Wow! That's quite a large flower for the height of the stem... but the color is exquisite! I just love the picoteed edge combined with all the wonderful tiny spots, and then the hint of green on the reverse side... it's positively stunning! Thank you so much for sharing all these awesome photos... this is a great glimpse into what Australia has to offer in the way of Hippeastrums!

It seems like Maguires is not carrying this variety anymore. It is not in the list anymore. I was able to save a picture last year, but it is not there anymore. Sorry. You will have to choose something else, Jodi.

I noticed that... what a shame! That one is a beauty... but there are a couple of others that look kind of close in color... perhaps I'll choose one of those... they have so many pretty ones!

Hey Jetak,
Where do you get your bulbs from? I'm headed up to Coffs Harbour in a few days and would love to do some bulb shopping while I'm up there. Have you got any suggestions on where I could go?

Jodi, if you want, I can ask them what is the closest one to Natalie.

I actually purchased my bulbs in our spring from Meads
http://www.daylilygardens.com.au/hippes.html I did a
phone order. They still have Natalie and Orange Show listed - also their pix are better. Soultan you may be able to check them out - if you need further info let
me know.
I will most probably get some from Maguires next spring
as now the season is closed.I also got a couple from a chap in Cooranbong but he too is now closed.Then there
is Sid Medcalf in the Blue Mountains who also specializes in growing hippies but he is not online.And I also heard of a chap in Darwin.
Where are you located dizzy?

Here is a link that might be useful: Meads Daylillies

Yes. Meads still has some that Maguires have stopped producing. It is a little dishartening that Maguires only concentrate on the look of the flower and they don't care of other qualities like at least 4 blooms per scape or healthy, tall enough scapes... They should really concentrate on selecting unique enough blooms that still retain good consumer-desired qualities. I don't believe that a grower should keep every flower in production he likes at first sight. It might be a weak line, even though the flower is pretty.
So just for a warning, I think we should not expect more than 2 flowers from most of the varieties coming from Maguires. At least, on the pictures we've seen from private people, that is the experience.

Mead's does have better photographs to use for comparison...

Two blooms per scape is still not bad, especially when the variety is so pretty... four is always better, of course, but I'll settle for two. After all, even some of the varieties we can obtain here only have two blooms per scape.

Having a good eye for the species you are breeding is very important, as is the ability to cull the ones that are weaker or don't meet the criteria you are breeding for... this is true of animals as well as plants... as an American Bulldog breeder, I know the importance of culling and being able to choose the best of what you breed to keep... as harsh as it might sound, it's the only way to keep strong genetics going...

Natalie is definitely stunning. Look at all her pretty freckles. I love the freckled ones. They look like a study in colored pen and ink.

I agree, Cindee... it's like an artist penned in every freckle with colored ink! The detail is so awesome, especially up close!

It is my personal view too, that knight star lilies, at least TETs should be able to produce 4 flowers.
I do know only one TET cultivar which I forgive its 2 seldom 3 flowers per scape and it is already a rather old hybrid: Black Beauty. I say more precisely: The grenuine Black Beauty. Its color is simply stunning and the flower has a particularly pretty shape. The faked "Black Beauty" which is sold elsewhere, at least that I received form J. Amand this spring WAS a 4-corner amaryllis... but its performance was so poor, compared to the genuine Beauty I hoped to receive...

But, when it comes to DIPs particularly to hybrids with H.papilio parentage - THEN I readily accept the 2 flowers since I know that it is virtually impossible to combine papiliogene shape with that "4-corner"
A good example for this is "Exotic Star". While it is all the more galling that these 2 (4 is seemingly very seldom) rather small blooms appear on such tall scapes, this hybrid reimburses for that property by its capability to produce 3 scapes on good bulbs, and I would not exclude that 4 were possible too.

Jacques Amand forgot about my order and I initially had to cancel it, after my second call when they informed me that my package will be sent out in September 2008. This is the second time I tried to get bulbs from them, and this is the second disappointing experience. I am not sure I will try it again. How can they be in business if they don't reply to e-mails, don't fulfil orders, and don't call back ever? How do they make money? By not working on Sundays?

How frustrating and disappointing that sounds, Soultan... I felt almost the same way after waiting an eternity for my RC order that got lost in transit... I'm so glad they replaced my order and were very prompt and courteous in doing so!

Keep on them, Soultan... they'll get tired of hearing your complaints, and most likely will want to do anything to close the books on your order and make you happy!

Sir Hans... I would imagine it to be entirely possible to get 4 blooms from progeny of Papilio, perhaps a few generations removed... it just depends on which way the genes are manipulated... true, it would be quite a task, and take some years to do so... but I believe it could be done... I don't have the breeding experience with hippis to know exactly how the breedings should be done, but I think the possibility is there!

The problem with hippie breeders is that they screwed-up the naming system. For example, they might breed
H. Basuto x H. Elegance, and get hundreds of offspring. Then they would give each seedling a different
name, like H. Jodik, H. Jetak, H.Hans, etc. This means that a stud book could never be compiled,
because (1) the parentage was never recorded,
and (2) it would be a nightmare to unravel which
plant belonged where.

The 18th C. orchid breeders were more intelligent, and never fell into that trap. Each cross received a grex name, and each seedling of that cross received that name. Individual plants of quality then received a cultivar name to distinguish them from the also-rans.

Eg. H. Basuto x H. Elegance --> H. Frogmore.
Good ones = H. Frogmore 'Jodik's Choice'; H. Frogmore 'Hans's
Best', H. Frogmore 'Soultan'

Now H. Basuto x self retains the grex name, because it is really H.Basuto x H. Basuto.
Similarly, H. Basuto 'Jodik's Wonder' x H.Basuto 'Perfection' are still H. Basuto.

To learn more, Google 'Naming orchids', or suchlike

Hehe. I am the best...

Hi Jetak,
i'm in Melbourne, so I only have what comes into the big chain stores readily available to me. I have been ordering from mail order farms like Maguire's and Hazelbrook hippeastrum farm. But with Hazelbrook you really don't know what you are ordering. Maguire's is great I'm hoping to make a trip out there from Coffs Harbour but am not sure how far away they are.

If you put 409 Kiel Mountain Road, Woombye, Qld, 4559 into Google under Map it will give you directions how to get there. May be an idea to print the directions up. I would give them a ring prior going there as they may be closed over the holiday period. Phone (07) 5448 5640.I also think by now in QLD they would be finished blooming. A friend from there has been sending me pix of her blooms since mid winter.Anyhow let me know how you get on. I only bought from Meads and the cooranbong Place but they are not online.
The Hazelbrook Nursery is that Sid Medcalf's Place?

Soultan
we all know you are the best heh! heh! But don't you think that
The hippie forefathers sure made a mess of it, and now it's undo-able. It had to be done from day 1, so that
we'd know the original species in the backgrounds of
our modern hybrids.That is what happens with commercialization,

I am like the forefathers... I mix and match like crazy without thinking the origins. It does not matter to me whatsoever. I just like nice flowers with scapes that bear 4 flowers. That's all.

For me a TET must be veritably "spectacular" in order to have me forgive two flowers.
With DIPs I am more likely to forgive and to accept, respectively, as it does appplie for my particular seedling of "Pink Floyd" x Giraffe.

{{gwi:440767}}

Sir Hans...THAT is one beautiful thing!!!

Natalie is very pretty. I wish it had more than 2 blooms per scape. Because of this characteristic, I will need to shy away from using it for my hybridizing. I hope it's next scape will perform better. If it does give out at least 4 blooms/scape, it can be a good candidate.

Sir Hans - That is an extremely beautiful flower! The deep color is very nice, and I like the way the blooms look down, a characteristic of Pink Floyd, no doubt... wonderful work!

Pink Floyd x Giraffe is a sight to behold.
It is absolutely and positively AWSOME!!
But Hans - where Oh! Where did you get that colour???

After briefly perusing the history of hippeastrums, it is my understanding that scarlet flowered amaryllis were some of the very first to be mentioned in written records, and also grown commercially, namely the St. Joseph's Lily, and so my guess would be that Sir Hans' red is a throwback to that.

If you look carefully at both Pink Floyd and Giraffe, you can see that there is red in the ancestry, but without an actual pedigree to study, it's hard to say exactly where it's placement is on either side... I'd say that Sir Hans was lucky enough to have the gene for red come flying to the top!

In breeding dogs, color is not an issue... overall health, stability, longevity, intelligence, athleticism... these are the types of things we look for...

I still want to keep the overall health and longevity when breeding flowers, but it's obvious that color, shape and size play more important roles in flower breeding than in dog breeding... form follows function when breding canines, but this does not hold true for flowers since their main function is to be pretty...

In order to really know why you get a certain color or shape when you breed your own flowers, you have to go back to the beginning, if possible, and have knowledge of the flowers used in a particular program...

Hans, I love your use of the glass behind your photos. It looks like a gentle water fall and it really excentuates the color of the blooms!

Jetak-Natalie reminds me of my Elvas. It's dots kinda bleed to a color wash that makes it so stunning!

Just looking at the pix and not seeing the Pink Floyd x Giraffe in flesh the colouring is actually not unsimilar to H.Yungacensis

I have, also, no plausible explanation for that color. This specimen was conspicuous for two other properties too: The first two scapes started to poke put of the bulb unusually early (the other siblings did not show any sign of new growth) Since the I waited one further month before I started to force the entity of 16 bulbs in the balcony box. This bulb produced totally 3 scapes with 3, 2 and 2 flowers.

Wow! Sir Hans, I'm assuming the younger bulbs don't usually produce so well the first time?? I have no experience with this as I'm not that far along with breeding... I have a long wait yet!

I love the color and shape of your cross... it's such a wonderful red! Is there a registered red trumpet yet?

I can see the lovely trumpet shape from H.Pink Floyd enhanced by H.Giraffe's flamboyant Papilio like petals.
I suppose the red must come from H.Giraffe,so what was H.Papilio crossed with to come up with H.Giraffe?
I think that H.Yungacensis has to be a serious contender
to be involved in the prental role?

Pix of H.Yungacensis from the internet below (I wish I could say it was mine but I guess here Down Under
I have Buckleys chance of ever owning any of the specie hippie variety
{{gwi:440768}}
{{gwi:440769}}
Other possible hippies that cannot be excluded from that role would have to be H.Acramani and H.Machupijc
H.Acramanii...lKing
{{gwi:440770}}
H.Machupijc....
{{gwi:440771}}

I am in awe everytime I see the Specie varieties and hope others will develop hunger and passion for them too.

Hans, I can see by your beautiful blooms it is not just a matter of good luck, I see years of hard work and experience
that you have put into it.

Congratulations on your effort and the tremendous result.

First, I agree with you, Jetak... Sir Hans' experience and hard work do show every time he posts a photo of one of his illustrious crosses!

Second, I wish the species were not so hard to find or so expensive to get... and that some were easier to cultivate...

And third, none of those photos can be viewed, at least not by me! And I'd really like to see them! Where are they located on the net? Is there a website I can go to?

I can't see the photos either, please repost them jetak!

Hi Guys
I do not know what is going on. When I reopened the listing I only had little squares in liu of pix but now that I am going to repost the pix - they seem to be there??
Let me know if you see the pix now. Otherwise I will repost them. For future reference is there some way of editing your post or fixing the pix in the posting??

I have seen them all along, so I don't know what is wrong...

Nice! And thank you!

Thanks Elizabeth for reassuring me that I am not going 'bananas' or that perhaps I've had too much
Xmas Cheer

No problem... I specialized in networking for many years, so I understand when a site is temporarily unavailable and why. That is not your problem. It is theirs!

Happy Holidays, My Friend!

For some reason, the links just take me to PhotoBucket's main page... weird... I'm not sure why I can't see what you see... I'll have to ask my geek husband when he returns... he'll know why...

I just get the red X in a box, jetak, I try refreshing the page too. I guess I just have old software. Bummer

The viewing permissions aren't set up to allow everyone to share in viewing your PhotoBucket account, Jetak... that's why Cindee and I can't view your photos as you've posted the links... it's not set up as "public" or something to that effect...

For some reason, Elizabeth has access to share your PhotoBucket... although, how or why, I don't know...

So, no matter how I try to go there, whether by opening it in a new tab, or copying the link location and pasting it in a new tab... it doesn't matter... it just keep kicking me back to the main page, which tells me that the permissions are set to private viewing...

I know there's a way to correct it, but I'm not sure how...

I wish I could help... sorry! I wanted to see the pretties you were trying to show us, Jetak! Well... I could always hack in, but that's not right! LOL! Just kidding!

Here it is... I found the album with your species photos, Jetak... they are wonderful!

Here's the direct link below!

Here is a link that might be useful: Jetak's Species Photos

I could see the photos all along as well. And I really have old Software. I am running on 2000.

Back to Natalie.
I have written to Maguires. I just got an answer that it is available for $AUS10(13), but they nave no idea why it disappeared from their site. So if anyone wants a Natalie, just write it down in your list now because you will most likely not find it on the Maguires' web site.

Hey cindeea
Can you see them with the link jodik has put in?

What have I got to do to switch "The viewing permissions aren't set up to allow everyone to share in viewing your PhotoBucket account" so that
cindeea and jodik can see it on the website?
May be others are in the same predicament?

I'm not quite sure why some can view your album/pictures, but others can't... I doubt it has to do with software updates... I know somewhere at PhotoBucket, after you log in, there's a place where you can make your albums "public"... since I'm kind of new to PhotoBucket, I'm not sure what you need to do, or what you need to click on... I wish I could help more...

And, thanks, Soultan... for finding out about Natalie... that one is very nice, and I think I need one! :-)

I cannot see the individually linked pictures, but I could watch them in your album. Yes I do know almost all these photos from the web, and H.yungacensis is a veritable treasure with its nice color pattern, and that dark burgundy red which is drawn-through by these nice and still darker strong, unbranched veins (unbranched veins is a seldom property and it is found in H.papilio also).
Thus I thought that this species be belonging to the same subgenus of Hippeastrum, Omphalissa, like H.papilio, but in fact it belongs to an other, Caephalaeon

Here is a link that might be useful: Specieslist of Hippeastrum

How odd!

I can see the individual photobucket pictures on this thread, but I can't see the ones posted on the 'Real Minerva' thread.

Thanks for the link, Hans-Werner! It will take me awhile to consume all of that information...

Now, that is a gorgeous one! I know what you mean about colour. It is up to each person's eye and the camera and monitor to interpret it.

What about those poor men who are colour blind?

Yes!! Thanks Jodi I can see them in your link.

Jetak that Yungacensis is stunning. Do you have this flower? Where did you acquire it. Sorry I must have missed that info somewhere. What a beautiful specimen!!

I wonder what happened to the pics. I swear I saw them last night. Now they are gone. They are beautiful jetak. Thanks for sharing.

They are not my flowers(I sure do wish they were) - I posted the pix of the species from the web. These species could possibly be responsible for the beautiful rich red colour that Hans has produced in H.Pink Floyd x H.Giraffe
Perhaps when some more work is done with the DNA we may one day know what came from where.I understand that Drs. Alan Meerow and Julie Dutilh are to publish a comprehensive revision of the genus Hippeastrum in the near future.So hopefully that should make the botanical status of the many Hippeastrum names make a lot more sense.
I cannot explain why the pix of these beautiful species keep appearing and then disappearing for some and not others. Perhaps it is a warning that one day the species may not be there.We should treasure the species from which the present hybrids evantuated.
Below is an URL Hans provided translated to English.

Here is a link that might be useful: translated Specie List of Hippeastrums

I don't know what's going on with regards to the PhotoBucket links and postings... however, below is the link for my entire album... enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Original Hag's Photo Album (yep, that's me!)