All of you who are breeding brand new hybrids etc, Fred, Jody, and now Vlad (welcome!), and maybe more that I'm less cognizant of: my hat is off to you. Meanwhile I'm too much enchanted by the whole world of plants, too easily off down another rabbit hole, too eager to enjoy learning about many genera and species and varieties and cultivars, to be devoted enough to be a real expert on anything. I'm just a consumer, but an informed consumer. Even we have to learn stuff, and I'm thankful to all of you for providing guidance on this one branch of my knowledge tree.

This is Snow Drift, from one of the weakened bulbs I hope to beef up this year (see thread https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5870042/baby-amaryllis-bulbs-getting-them-to-adulthood#n=4). Of all the flowers I have posted pictures of, above, this is my favorite.

Hello Northen Gardener (wish I knew your name, sorry), this new variety is called Maestro. I kept but staring at it (in a good sense), while being in Marko‘s greenhouse. It is my absolute new favorite. Well, after Carramba of course (I can attach later some pictures, if you guys want?) and yes, I am the one to the right on the picture.

Let me tell you something about being an informed consumer - that is great! Wish I did study horticulture, I came to realize that this is all I ever wanted to do and I am doing it, but not yet at lab level. The heck, perhaps it is not too late, I am 32 and I have always been a curious, eager to learn person.

Your Snowdrift is amazing, a good alternative to Alfresco.

Hi Joan, your Snow Drift looks wonderful! Another beautiful white double is Ice Queen, if you're planning to collect some more...

Yes Vlad, pictures please :-)

Agree on Ice Queen, it is my favorite of the double whites (and I do not like doubles that much), unless someone proves me wrong with Arctic Nymph (I have not seen it yet).

Here are some Carramba pictures:

Hi Vlad,

I agree with you in your "dislike" for the doubles as I'm not too thrilled with them either. In my opinion they kinda look messy and irregular, but to each their own. Your Carramba is outstanding and I love the deep rich color :-)) I have a few Carramba crosses with variegated leaf hybrids coming along and it will be interesting to see what their progeny will look like. Unfortunately, due to the colder climate of New England, it'll be some time until I see some blooms as colder weather and a shorter growing season slows thing down quite a bit. Thanks for posting your beautiful pictures and I especially like the image of the back side of the blooms as it shows the netting and central stripe that I find quite attractive.

I too agree re most doubles - I have a couple of Dancing Queens here that I got as mislabeled shipments, that I intend to give away. I think the problem for me with doubles is that they disguise the form of the flower and tend to hide the sparkles on the petals. But that exuberant pure white is pretty awesome.

Anja, I'll take a look at Ice Queen, thank you for mentioning that.

When I was visiting Stockholm in February a few years ago, several shops in the old city - Gamlastan - had some enormous double whites in their windows. They were displaying *flowers* for people, not just their wares. How kind of them! Anyway, that's what made me look for a big white double. :)

Vlad, the depth of that velvety red is truly outstanding.

Hey Fred, I also have a few, one is with ARL - excited about this one! About the growth speed, how do you keep yours in winter? I treat mine as evergreens in their first year and thereafter with a short resting period (if the seedlings want it, some continue to keep their leaves on in their second winter as well). Most will bloom in their 3rd year, but some do already bloom in their 2nd year.

Joan, I love dark reds! Crossed Carramba with Loyalty, Premiere and Benefica. Let’s see what the results will be.

Vlad, yeah, that'll be interesting. Wish it didn't take so long to get to the results, ha! I'm Joan, by the way. Forgot to tell you that earlier. I live in west central Minnesota.

Hi Vlad,

I pretty much do the same as you only I will start their resting period into the second or third season but this will depend on the growth of the bulb and what it was crossed with. I have noticed that crosses with papilio and aulicum seem to grow pretty quickly and robustly. Another great quality is the they seem to be less prone to a whole bunch of diseases. Have you noticed that with your crosses?

Yes I did, especially with H. papilio! Less red blotch and rotting in general.

Hello Joan, it must be beautiful over there, snowy winters. Ah, I miss my childhood! I am from Moldova originally, where winters used (not anymore) to be with lots of snow.

Thank you so much Vlad for sharing your story and all the information from Marko. I know I will have to read your post many times as there is so much wonderful information in it.

Joan, your Snow drift is gorgeous and if you are looking for a huge double white you should look into Marilyn, ask Fred she is one of the largest flowers I have seen and she also has pollen lol

Anja, Nelsonii is finally blooming for me after ?? many years :) Hopefully Bea is reading this.

Vlad, Fred and Joan, I will stand up for the double flowers -- they are beautiful! Come on now, the scented Blossom Peacock and Jewel, the flamboyant Junihitoe, the gigantic Marilyn and Amadeus, I say double flowers of the world unite!! Lol Seriously, I do like them.. well maybe not the ones that flop over and look down. But then I also like the single flower hybrids, the miniatures, the species, the cybister spider like flowers............

Jody

Hey Jody, I will tell you this - I like every possible Hippeastrum, but I do love the little, simple ones. My favorites doubles are Doublet, Ice Queen, Zombie and Sonatini Nr. 1720:

Bea, ça va? So glad that you are here too (had no idea)

Ok, I'll make an exception for this one...but just this one :-)))) Only because the bloom is very neatly formed (alright, it's pretty too) and it reminds me of a beautiful magnolia bloom.

So much information and beuatiful pictures :-)

Jody, please show us your Nelsonii! Mine is far away from blooming. I must admit that I'm not a fan of doubles neither but I love your manifest :-) But imagine how beautiful Jewel would be as a plain single...

Vlad, this is funny! I have a very similar double Sonatini but I think its #163. And I do like it a lot. Unfortunately it shows no bud this season.

Doesn't your Carramba has colored stems?

Anja,

My double (#163) is doing the same as yours and has shrunk down to the size of a peanut :-(((( I'm hoping that this summer and after a good feeding regimen, it will bulk up a bit.

In other news, I do have two of Komoriya's bulbs flowering for the very first time :-))))) but since I'm at work right now, I can't remember the exact spelling of the cultivars. When I get home or better yet this weekend and there's more light, I will take a picture and post them. I'm so excited!!!!!

I do have Sweet Potato Pie flowering at work right now and so far, I have been able to keep her going for three years without being attacked and destroyed by those dang mealy bugs!!!! I really hate those suckers!!!!

Oh dam, of course you are right Anja, it is Nr. 163! The Nr. 1720 is a simple variety! I think both are soon to end their rest, scapes are showing up.

Carramba shows some stem coloration, but it is definetly far from being all “purple”.

Anja, here is Nelsonii alone and with Pretty Woman

Not the best picture but one that allows us to see the differences

Fred your Sweet Potatoe Pie is beautiful! How would you describe the color?

Anja, here is Jewel with a single, scented white noid that are about the same size so maybe we can imagine what a single Jewel would

look like :)

Jody,

OMG!!!! Your nelsonii is out of this world!!!!! Mine is very slow growing and I'm afraid, still a few years away from blooming. How are you growing yours and in what kind of medium? BTW Pretty Woman is a stunner as well :-)))

I would describe the color of SPP as a slightly lighter color of the common orange sweet potato but only cuz I have her growing in a bright north window. In the past, when I bloom her at home and in the sunnier southern exposed porch, the bloom is noticeably darker orange.

Love the Sweet Patatoe Pie beauty, I would cross it with H. lapacense!

Jody, do you know if your scented white is perhaps from Hadeco? Looks like a mutation of Wedding Dance.

Btw, don’t judge me strongly, but I love the simplicity of Pretty Woman more.

Hi Vlad,

I wish I had lapacense pollen to cross with it. The only other thing I could think of is papilio but that might produce muddy colored blooms. I do have Temptation and Daphne in bloom at the moment and I may try yungacense x mandonii or even papilio x santos pollen on it and hope it takes. Hopefully if something takes, I'll have seeds to share :-)))

I wish you best of luck, Fred! H. yugacense x madonii should be cool!

I think you can't really compare H. nelsonii and Pretty Woman. One is a wild thing and the other an elegant woman, both very beautiful.

Jody, thank you for that picture with the two whites. It almost looks like a single Jewel and I love it!

Fred, I always thought that Sweet Potato Pie was just another name for Terra Mystica but it looks very different. Good luck with you pollination plans.

Vlad, I remember that my Carramba had very dark stems. Unfortunately I don't have it anymore, I left it in the garden.

Anja, they were somewhat darker in their first flowering, but this season the stems were definitely more greenish than purple. There are 3 pups, I could share one with you later in spring.

Hello guys, do you think Raspberry Garden would fit this cutie? It is a Bolero x Yellow Garden cross, first of the seedlings to bloom. It presents garden series characteristics: 10cm across and it pups already.

Very beautiful color and perfect name. The fact that it forms offsets quickly makes it even more attractive, congratulations :-))))

Beautiful Raspberry Garden, Vlad! Congratulations! Have you ever tried the Garden series in a real garden? I'm still looking for Hippis I can grow in the ground...

This is my Terra Mystica. No pink at all, it is almost brown inside.

First bloom of Eyecatcher X Santos, a cross Donna made some years ago and generously shared the seeds. This one has normal leaves but there is one seedling with variegated leaves that will flower soon too.

A Sonatini garden...

Anja,

They're all very beautiful and I especially LOVE the third flower on the right of the fourth picture. It it also a Sonatini? I have never seen a Sonatini with such a beautiful pattern and I absolutely love the red with green throat varieties :-)))

Ha Fred, we have the same thought!

Anja, love Orange Rascal and this hybrid from Donna, too. I would really like to cross it with another Santos hybrid, to create a double F2! This is Santos x Desire, no variegated leaves (which for me, honestly, is not a big deal)

I did try the garden series in my garden yes, but not over the winter yet. What overwintered well 3 winters (and also survived -14 C in Feb 2018) is Rattatoiulle and Balentino (the original cross).

Guys, does any of you grow Cyrtanthus or perhaps know where I can ask for expertise? I have a true beauty blooming here, it is Cyrtanthus Saturn.

Hi Vlad,

I grow quite a few of them and I have been admiring Saturn for a long time. Please post a picture, I would love to see it :-)))

Here it is Fred. Do you happen to have C. elatus alba? Pretty sure the white one I have got from my grandma is not C. elatus

Hi Vlad,

WOW...that is absolutely beautiful!!!! The only elatus I have is the standard red one and it's still kinda young. I have a huge pot of falcatus that hasn't bloomed in a few of years, but i have been growing them very cool and dry for a few years now. Hopefully, this year they'll flower...fingers crossed.

I love them as much as my Hippeastrums and rainlilies, one has silvery leaves - really lovely.
I wish you that your C. falcatus blooms in 2020 Fred!

Hello everyone, does any of you grow Rio Negro or Lima?

Anja, your picture of Terra Mystica is much more accurate in showing the beautiful and unusual color. I tried taking a picture of T. M. with exotica but it still came out more pink than it is.

Santiago with a more pinwheel shape than usual. I like it !

The lovely deep crimson Carmen. Actually darker then pic.

And Quito

Jody, really love your Santiago - very flazeeda!

Fred, it is Sonatini #105, ordered in 2017. It is still a tiny bulb and has only one scape with two flowers but it's beautiful. The other isn't Orange Rascal but Sunshine.

Jody, I love Santiago and yours looks very special. Mine seems to take a rest this season :-( Even if it doesn't show the true color of T.M this is a great picture!

Vlad, I will harvest some pollen for you if you want to cross it with your hybrid. I got Machala when I ordered Rio Negro and don't have Lima but I gave one to my best friend years ago. It flowers regularely (sometimes twice a year) and has many offsets. I'm sure she will share one... Your Cyrtanthus is gorgeous! I only have a red one which did not flower yet.

You have brightened my day Anja, thank you so much!

I purchased these two from Komoriya in 2016 and the bulbs were tiny to start with, then they shrank a bit more...grrrrr. Anyway, after lots of TLC and fertilizer, they finally bloomed :-))))

This is Red Shadow

...and this is Beni-Koyuki

Fred, am in love (again!)

Fred, the second is gorgeous, it looks as if it was painted!

This is the maiden bloom of Rosario x Emerald. The color is rather greenish than white. Looks funny but is not my favourite. I have two more bulbs of that cross but they are without scapes yet.

Anja,

Yours are gorgeous too, I have always loved the Cybister type blooms, they have a beautifully wild look to them and I absolutely love your Machala :-)))))

You know, after looking at Red Shadow on the internet this weekend, I'm not 100% sure that I have Red Shadow. Does anyone know or remember what Komoriya was offering in 2016 and if it looks like what I have? I'm very confused and I don't need any help being more confused.

Need to browse Red Shadow. Do you also know about Red Lilian? Looks like a Russian hybrid.

I happen to have Chico x Tutti Frutti and Chico x Carramba, also Liberty x Merengue. Let’s see how they will turn out.

Hello everyone,

Anja and I have met today and I am so humbled and happy in the same time. Now I know that I am not crazy and this love for bulbs is quite normal.

Thank you Anja, for everything. Looking forward to meet you again soon and have some tea. Sorry I could not stay longer, really needed to get back to the office.

How great that the two of you got to meet!!!

Since this list has gotten so long I am going to start a new, part 2, list. Jody

Good idea :-)))

Vlad, you're really sweet! I'd rather say that it feels really good to know that there are other crazy people around...

Thank you Jody for starting a new post!!!