(Worsleya / Scadoxus)
Is this Amaryllis?!
Is that Hippeastrum?!

I assume that you will be far more fortunate in the BulbsForum

Hans-Werner

Hello
Worsleya is an amaryllis native to Brazil commonly referred to as the "blue amaryllis"
This list is limited to only two members of the Amaryllidaceae family??
A google will net lots of pix but no sources in the US.....Thanks
gary

Hi Gary ,I grow 4 scadoxus species and they are very easy to grow provided you never let them get too wet.
Worsleya I find very difficult I have had three tries for three loses so I have given up at $100 for a small Worsleya bulb I will not bother trying again .I have friends who live nearby who grow them with great success.
regards
Stephen

Stephen
Yikes,I have a feeling they won't be able to take the Florida heat.Guess I'll stick with the easies lol Thanks
gary

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Hi Gary,
Have you tried Shields Gardens?They have scadoxus, didn't see the worsleya listed. I'll try linking below. Lora

Here is a link that might be useful: Shields Gardens

Gary, I posted on the Tropical forum but will post here also. The Sardoxus can be aquired on e-bay. It will be very easy for you. It can be planted out in your garden without a problem. The Worsleya is as treasured as the Blue Hope Diamond, if you don't have the cash, you ain't gonna get the jewels.

The only person that I know of that grows this beauty is John Ingram, you will have to go to his site; www.floralarchitecture.com and then contact him privately. The last time I checked, just a seedling was still beyond my price range.

Yeah, Scadoxus multiflorus is easy to grow.....basically think of it as a Hippeastrum but give it better drainage. I'm just about to recieve from South Africa my Haemanthus (related...in fact, the Scadoxus has been moved between genera I believe) that I ordered.....I'm quite excited about those guys....I got the haemanthus humilis humilis 'giant' :o) Dan

I have seen Worsleya on ebay just today. One plant for $51 plus shipping if anyone is interested. I am thinking on getting this plant, but if it really takes so much attention to grow, I'd rather stick to hippeastrums.

I do like the flower color, but I'm not experienced enough to spend that much for one bulb! There are several other bulb types I'd like to try, but I'm going to wait until I have had a bit of time and success with my Hippeastrums...

Worsleya has this wonderful leaf system. If you search for it on the web, you can find millions of pictures. The flower is just a bonus. It is very hard to start and it matures slowly, if I understand right, so that is why it is so expensive. It would be nice to try, but I am sticking to amaryllis right now. Too much is too much, I am thinking about getting rid of my spider lillies (hymenocallis) too. Beautiful flower, but they were so tall and awkward that they did not really fit inside of the house like amaryllis does. If I had had them lifted, I would have sent one to you in the package, Cindee. But they are still retracting and drying up their leaves, so I am not bothering them just yet. Maybe, when the Royal Colors order comes, I will have them ready already.

Oh Soultan, Soultan, Soultan...
like I needed another quest.

If I could afford it I would have to have one!

: )

I just found out we have a dozen Naked Ladies on the way! I've been wanting some for a while now, but was having problems finding them at a decent price... those will go out in the garden and should be fine with a nice layer of mulch.

At some point, I want to try some spider lilies in containers, and a few other lilies I've seen. I'm really into lilies lately, no idea why, other than the fact that they are beautiful plants...

I've seen pictures of the Worsleya... strange growth habit!

Good lord, jodik, they are a common flower where I live. You see them ALL OVER THE PLACE! LOL! Some of them have been around some of the historic sites for over one hundred years and grow all the time around here. Many people have them bordering their gardens or in an old place in the back garden or somewhere similar.

Wish I had known you were having such a hard time finding them; I could perhaps have helped you out there!

It's not so much that I couldn't find them, Hopflower, it's that I couldn't find the hardy variety of Naked Ladies, and at a reasonable price! From what I gather, there are a couple of types... those that grow in warmer climates, Amaryllis Belladonna... and those that can survive a bit father north, Lycoris squamigera. Being in zone 5, I don't think the belladonna lilies would make it here, and I'm fairly certain that's the type you see all over the place in California!

I appreciate the thought, though, of your help in locating them! If it were the belladona lilies I wanted, I'd take you up on your offer of help!

Being in zone 5 really limits me in the kinds of beautiful lilies I can grow... we have daylilies, orientals, asiatics, orienpets, and few others... but even some of the new varieties of those types are only hardy to zone 6 with mulch... it's rather frustrating... I see all these really neat lilies in the catalogs and on websites, and I can't grow them here! Not unless I want to care for THAT many pots of plants and bring them all in for winter! And that's exactly why I don't grow Cannas or Dahlias or Glads... I don't want my enjoyment of gardening to turn into a huge chore!

Right. I see what you mean there. We have those pink ones with the brown stems (belladonna) that you mentioned. I mean, they are all over the place! We also have some of the Lycoris you have as well. But by far the most common are the belladonna.

Believe me, Hopflower... if I could move west or south, I would! I would love to retire in a gardening zone that allows for more plant varieties and types to be grown, and where I didn't have to dig things up before winter or move containers around every year... I despise really cold weather! It doesn't like me, either!

But... I'm stuck in the north! The husband won't even think about moving south! He says that he couldn't live in a place where there wasn't a good, hard freeze to kill bacterias, viruses and where Mother Nature didn't "cleanse" herself with cold every year! While he's right in certain respects, I still think living another zone or 2 farther south would be better for our bones! :-)

Then you just have to convince him to move just a LITTLE Souther... That might help. That is still better than not moving at all if you don't like the weather so much... I love California weather. Sometimes I have nostalgic thought of show, then I shiver. :o)

I was born in a cold, wet climate too; jodik. I am an immigrant to America and my mum used to say that she would prefer to go home than stay here, but for the weather!

But there are limits here, too. You cannot grow everything the way people think you can. For instance, you still need a greenhouse for certain tropicals; and we get some colder winters than southern Cal. People are surprised when I tell them we get down to 18 F once in awhile. They think it is just not possible. It is not near what you experience of course, but for California it is surprising to some people. Also, our land is being bought up like mad; that is if you can even afford to buy a home here. The median price is about $700,000; and one million in some areas!

Many of us rent and have to garden in containers, too.

You just gotta take a look at these pictures:

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Worsleya Rayneri

Here is a link that might be useful: All the pictures of Worsleya

The weather can't be perfect every single day anywhere! And every area has its merits and its downfalls... The east coast has hurricanes, the mid-west has tornadoes, the west coast has earthquakes... no matter where you go, there are certain things you have to contend with... snow, ice, rains, droughts, floods...

Maybe zone 5 isn't so bad... there's always the chance that a southern or western vacation could be taken!

Very nice pictures on that site, Soultan!

A possible source for bulbs, Floral Architcture. They have prices for both Worsley $80.00 per bulb and Scadoxus $??. Interesting looking plants even if they are on the pricey side.

A little too pricey for me, I am afraid!

Me, too! I'm glad looking is free! Hehe! Even the seeds for Worsleya start at $20 for 5 seeds on eBay... not including shipping. If I had more experience and knew I wouldn't kill the plants, maybe it wouldn't seem like that much...

Wow! $80 is to high for me. I'd rather save that and get the girl's X'mas present. I am planning to get them a 5' tall wooden dollhouse that Barbie can fit. Somwhere where they can put all those Barbie stuff in instead of the floor.

Did you know that a Worsleya can take 9 years to be ready for its first bloom? Amazing... I'd so like a plant like this, but I don't know if I could stand waitint for 9 years for the first bloom.

I'm patient to a point... but not 9 years patient!!! I couldn't wait that long... especially after paying that much!

Nice idea for the girls, Maria! I bet they'd love a Barbie doll house!!

Maybe you can also buy barbie Amaryllis for them to put in the Barbie house.

Wouldn't that be cool? Tiny little bulbs, Barbie-sized!!

Now, we are goint extreme. We don't even have the Miyake minis yet....

Well, $80 for a Worsleya, if it is 2 years old would be considered a pretty good deal....a mature plant will likely run you $400 if you find one for sale. I've been making massive numbers of Worsleya seed available over the past 6-9 months, but they are very hard to grow during the first year....easy to germinate (for me, but not for some I must admit), but there are many losses and so the price of a bulb is sky high. The great advantage of Hipps is that they are almost full-proof and nearly impossible to kill......except some of the species of course....some of those are awfully easy to terminate :o) Dan

That's one of the reasons I don't want to get too fancy before I really get the cultivation of the Hippi Hybrids down pat... I'd hate to have a species bulb that I really liked die because I wasn't ready with the proper information to care for it!

I killed my Puniceum last season and my 3 var. reticulatums are not doing too good either. Somtimes, it's not the $$$, it's the feeling of helplessness that hurts me when I look at them and think what else I can do to help them survive in my growing conditions.

That is why, Maria, I opt for buying mature, bloom-ready bulbs. I am not too crazy for 1 or 2 years old seedlings sold in plastic containers, planted. There, you can neve know how the bulb really looks and what you can expect form it. If you ever get to Miyake, they have reticulatums too. It is blooming for them now.

If anybody is interested the Yahoo Worsleya forum has great info on these bulbs and seeds are often offered for sale at around $2 a seed. Worth a try if you have to time and patience. I don't :(

Now, I want a large plant of it that would bloom. :o) Why did you find this thread?

Yahoo Worsleya Forum, dizzy? I have never heard of it. Is it a Yahoo Group?

Yes Hopflower,
You have to become a member to read and post but it's free. There are some really experienced growers there. If you search Worsleya_procera in the yahoo groups, you should find it.

Can one join it if you don't have one? I mean, just to research the flower? I did find the Group; thank you. : )

Yes of course. I joined just to get some info on them, I don't have any either. Joining is the only way you will be able to read the threads and get seed offers.

Well, actually what it said was that they encourage pictures (which means you would have to be somewhat near one) or to discuss them (which is the point of the Group). Some groups want you to be somewhat advanced in your familiarity with them already.
In other words, it is not for novices in some cases; which is probably what I should have asked to begin with!

Thanks for your information. :)

I'm a member of the Worsleya forum and I am one of the one that posts seed availability.....you do not need to be an expert....please join and learn.....for example, being able to grow Hipps has nothing at all to being able to grow Worsleya....the growing conditions are completely different.....Worsleya grow in pure scoria or pumice and are absolutely evergreen......if you put them in potting mix you will have a dead Worsleya in no time. The experts there (I am not one of them) are very helpful and there is lots of great info in the old posts......I've only ever posted one pic of my Worsleya and they were not in flower....it is not required and please do not feel like it is. These are truly awesome plants worth some effort if you have the time :o) Dan