"True Amaryllis" have lots and lots of straplike leaves - well, when they DO have them at all, which they do not in the summer. The scape(s) will appear in August, from the "Naked" Bulb but not from a "bare" bulb or a freshly planted bulb, and the florets on the umbel are conspicuously fragrant. New foliage will emerge only much later in October and will die back in April/May. Once in my lifetime I had succeeded in blooming potted "True Amaryllis" at the windowsill. It was a Revelation, after many years of husbandry.

Thank you everado and haweha! I apologize for taking so long to reply. I knew that had been confused commercially, but I couldn't find any info on what morphological features or growing preferences- if any- differentiated them.

Yes, everyone should have a stab at Amaryllis. The blooms are spectacularly fragrant and, in my opinion anyway, they are easier to grow than Hippeastrum. They are winter growers as has been mentioned, but I put them under grow lights all winter and then move them outside in the spring where they go dormant for the summer. I just had one bloom last week so I brought it indoors for the fragrance. I also have an xAmarygia blooming now (cross between Amaryllis and Brunsvigia) - the fragrance is to die for and I believe I counted 10-12 blooms that will be opening over the next few days. These are really commonly grown in places like CA, which mimics their native conditions and are pretty easy to acquire I believe. Have a try and see what they do for you :o) dan

Thank you for your input DAN! I have right now some Amarcrinum in bloom (up to 15 florets per scape) and I agree, the fragrance is divine. The flowers are unevenly shaped though, in short: I do not like them. I have crosspollinated them from Crinum MOOREI (up to 9 florets per scape) , which, this season, is in Bloom coincidently, it is just for curiousity - WILL THEY TAKE?! ([MY] Amarcrinum is self sterile)

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Hippeastrum or my favorite Worsleya had that sort of fragrance :o) Dan

ENCKE ("Kalt- und Warmhauspflanzen") says "Grown in Containers, Amaryllis (Belladonna) will mostly not bloom". And I can confirm this - I experienced but one exception some years ago and it was sort of a revelation, THEN. Kindest regards from GERMANY!!!

>>>Wouldn't it be wonderful if Hippeastrum or my favorite Worsleya had that sort of fragrance<<<

Are you familiar with the fragrance of "Striped Panther"? As far as i know, this precious DIP trumpet is already "discontinued" as regards its commercial production and -availability which is IMHO unforgivable, and the same does apply for "SANTOS" which is almost unbelievable!!!

I'm one of those lucky folks who lives in California. Pink "naked ladies" (Amaryllis Belladonna) are very common here. In fact, just last week someone at work brought in 2 or 3 boxes of freshly dug bulbs to give away (I grabbed about 8-10 of the biggest bulbs for myself). I also have white "naked ladies" that I purchased online from Easy to Grow Bulbs... I've never seen anyone else around here growing them. Amaryllis belladonna are lovely, but they can't compare to the sheer variety that is available in Hippeastrum!

Unfortunately, I have no choice but to grow mine in containers and I'm lucky to have one bloom every year. I used to import a lot of bulbs from South Africa and had several people in CA go in with me on orders because they could just put them in the ground - that would be wonderful!

I do not have any Hippi hybrids and only 2-3 species at this point in time. I have scaled back my plant growing over the last few years to try and save myself some time. A Hippi with a great fragrance would be nice though :o) Dan

Amaryllis can be distinguished from hippeastrum very easily and quickly even without leaves, peduncle and flowers. It is enough to remove the ground from the bulb and tear off part of the dry shell, preferably internal. If there are thin "threads" in this shell, then this is an amaryllis (or crinum, nerine, etc.), if there are none, it is more likely hippeastrum. These "threads" have amarcrinum, but the leaves grow in spring and summer, in the amaryllis - only in autumn. Simply, one must look at the bulb - big or small. When the growth of leaves begins: in spring or in autumn. In spring, leaves grow - it's hippeastrum, in the fall - it's amaryllis belladonna.

Hi Dan. Beautiful flowers. I would like to get in contact with you about Hippeastrum species. Could you write me on olivier@antunes.dk? Regards, Olivier