiana, and they don't usually bloom but once, but I've had one noid that's bloomed a second time already this year. There are also some that are supposed to be re-bloomers--not the big gorgeous ones like Charisma (one of my favorites too)but more nearly species. Mauro's Dream is one which has repeated for me and I just got it last year.

I want to thank Al for bringing this to my attention... it's a lovely Charisma! And, I'd like to thank Karen for sharing her beautiful hippeastrum blooms with the rest of us!

You should pop over to the Amaryllis/Hippeastrum forum for more gorgeous flower photos... and tons of great culture information on these wonderful bulbs! It's a bit slow right now, but as fall begins, the conversations pick up pace, and the photos begin! I can promise you a world of bulb photos unlike anything you've ever seen!

I am also in zone 5, Central Illinois... I began with one lowly Minerva bulb, and have since collected over 50 different varieties, including some species! Growing and breeding them has become quite a wonderful hobby for me, and for lots of other people around the world! We're a friendly group, always happy to share information and photos of the bulbs we love so much! Come join us!

Al has been so helpful, and from him, I've learned a lot about how to keep my hippeastrums healthy and growing strong!

Hippeastrums are great houseplants... and once you learn how easy they are to grow and re-bloom, they can easily get under your skin! My collection continues to grow... you could say I'm completely addicted to them... and always happy to enable others to become hippeastrum lovers, too!