Absolutely beautiful! I want, I want...
I want the green house too!!!

BEAUTIFUL!! Me too Me too!!

BEAUTIFUL!! Me too Me too!!

Wow. Now that's a long stalk! Shoulda named it "stretch" lol.
Very pretty.

Spectacular! Amazing! Beauteous!

Wow... great pictures, Wildebloem! I'm so jealous of your wonderful greenhouse! I just love when you post photos of the plants in it so I can see the background with everything else growing and flourishing in there! I can almost feel the warm humid atmosphere, and smell that "greenhouse" earthiness... someday I WILL have one!

Striped Panther reminds me of Sweet Lilian... except that it's red, and not pink... and the stalk is a bit taller! But everything else is so similar... the striping, the petal shape... they must be closely related...

Thanks for sharing those!

The stalk is amazingly tall, and the coloration and pattern is such that one would think it is a really old variety. It is in the style of the 50's. The color pattern and intensity reminds me of grandma's flowers.

It looks like a "trumpet" type cultivar, like misty, pink floyd, sweet lilian, etc. Soultan, I think I remember that someone said that it also had another name. Was that you?

No, I did not say it had another name, but I definitely said that it was a trumpet.

I TOO lust after both your "striped panther" and greenhouse... Does anyone think we'll be able to purchase the panther in the future?

They really are tall. And not just that: they produce a lot of flowers, too.

The first year, the top bulb had two stalks, 33" and 32" tall (from the top of the bulb to the top of the flower). The first stalk had no less than EIGHT flowers, each 4.5" diameter. The second stalk had seven 5"-diameter flowers.

The second bulb also had two stalks, 35" and 32" tall. Each stalk had six 5"-diameter flowers.

I bought the bulbs in a nursery. I have not checked if they have been available lately, but knowing they are not so easy to find , I will keep an eye out.

By the way, the top photo shows some of my hyacinth vases. These are the best I have found (only once, I have never seen them since). The vase sits in a wire stand with a loop at the top (the loop is not visible here) that holds the flower stalk upright. Great idea, and it really works.

The greenhouse: yes, I love it. The one thing about something that close-packed: unless you want to use pesticides, you HAVE to maintain it pretty religiously. I clear out most of the plants between spring and autumn. I have always left the amaryllis in (too much wildlife, deer, turkeys, raccoons, you name it - the baby raccoons can be particularly destructive: they used to dig up my cactus and roll them downhill!), but I may just try to put out some of the larger ones this year. I think they would respond well to outdoor conditions - the greenhouse hits 100F on a regular basis, even with shade cloth.

Citrus are probably a poor choice for this situation - they tend to get scale that can be difficult to get rid of. (I have really nasty allergies and I choose to not use pesticides, so I have to be ready to let go of plants if they prove to be a problem.) But I love them and to have mandarins in winter is well worth the work to me. Right now, everything outdoor is white with frost and it is just so uplifting to walk downhill and wander around in there.

Beautiful pictures, indeed. And absolutely enviable, such flowers in such a greenhouse: congratulations.
Anyway: there is a very important thing we cannot see in your pictures and you didn't write the smallest letter about.
Do you know what I mean?
Kind regards
ty

Thys, no, frankly I do not have a clue what you mean by your little puzzle. As I mentioned before, I am new to this forum. Do explain, if you would.

Hey, wildebloem, me to I am a newcomer here.
Go to make a visit to your wildcat. No, not so far away, go closer - and now close your eyes please.

Kind regards
ty

No doubt about it, that is some greenhouse, wildebloem. But then, you have heard from me on that before!

I am so envious. I must have one!!! lol!

Is it fragrance you're talking about Thys?

It has a very pleasant fragrance, but you have to go close, indeed. I have no idea where this variety from, but I bought it from the Langeveld offering in the local nursery. I have not seen it since.

Cindee posted a link to a photo of Striped Panther, and if you check out that website, you can switch the content to English language by clicking on the British flag at the top of the page... The website belongs to a grower in Holland that carries the variety, although, there is no mention of whom they sell to, or where one might find their varieties for sale... perhaps if we emailed the grower and asked... hmmm.

I will look out for Striped Panther and let you know if I find it anywhere.

I know you all don't know me, but if there is any chance of a group buy, my CHAD will kick in and I could go for one or two. Of course the other half can never find out I've got a new source...LOL

I'd be very interested, too... but I'm on hold until next year due to cold weather... I'm just too afraid that anything shipped would be mush by the time I got it!

Now that I know how it works, with regards to bulb purchases, I'll be sure to have my orders in early next year, and I'll be on constant lookout locally for the moment the stores display their bulbs!

It's rather disappointing that Amaryllis season only comes once a year, and it's so short!

Oh, to live in a frost-free climate... (heavy sigh)

Chaz, I am ordering from Royal Colors this week. If you want one or two bulbs, you can join my order. The bulbs would most likely arrive at the end of December. Let me know what you think. Send me a private e-mail. I will reach the free shipping limit with them, so I can put your bulbs in the package no problem.

I am also looking into buying Prins Carnaval, which is a quite rare striped variety. But it is only available in 8 packs, so I would have to buy 8 to get my one out of it. If you guys are interested, I could share 7 extra bulbs with you. :o)

e-mail: soultan-@freemail.hu

Soultan...you are ordering more???? Oh my goodness. How many do you have still unplanted my friend? lol

I have a refrigerator worth unplanted. But there are still bulbs available... You want something? I can put another bulb in my package for you. How about Amigo for $11.90? That is a good price for it.

Soultan,
You've got mail
chaz

And you've got mail, Chaz...
Anyone else interested in Prins Carnaval?

Soultant, quit tempting me. You know I am going dormant soon. LOL

I am not tempting. Offering. Your dormant period will not be so long, so you will need someone to occupy yourself. Besides: nothing will be done to your hands, and they will feel lazy and bored.

OH, so you will come occupy my boredome???? How divine!

Soultan, if you haven't ordered from RC yet, could you order "Hercules" and add that to my package of the two you already have? If you already ordered, no biggie. I probably have too many bulbs right now anyways! =)

Hehe, Cindee,
I was referring to Prins Carnaval as "someone."

Pax,
Your wish is my command. I have not placed my order yet, so your Hercules will be in the package. But please clarify: Do you want the JUMBO Hercules or the regular sized? Let's go and talk about it in e-mail. You know my addy, so just write your reply there. I will place my order this week, just waiting for a reply e-mail from one other supplier before I do, so you were just in time to ask.

I will be ordering again from RC in December. Anybody who is contemplating in ordering anything from them, you can join in my order. That would be a month to think about it. Email me...

Cindee...You should be up and about by then. December ordered bulbs from RC will arrive middle of January.

Hehe. Maria, I might have to join you in December. I think, I will not be able to fill a $56 that time, but right now I am so fine, and I am still taking orders if someone wants to join now. In fact, if you want, you can join too with anything you are desiring (Desire?). :o) I will definitely get Lovely Garden. There is one more for me... I am specialll. Good to know.

Soultan...Thanks for offering but nope...no more bulbs for me this month. I still have like 30 plus bulbs in the fridge. Let me plant them first. December order would be just right for me. That gives me a month and a half to empty the fridge.
A couple of months ago, we were in Big Lots and they have this fridge without freezer for $200 something. My hubby said "You need that for your bulbs". He was right. I should have agreed then.

I was lucky that the earlier owners left the fridge in this house. We remodelled completely, and I kept the fridge. Plus, I had another one from the other house. So I have two identical fridges on the two sides of the door in the garage. one is full of bulbs, the other one is going to be. :o)

Also, don't forget that if I order the bulbs now, at the end of November, it will arrive at the end of December and the bulb can join your other bulbs in the package I am going to send to you.

Shoot, our spare fridge in the garage is for Beer only...MY beer! lol I have 1 bulb in the butter tray.

I have a dorm sized fridge out in the kennel... it's supposed to hold antibiotics, oxytocin, dexamethazone, and the like... instead, I have commandeered it for bulbs!

Right now, there's a large pot in it planted with Hyacinths, getting their cold treatment! I'm testing the fridge for stable temperatures before I risk putting any Amaryllis in it...

Be careful with dorm sized fridges. I wouldn't use them if they have the freezer inside.

I second that jodi- I have a dorm fridge which maintains a consistant temp darn near 33-34 degrees farenheit. That is where I dare put dahlia tubers successfully, but don't trust it for hippeastrum, cannas, etc.

I wouldn't trust it because it can get pretty cold around the freezer area, and that is not comfortable for the amaryllis bulbs.

It does have the little freezer inside, so I placed the Hyacinth pot on the very bottom... I took out the drawer to make room. I've been monitoring the temperature in there with a little refrigerator thermometer, and it seems to stay at an even 40F...

I'm not trustful enough of it to place any amaryllis bulbs in, though... It will come in handy for forcing other bulb types, I think... like narcissus, hyacinths, crocus, etc...

Yes. Those bulbs like to get frozen down when in dormancy. I read how they prepare the forced tulips for indoor blooming, and they detail that the potted bulbs get frozen down for a while during preparation.

That makes sense, because here, everything planted outside in the garden goes through several weeks, months even, of freezing weather with the ground frozen solid... and they survive and bloom in early spring when everything thaws out... I have a book on forcing bulbs, and it gives a listing of which bulbs require how long of a dormancy period... and when they need to be taken out of dormancy to bloom... this is my first trial of forcing any bulbs, and I chose hyacinths because they seem to be one of the easiest to force. We'll see what happens...

about forcing spring bulbs (Not amaryllis), I regularly do crates and crates of them. My bulbs go into crates planted in potting soil then I leave them outside over the winter. ON January 1st, I bring the first tulips in and by Valentnes Day I have tulip bouquets to sell. I use early flowering tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies and paperwhites. THe paperwhites only go into the garage, not outside, cause they can freeze, but my biggest problem is making sure they get enough hours of cold outside for the other bulbs. Here we seldom have weather colder then the mid 20's F.

You're so lucky, Liza! It gets closer to zero here, and sometimes below! It's the wind chill that really gets me, though! I could deal with the occasional 20 degree weather... if the rest of the time it weren't so bad... the older I get, the more I really hate the winters here.

You know, I never thought of doing that... burying bulbs for forcing in a box of potting soil, and then digging them out when I want to bring them in to bloom... I wonder if it's too late to bury some in the raised beds? Hmmmm...

Very late response: Jodi, I have heard of digging trenches, burying the bulbs, and filling the trench with straw, hay. I have not tried it, but the potted bulbs should be easy to dig up if treated in that manner.

I am thinking of doing something similar next fall... we have these very large square wooden units that were originally intended as archery shooting backdrops of some kind... they have layers of screening attached to both sides, and we've taken the screening off one side and laid them flat. The bottom screening keeps tunneling varmints out, and allows for good drainage.

I have filled four of these large squares with soil and compost, and we used them last year as vegetable beds. They grew beautiful veggies!

We have several more, and I was thinking of using one for burying pots of bulbs for their dormancy time... then, I could just lift out the pots when it's time, and enjoy flowers in winter!

Sounds like a great plan. I have heard of people using cold frames as well, but I would be concerned about temperatures going too high and prematurely starting the bulbs.

I just found several large plexiglass boxes when a local store went out of business. They are probably 5' tall or so and 2-3 feet wide and deep. I am trying to figure out what to do with them - something "plant", I am sure.

Speaking of local stores: a neighborhood grocery has a plant department that has a large number of amaryllis. They keep the pots outdoor. Did I mention we have snow on the ground? Needless to say, a number of the stalks are mush. But a number of the plants look fine and I am sorely tempted to pick up some to see what they are - those varieties must be far more hardy than I assumed most are.

I was under the impression that almost all amaryllis were tender, and the hardiest ones were only hardy to about zone 7, with thick mulch... perhaps a few varieties can tolerate a bit of cold... I would assume, though, not for too long a period of time.

I have not gone back to see how these are. I really should check not just the stalks and leaves but the bulbs themselves for my own curiosity. I know often plants are far hardier than presumed if they are acclimated and grown relatively dry, but still, I cannot imagine these bulbs will do well in the long run.

I can't imagine they will either... I know some tender bulbs can take a bit of cold for short periods... but I think if left out in the cold and snow, they will eventually get frosted and become mushy... I am curious to find out how they are doing!