You have a bad case of Amaryllis-itis! Welcome to the Dirty Fingernail Club! I'm a Charter Member! From early spring until late fall, I can't get the dirt out from under my nails! I thought about getting my nails done... you know, the nice acrylic painted ones? Then I thought, there's no way those would last a day!

Your choice of bulbs and where they're planted sounds very nice! I staggered my plantings, too, and should have color for quite some time! Limona opened just this morning! I'd really enjoy it if I felt better!

I still have 2 orders of bulbs out there... I emailed Royal Colors about the order I should have gotten several days ago! I hope it didn't get lost, or something like that! I'm having such bad luck with ordered bulbs! It's rather disappointing... but, things happen, I guess...

Here's wishing you a season filled with color, Cindee!! Happy Hippeastrums! :-)

I can't wait to see everything when in flower Cindee. =) A good day's work done for you. =)

Feel better Jodi! =) The weather in VA has been ridiculous with temperatures going up and down, sunny and rainy, it's boinkers and I think at this rate, I might catch a cold or something. I hope it's nothing serious for you though, if it's your immune system, two vitamin-c tablets a day usually does the trick for me. Goodnight! =)

Geeze, we've all been going into FREEZEDOM! My bones are aching so bad I think I will take another jacuzzi float tonight. We are getting a cold front...50 or lower. I know I know, sounds like every day to you folks but when you have the physical disabilities I have and spend 9 months out of the year in humid 90-100 degree temps, this is drastic. Still I will carry on and share the beauty of my blooms when they happen.. Peace, love and flannel blankets to you all! Hey did anyone bring marshmallows for s'mores?

Cindeea-- you said "We are getting a cold front...50 or lower" ... I'm sorry but this is unacceptable. I will be in Clearwater FL for a week visiting family and I need sunny beach time!!! Seriously, bring the warm, sunny Florida I know back out. Thanks.

I don't know what everyone is complaining about-- with Global Warming, think of these colder temps as a short relief before it gets really hot :o)

I'm doing my part for global warming....by planting three more bulbs before I get on my carbon-producing plane to cold old Florida, I'm off-setting my impact (nevermind the fact that I am a pilot-- besides, I plant a lot of things!).

OHMMmmmm OHMmmmmm Please sun gods send warmth to ryan in Clearwater...Ohmmmm!

Shoot Ryan, from your climate you will be easily pegged as a tourist! lol Sure would be fun to meet you. We are about an hour south, believe me, an hour south is worth 10 degrees. Bring your sunscreen!

Now, you all hate me now. It is 92-95F here during the day now. It is so nice, that I just want to sit out with Toto and throw the ball for him from the edge of the amaryllis bed into the not yet existing pool.

this is so off topic I may get booted...
Jodik, acrylic nails...DON'T DO IT! I'm currently a nursing student, (mid life career change) you would'nt believe the fungal infection I saw this week, under an acrylic nail that went undiscovered for months. The woman may lose the top of her finger! I'm on a rampage against my nieces now. There is so much that lives in soil, if you were to get an infection it could be very serious.

O.K. enough of my rant....

My new minerva is showing a stalk but it seems pretty darn small. I'll be happy if I get one or two flowers off it just to see if it really is minerva!

Happy gardening all!

Eeewww Jodi! Acryllic nails...that is so UN-NATURAL! I had them done once and it took me forever to grow my nails out without splitting and cracking. They actually file down the top surface of your nails not just the tips, to get the glue to adhere. And talk about not breathing. Air does not get into the surface and can cause all kinds of problems and damage tissue. Listen to chaz. I am proud of my dirty fingernails. It lets me know I have done something!

Current temperature in central Illinois is 26 degrees... it's cold and dreary outside, and there is a thick layer of frost on everything... and the pilot on my heater won't stay lit! There's a slight breeze coming in around the AC unit, and it's just enough to blow out the pilot light every time I light it! I need an outside cover for the AC unit...

Paxfleur - I wish it were as easy as taking a handful of Vitamin C. I do take quite a bit of Echinacea, though, which is an immune system booster, and does seem to help... I have Lupus, and it seems like the cold weather aggravates it... Imagine if someone were scraping the marrow out of your bones with a dull butter knife... that's what my bones feel like all the time... and I catch every cold and flu virus because my immune system fights me and not the germs and viruses it's supposed to. There are upper respiratory infections going around, and I hope you don't get it! It begins like a cold, then goes into the ears and chest... and the cough is like pneumonia! So, take care of yourself! :-)

Cindee - I really feel for you... I know exactly what it's like to have horrible pain, and have it feel worse when it gets cold outside... you're very lucky to have a jacuzzi... the hot water really helps, although, the little bit of relief you get doesn't last long after you step out of the tub! And to think that as a kid, I loved winter! We used to stay outside in the cold and snow until my Mom made us come in! By then, we couldn't feel our toes and fingers, and our legs and rear ends were frozen! Mom would make us hot cocoa, and we'd sit by the fireplace and get warm... those were the days... Feel better, Cindee!

Ryan - I hope the Florida weather gets nice for you... nothing is worse than a vacation with poor weather! And it would be really sad if you had bad weather in Florida, and also missed your hippis as they bloomed while you were gone!

Soultan - You're the only one enjoying nice weather, it seems... I'm happy for you and Toto, but you must push some of that nice weather eastward so I can warm up a bit! :-)

Ryan, do not dispair, even though the evening and nighttime temps may drop, the days are full of sunshine and temps rise back up to 70s and 80s. You will have a great time I am sure! Clearwater is beautiful and the gulf beaches are picture perfect. It is a very clean classic City.

Jodik, nothing helps nails, you just gotta pick good parents. Otherwise keep 'em short & clean, use Lee Press-on nails for special occasions-they will NOT damage your nail beds & just snap right off. Chaz is right they lead to horrid fungal infections. The news has even done stories on it. They won't even let us have them. (I'm a nurse 26 years, run Chaz, run!)

We had a cold front so it's only 74 today. But it is supposed to warm up over the weekend.
Tally HO!

I know about the nail fungal thing... I've had fake nails before, but they never stayed on long enough to develop fungus! I always thought it was a waste of $40, anyway!

Most people don't know it, but you can get pinworms from soil... kids who play in the dirt and chew their nails are most often the parasites' hosts! Google pinworms, and then get ready to be grossed out! An interesting parasite, to say the least... eww!

I don't know how much Clearwater has changed since I was a kid, but we used to vacation there, St.Pete/Clearwater area, and it was beautiful! Wonderful beaches, good food and shopping... we enjoyed it there!

So. Reading all this, I am glad I have a nice weather here, and I will not get fake nails for sure. Deal.

What about eyelashes, soultan? Midnight blue is all the rage!!!

I have my own eyelashes, and Toto has wonderful, huge ones, with wonderful eyes too... Why do you get fake things when you have original? :o)

It's american beauties quest...fake face, fake boobs, fake hips (wait, mine are bionic) fake lips, fake hair. Then you grow into a flaky fakey old person! lol I'd rather have dirt under my fingernails, blue jeans and a ripped tee shirt. I am not trying to be anyone's beauty queen myself. Batting my eye lashes at soultan! HAH HAH

Top THAT Maria! lol

If more women only knew... real men prefer real women... not fake Twiggys! That's what Larry says, anyway... beauty is only skin deep... it's what you are inside that matters the most! :-)

Jodi, did you hear that it is the favorite saying of ugly people. :o) Meet mr. cynical.
But I agree with you. First attraction might be based on look, but looks can deceive... Just look at the beautiful tale of Quasimodo from The Notre-Dame de Paris. We can go to extremes, but it is true, that as opposed to the skinny walking stick models, real men prefer to have women with wide enough hips and some excess weight, since we are programmed biologically to procreate, and thinness is a sign of weakness. Oh. How did we get to beauty and looks from amaryllis... I have no idea... But just look at this plant. If you look at the bulb, it is quite ugly... Okay - We often say what a beautiful bulb, but we don't mean that it looks pretty. But when it develops into the flower and shows what it hides inside, the magic begins... There is a comedy about this. It is called The Flower of the Cactus (Sorry, I don't know the English title) about a quite ugly and antisocial woman who shows her true beauty when she, the cactus bears "flower." We can talk so much about this... This is my field...

LOL,
Having grown up with 2 biological sisters and 5 foster sisters I've learned that all women are beautiful. If I disagreed with that, they readily beat me until I changed my mind...LOL
Seriously, we're all like that cactus flower Soultan, men and women. There is ugliness and beauty in all of us, just take a look around at the world.

That is so true.
And your 7 sisters have proven the point also that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if it is not there, then you just take out the eye!

In America, Soultan... when a woman is unattractive, we say "she has a great personality!"... LOL!

Society has programmed us to think that "Barbie" has the perfect figure... when in truth, we know that women are all built differently, and the expectations of society are unreasonable. Women are willing to put themselves through all kinds of torture to fit the profile that "Hollywood" has set before us. It's unfair, and unhealthy, to expect young girls to follow that trend... women seem to be on perpetual diets, and are willing to have surgery done, fat sucked out, modified bacteria injected in, fat moved around, implants added... and for what? To please someone else, or fit into the mold that a twisted society has cast?

All the make-up and plastic surgery in the world can't hide what you are inside...

It is true. But it is a global trend, and you believe or not, most of the time it is women who push other women or themselves to do it... They want to be beautiful and they want to be successful and loved.
I have not done a survey about it, just read somewhere that men do prefer buttocks like Jennifer Lopez has... And when it comes to aging, just look at Helen Mirren. The whole world was all over her on the Oscars. Barely any make up, wrinkled face, and she was almost crowned as the queen of the night... So what I am saying, that if someone take cares of herself (or himself), then imperfections can be sexy and can be even desired. No wonder that all of those plastic babies are completely unhappy and just do one plastic surgery after another to make their husband happy or boyfriend happy or just dazzle the world with huge bumpers... Then I saw a documentary on HBO, I think or Showtime where they were following a woman who wanted larger breasts to make her husband happy, and it was funny that the husband was there to support his wife, but when they asked him, he said that he was completely happy with her breasts and loved them, but if she wanted them bigger then he will suport it because it will make HER happier...
I am not saying by this that all women are vain. On the opposite. Most of men and women are pretty down to Earth, but all those who are insecure inside usually the ones who want to change on the outside.

The other day I saw two girls in the nursery where I was buying bulbs, and I almost picked up one of them and put her in my shopping basket because I thought she was an amaryllis stake... I only realized that she was a person when she started to move around... Amazing. Where does the energy come from these toothpick girls to move around? You need to eat to burn food for fuel for your body...

I commend the few Hollywood women that have the courage to age naturally, and are proud of that fact! I also commend the Plus Size models and actresses who are happy with the size God made them, and don't mind spreading the word that it's ok to eat a whole meal!

Real women have curves, and real men would much rather hold a woman with a little meat on her bones... I was blessed with Jennifer Lopez curves, and in fact, my husband questions my heritage... I am adopted, and the only papers say I am part Irish... that may be true, but what other "parts" make up who I am? I don't know... but it doesn't matter.

The bottom line is that we should be happy with who we are, both inside and out... insecurities are extra baggage that no one should have to carry around... I'm happy with me, which reflects to others, and then they like me, too!

I wish all women could have the confidence and security to be who they are, and not change to fit something they're not.

Men, too! Call me crazy, but I've always been attracted to real men, not models with 6-packs and muscles... I find a small gut on a man to be highly attractive! Perhaps it's my age showing, but I require intelligent conversation, companionship, sensitivity, honesty... trust and communication are two of the building blocks of a good relationship... in order to have a good relationship, we first must like ourselves and be happy with who we are.

I will never be "amaryllis stake" thin... I wouldn't want to be! While I have never taken an official survey, either, I've dated enough men to know that they don't want to roll over in the middle of the night and get poked by a hip bone!

I'm Asian, 5'4" tall, 100 lbs even after giving birth to 4 kids, wears a size 2 and no wrinkles...yet. I've used to complain about myself when I was younger of being skinny and wished I had a couple more lbs. in the right places. But no matter how much I eat, I just burn it. Now at my age, I feel so blessed! I'm happy, healthy and feel beautiful. What else can you ask for. Be grateful for what you have for every body is a blessing. :-)

Exactly, Maria! You're very lucky to have such a figure after carrying and giving birth to four children! And you're even luckier to be the confident and secure woman that you are!

I spent my youth wishing I was rail thin, and thinking I was just destined to be fat... now I know I just have lots of curves! I'm 5'3" and weigh 132 lbs... if I lost any more weight, I'd be too thin for my frame...

Regardless of our shapes or sizes, it's how we feel about ourselves that radiates that beauty... and you couldn't be more on the money when you say "every body is a blessing". It's too easy to take for granted our health and other things and dwell on the fact that we aren't perfect... we overlook the fact that we all ARE perfect, each in our own way...

Exactly Jodi!!!

There are 3 generations of women living in this household. Me, the teen-agers and the little ones. Media, TV specially, can give very high impact on people specially kids. Ana and Emem are getting to be too particular of how they look. By the way, Ana told the other day that Emem is fat. And Emem responded, "I know, I am going on a diet!". This scares me...

I am constantly on a diet... :o) And always give it up after a while. With this much work and stress, at least, I need to eat and find joy in it... Low Carb diet works wonders, but your body does not really release serotonin when there is not much sugar in the system, so you always want to eat and feel little down...
So maybe this is why I love to see the huge amaryllis bulbs, even if they don't perform so much better, but they are joy to look at... At least, they do not have to be ashamed of being fat and bulky.

As long as children are not obese, and yours certainly are NOT, Maria... children shouldn't even be thinking about how much they weigh or what shape they have! They should be playing and learning and having a good time just being young!

Then there are the parents who can't be bothered to teach their children good eating habits, and just keep pushing junk food at them so they shut up and leave "mom and dad" alone! America has the highest number of obese, unhealthy, diabetic and asthmatic children in the world!

America is horribly screwed up when it comes to food, health, proper parenting... and the media perpetuates everything that's bad with junk food commercials, videos of skinny girls, diets, etc... no wonder children are confused!

I love chocolate and a lot of foods that are fattening, but if I learn to treat myself with these foods instead of making them every day things, I won't be overweight and I'll still get to have treats. Don't forget, I just lost a lot of weight by completely changing how I eat... I eat meal replacement shakes during the week, with yogurt and fruit for snacks, and on weekends, I eat what I feel like eating! My body is not starving, so it doesn't hold onto fat... I am healthier because the shakes are complete and balanced, and I NEVER feel hungry.

Maria, your girls are gorgeous! It's very obvious that you make sure they eat properly!

Soultan, if you are seriously dieting, then you need to make sure you are feeding your body what it requires, while at the same time eliminating the stored fat. Athletes and bodybuilders intake fuel to keep muscle mass, and at the same time, burn fat. I swear by Optimum Nutrition diet products. I've been trying to drop about 35 or so pounds for years, and keep it off... this is the only way I have found that really works. Go to Optimum Nutrition's website and check out what they have to offer...

I have two shakes a day using whole milk and "Complete Protein Diet" shake mix... and two "Diet Boost" capsules. (I also take purified fish oil calsules, Vitaimn B Complex, Echinacea, a women's one-a-day, and Glucosamine Chondriotin CSA for joint support.) I lost all the fat at a nice even pace while keeping my muscle. I look good, feel good, and no one is paying me to say these things! :-)

The link below is for Optimum Nutrition's page showing the Complete Protein Diet shake mix... check out their website and see all the different products they have available. It's not cheap, but it just about equals groceries to have the shake mix instead. There are lots of companies out there that sell products you'd think would be the same... they are NOT all created equally! Larry learned years ago about proper nutrition, not just for our dogs, but for people as well... and he found two companies making balanced products. Optimum Nutrition is the top company.

So, if you are serious, Soultan... check out the website and read about nutrition, and give their diet products a chance. You won't be sorry...

Here is a link that might be useful: Optimum Nutrition - Complete Protein Diet

Hehe Jodi,

Fortunately, I am not fat, I just like to stay in my shape and fit in my clothes all the time without having them altered.