Donna, how lucky you are to have such gorgeous blooms this time of year! You are so right about how wonderful it is to see that unexpected flower blooming. And I love your hydrangeas!

Donna, they are just gorgeous! Is Krakatoa a Komoriya bulb? I've never heard about it. I looked at my Sweet Lilian yesterday because she did flower last summer too but nothing. But since they seem to like it to surprise us and grow a scape overnight I hope for some more summer blooms...

Gorgeous! As always, your collection is something to aspire towards!!!

Donna, very beautiful :-))))) You definitely win the prize for the most and prettiest summer blooms :-)))))

Thanks Everyone!!

Krakatoa is a Maguire's bulb purchased from Sweet Dream in Florida. I have a feeling that she might be picky about setting seeds like her cousin Party Pooper but I'll give it a try...

I'll keep looking, who knows what else I might find with nearly 2 more months of hot sun and heavy feeding!!

Hi Ely,

Thanks for posting your gorgeous Krakatoa too, we don't see very many of these do we!! I agree, the flowers are stunning and you can't really capture their grace and beauty in a photo at least I couldn't!

Were you able to get yours to set any seeds and if so by whom? Of course, it's too late for me and the first flower has shriveled but there's no pollination yet. Maybe the second one will take?!

Donna

Donna, she is beautiful and four flowers - nicely done!

Nice blooms, Donna. I have a couple of scapes peeking through too. Summer surprises!

Hello Donna! What beautiful bouquets! Thank you for sharing with us!

Donna, this is really a nice one, you should give her a name! I love the throat and the veining and the fact that it blooms twice a year is something special too. Congratulations!

Exotica seems to be a good mother and pollen donor too. I have a self that bloomed in less than two years and some other crosses that are groing well. Unfortunately my Exotica doesn't look good at all and if I knew it would be offered again I would toss it. But I couldn't get one last year so I'm still trying to rescue it because I really like Exotica.

Anja

Donna, she is quite beautiful and what a wonderful summer treat. The only hippie I have is a San Antonio Rose coming along but It did flower three different times this summer. Thanks for sharing your beautiful bloom and I definitely think you should name her something summery like Orange/Strawberry Lime Cooler :-)))

Fred

I'd LOVE To Be Able To Find an Elvas....
I Still Have My Unique and a Double Something {Red I Think} That One of My Aunts Gave Me....

Thanks again everyone!

Kristi, please post your summer surprises when they bloom won't you!!

Thanks Elena and Fred, I can't grow San Antonio Rose for the life of me!!! I've had two generous people give me some and I just killed them!! Please post yours when they bloom, we'd love to see them.

Anja, my Exotica is on her way out too if I still have her and think I actually tried to buy another last year (or was it the year before) well anyway, I got a mislabel. I might try again this year if they still offer them.

Kogane no Sato likes to set seeds!! II have two fat pods and a smaller one on the way. One x Exotic Star and the other by Sonatini # 1810 (one of those with the striped leaves!!). The smaller but tentative one is x Tres Chic, just because she was blooming next to her and I said what the heck, why not!! I've got a few more from this summer bunch in the works but too early to say positively yet though...

Donna

Very pretty all of them Donna! I took a break from my plants and visited my daughter in California. It was good to see what plants they could grow there. I didn't see any Hippeastrums mind you. Lol

Hello All,

Not much going on but at Donna's request, I posting a picture of San Antonio Rose that just popped open today. The color is a bit darker that normal but that's because I have her growing in full sun.

Fred

Fred, she is very beautiful, thanks for sharing her picture!! Is she looking more orange than the pink I expected due to the sun shining through her petals? She has a beautiful throat too and, she looks very happy peeking over the fence!!

Donna

Hi All,

This year San Antonio Rose decided to bloom after taking a sabbatical:). So I join Fred with being blessed with her summer bloom.

I am kicking myself for not getting SAR when I saw bulbs available last year! I thought her flowers would be too small, but these are just great! What a nice shape and color!

Jody, yours is very beautiful too and again, I love the starburst throat!!

Hi Jody,

Yours is quite lovely :-))) When mine flowers indoors, it has the more pinkish rose tone of her name sake but this year it flowered three different times and the blooms were much darker. Maybe it's due to the sun and heat? In any case, I quite happy with her.

Donna, thank you for the kind words. I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful summer and what a far cry from last year's incredible drought.

Fred

Thanks Fred, I think yours is much more generous with her flowers and very beautuful! I agree it is much wetter this year and seems hotter too. There is so much to do in the garden but it has been sooooo hot. Hopefully it will start cooling down so I can work out there again.

Hi everyone,

You all remember my Moziaque variant well, she sent up another scape with 4 flowers again!! If my memory serves me correctly (without looking it up) she put out 3 scapes several months ago each with 4 flowers. The flowers this time are perhaps a little smaller than the first time but still very curvy, colorful and pretty.

Also, my Midori no Kuni snuck up a scape that I nearly missed and the flowers are very green but not yet as frilly as they should be but maybe in a few days. Just two flowers but she is blooming with my variant and they make a cute couple.

Here is Midori no Kuni alone, perhaps in a day or two her ruffles will come in but her color is very good, I'm happy with her too!

Donna

Hi Donna,

they are both gorgeous but I especially like your Mozaique! You are very lucky that you have so many summer blooms this year! I'm waiting for Emanuelle to open its flowers. There will be only two flowers but the buds look quite colorful. It will be interesting to see the differences between spring and summer bloom...

Anja

Donna, how beautiful!!! It is always so nice to see the odd flower popping up in the summer. Unlike the Spring where they fight for attention, in the summer we get to savor each special bloom!

This summer has been stifling. I like the heat but this year it has been crazy hot with the usual high humidity. I usually get a few flowers in the summer, but not this year. All is quiet in the garden except for the desert rose (adenium) that seem to love the heat, so I get some flowers to brighten the day :) And the dragon fruit are flowering like crazy!!

Hope everyone is doing well and that there will be some new and different bulbs this year, although I'm not buying anything again lol- J