Amaryllis seedlings

33 comments

Four years in the waiting! Lots of patience & now at long last my Amaryllis seedlings are flowering!

The seeds that I sowed 4 years ago came from swapping pollen between the three Amaryllis I bought 8 years ago in the 1st Continental Market held here in Huntingdon. The 3 bulbs were being sold by a Dutch nursery that specialised in bulbs. As they were considerably cheaper than the boxed ones in the shops I bought one each of three colours. I planted them in individual pots the first year but the second year I put the 3 together in one big pot.

This is the original red Amaryllis I bought – though it’s not the first photo of it.

It may be one of the better photos I’ve taken over the 8 years I’ve had it. It has never failed to flower every year at least once. Sometimes it has produced 2 stems at the same time & some years it has even flowered twice!

This one with the white lines running through the red petals has also flowered often but not every year like the red one above.

This pure white one has flowered least of all – maybe 4 or 5 times in 8 years! Two years ago after it finished flowering for the last time, up until now, it shattered into 4 or more smaller bulbs that didn’t flower last year. I don’t know if they will produce any more flowers later this year

This is the first photo that I used as my avatar when I first joined GoY, in April 2009. As you can see all three were in full flower when I took this photo back in February 2007.

Now their offspring is coming into flower for the first time. When I sowed the seeds I fully expected them to take between 3 & 5 years in reaching flowering size.

This is a photo just a couple of months after they germinated. I moved them into little square black pots. My intention at first was to put just ONE in each little pot but I very quickly discovered that there were a superabundance of seedlings! I ended up putting 4 in each pot! As 15 fit in a seed tray I filled 3 trays with seedlings!

This photo dates from July 2007.

As they were getting far too big for the little pots, they were pushing up out of the compost!, in the spring of 2008 I transplanted them into 2 Growbags for tomatoes! I then put them in the greenhouse for the summer.

This photo dates back to the summer (July) of 2008! As you can see in just one year they made a great deal of progress!

The winter of 2008 I let them dry out & go dormant, later I took them out of the growbags & stored them in the coldest room of our flat. In the spring of 2009 I then put the biggest of the bulbs, which I hoped might give me the odd flower, into 6" pots & put them on the kitchen windowsill. The smaller bulbs, that I thought might need an extra year to reach flowering size, I put into 5" pots & put them on the bedroom windowsill.

This photo is of the seedlings, now in their third year, 2009, on the bedroom windowsill, in tiers, being the only way I could accommodate so many!

This is my reward for waiting during 4 years till they reached flowering size. This is the only one, so far, apart from the reds, to come out like one of its parents.

These red Amaryllis are sooo vibrant in colour! I have more red ones than white/red open at present. But that looks as if it will change in the coming week as I see there are more white/red buds on the plants that are still in the kitchen & bedroom windows.

I’m still waiting for a pure white to emerge, though I wouldn’t trade the white with red feathering ones for anything – they really are beautiful & I can’t resist taking a couple, or three or four, photos of them almost every day!!! LOL!

Here is a close up of one of the seedling flowering for the first time. As you can see it is white with a red feathering. The red increases as the flower gets older. Though each of the white with red feathering plants is a little different from the others, but you have to see them side by side to appreciate the difference.

Here are two different plants side by side. The flowers have also been open about the same time. The one on the right still has a third bud way down at the bottom of the other flower stalks! Incredible for a first time flowering bulb!!

Here is a picture where they have their backs to us! LOL!

This is how I see the table from where I’m sitting at the computer writing this blog!

This is how people see our kitchen window as they come towards the entrance door to the building!

This is one of the reddest of the whites with red flushing. They flower a little later than the reds.

Which reminds me, on Thursday our 3 year old granddaughter came into our living room. I was in the kitchen at the time, when all of a sudden she came running out calling me, saying over & over again, “Granddad, It’s broken, it’s broken!” I came into the living room expecting to find a plant or two on the floor, they are rather top heavy so it wouldn’t have been a surprise!, but they were all on the table. She pointed to one of the reds whose flowers had died & were all shrivelled up. “Granddad, It’s broken, it’s broken!” After laughing I had to assure her it wasn’t broken but that the flowers had finished.

She really was agitated! The poor thing! LOL!

This is probably the “reddest” of the whites with red flushing.

I have covered this flower with my hand to try to give an indication of its size. Giving it in inches is not nearly as eloquent as showing it compared to my hand! I stretched my fingers out as far as I could but even then the petals were still bigger as they curl back a little at the tips. Never have I seen such big flowers – & they are only seedlings that are flowering for the very first time!!!

The next photo is of a couple of plants still in the kitchen window as there is no longer space to put them on the living room table!!!

The last three to round off the blog. These were taken today 27th April 2010!

This is one of the whiter of the whites with red flushing.

This is a close up of one of the two or three that had the strongest white stripe down their red petals.

This last photo shows the latest of the reds to flower. I’ve still got a few more of each left to flower & some have a 2nd or third stem yet to flower! I’m disappointed that I haven’t had a least one pure white.

Over all though I’m very, very pleased with the results of the bulbs, especially as I didn’t expect most of them to produce TWO stems & even less that a couple would produce THREE stems!!! And all this in their FIRST year at flowering size!

I hope you all love this display of lovely flowers as much as I loved growing them, taking their photos & publishing them on GoY!

The author: Balcony!

27 Apr, 2010
7 likes

Comments

Seaburngirl

well worth the wait. there are some stunning ones here. well done that man:o)

27 Apr, 2010

Lincslass

They are fabulous Balcony, you must have the patience of Joab........

27 Apr, 2010

Columbine

This is wonderful,what a great display.Patience is rewarding :-)

28 Apr, 2010

Hywel

What a wonderful display ! Pity you didn't have a pure white but they are all stunning, especially the 2-tone ones. I've enjoyed seeing them :o)

28 Apr, 2010

Sussexsarah

What a labour of love. Thanks for sharing them with us. I only wish I had your patience.

28 Apr, 2010

Genuisscuffy

Wonderful pics - they always remind me of christmas as mum always brought me one for christmas!!

28 Apr, 2010

Hollyeves

they were well worth waiting for they are Beautiful..........

28 Apr, 2010

Balcony

Many thanks to you all for your lovely comments :-)

I agree Holly, they were worth waiting for!

You needn't have them only at Christmas, Genuisscuffy, you can have them at other times of the year as well.

As for patience, Sussexsarah, Columbine & Seaburngirl, I knew when I sowed my seeds that they would take between 3 & 5 years before I saw any flowers. Last year I was a little impatience hoping that one or two of the biggest bulbs would throw up a stem, but no luck. I've had to wait for this year to see almost all the 50 bulbs produce flowers.

Hywel, I, too, like the two tone ones very much as well! :-) They have become my favourites as each plant is a little different from the others, though perhaps you need to see them together to appreciate the differences.

Having said that the pure reds are also slightly different one from another although in their case the differences are even less noticeable.

Today a new flower is opening on a different bulb & I was hoping it was going to be white but it isn't. :-( It has less red flushing in it than any to now it seems, the 1st flower is less than 1/2 open at present. In a day or two I'll post a picture of it.

28 Apr, 2010

Hywel

Was one of the parent plants white ?
If so maybe the pure white form will skip a generation, and appear if you sew seeds from these ( another few years lol )

29 Apr, 2010

Nariz

Fantastic, Balcony! Well done for all your patience and care.

30 Apr, 2010

Balcony

Thanks Nariz, so pleased you liked it! I'm taking photos every day! I can hardly keep my eyes of them!

Yes, Hywel, one of the parents was pure white but there's no sign of any white (without any red) at the moment. I don't have many left to flower either. ;-(

I've just uploaded the whitest to appear up till now. But even that one has some red feathering in the petals.

30 Apr, 2010

Hywel

Very often you find certain characteriatics will skip a generation. Maybe you need to cross another two and wait a few more years to see what happens.

1 May, 2010

Balcony

As the pure white has flowered this year yet I can't get any seeds from it! Will have to wait to see if it flowers during the summer.

1 May, 2010

Angieindgar..

Amazzzzzzzzing.
Well done.Thank for sharing.
I can't get mine to reflower.
do they rebloom every yr after the first yr. they bloom?

2 May, 2010

Balcony

My original red one, which I bought 8 years ago, has flowered every single year since then! Some years it has even flowered twice! I live in the UK with its unpredictable summers! The last 2 were terrible.

I see you are in California, Angie. In that case I don't see why you should have any problems in getting them to flower year after year. Your climate is probably similar to that of Spain. I grew Amaryllis over there for nearly 20 years!

When your bulb finishes flowering keep the leaves growing by watering regularly & giving the plant some rose or tomato fertilizer, diluted according to the instructions on the bottle. Also try to find a sunny spot for it, these bulbs do best if they can get a lot of sun during the summer.

Later in the year when you see the leaves beginning to turn yellow, stop all watering & let the leaves die back. They will need a few weeks of cold, but NOT freezing, temps. You can either leave them to grow in their pots all summer or plant them in the ground but make sure half the bulb is above ground level otherwise they will rot!

2 May, 2010

Irish

wow brilliant, you have so many there

13 May, 2010

Balcony

On the BeyondSpace forum I've made up several pages with thumbnail photos of many of the photos I've taken over the last few weeks while my seedling Amaryllis have been in flower.

Just copy the following address into your browser address bar to see BIG photos of these lovely flowers.

http://beyondspace.info/forum/index.php?topic=840.msg11748#msg11748

13 May, 2010

Sanandreyas70

Wow, i absolutely love your Hippeastrums!! Thanks for sharing your blog..i really enjoyed reading it...I am on the way to beyondspace now to check out your other photos.
Sandra :)

20 May, 2011

Balcony

Sandra, have you see the ones that are flowering in the greenhouse on the allotment? I posted them to my photos on here. I haven't got around to adding any more to my pages on Amaryllis as yet but after your reminder I'm going to have to do it!

4 Aug, 2011

Meenu

I'm simply overwhelmed! So glad, I chanced upon this site. I've got a lot of em too but they're always green and flower rarely. It's always sunny and humid here in Malaysia.

What would your advice be for getting them to reward me some flowers every now and then? I've got the same brick red ones and yes, that pure white of yours.

7 Aug, 2011

Balcony

I'm pleased you like these Amaryllis of mine! :-)) I also hope you will enjoy your visits to GoY & that you will tell us more about what you grow. I know a Malaysian lady here & another one who used to live very close to us.

As for advice well I don't think I can say more than what I've said earlier. As you get lots of sun these bulbs will like that as well as the warmth of your climate but ... they will not like the humidity! They originate in hot, dry counties where the summers are hot & dry & the winters are cold & dry. Here in the UK they grow best indoors but don't mind our summers even though they are not hot & dry like the countries they come from originally. While they are protected from lots of rain & from frost in the winter, (a problem I expect you don't have to cope with!), they should be alright. Just try to feed them with a rose or tomato fertilizer if you can get some. Try to give them protection from rain, as I said they like hot & DRY conditions. They will do better if they get lots of sun though.

I hope you can understand all this! I mean the instructions/advice, not the language! :-)) I hope you will tell me how you get on with them & if they flower again for you. All the plants you saw in this blog have flowered again this year. Some that didn't flower in April/May are flowering now!

7 Aug, 2011

Amaryllisma..

balcony, i have questions about amaryllis. i just bought a red lion amaryllis. when it flowers since its the only one i have if i sellf pollinate it will it still produce viable seed for me to plant and grow new seedlings from? and if so all the seedlings will probably flower at their first flowering as all reds eh?. also ive read everywhere u can keep the amaryllis growing as an evergreen plant without giving it a traditional rest period-in their native habitat they flower in june ish, and us as people like to FORCE them to flower at times that are conveniant for us to WANT flowers-christmas time mainly which isnt normal for them to flower then naturally. i only have north windows in my apartment-never direct sun :( gotta love places with north windows...not!. so im thinking of just growing mine full time under flourescent light. that way it will think its in full sun and that way it will grow the way it should for me. i used to grow amaryllis before, i used to have a place with a west window, hot afternoon sun-they did well, i wud put them in the sun on the deck all summer after the last frost at the beginning of june and take them in before the first frost around mid sept, they were still all green and never went dormant so i threw them out thinking they were no good lol. well now that ive read u can grow them all year in green growth without an unnatural dormant period just in winter cut back a bit on watering but water enough so theyre still green and slowly growing all year every year they will revert back to their "wild" roots and flower at normal time for them in the wild-around june! and how cool is it to have amaryllis in full bloom in june! noone else sees that and wud be so jealous!! ill keep u posted. let me know the answers to my above question about self pollination. thanks

7 Nov, 2012

Balcony

Sorry I hadn't seen your post till today! :-( I'm afraid I can't help you much on the self fertilizing topic as mine were cross-pollinated. Though having said that they will set seed if self-pollinated as to whether they will be viable I have no idea. I've accidentally self-pollinated a few of my plants over the years but I've never let them reach maturity as I wasn't interested in getting more seeds. I'd rather they conserve their energy for making flowers for the coming season!

I don't force my plants to flower at unnatural times. But the last 2 years I have withheld water from September till January when I've noticed buds are growing. That's when I begin to water them again. I had flowers from one plant or another practically every month last year! I discovered a couple of plants forming buds last September so I brought them home from the allotment where they spend 6 months in the open. Since then I haven't gone a week without one plant or another in flower. In fact at the present moment I have 5 different bulbs in flower in our living room!

16 Jan, 2013

Stickitoffee

Beautiful flowers ~ your patience and hard work is justly rewarded ~ Im a bit worried about where you can eat your tea though ~ the kitchen table looks full up!

16 Jan, 2013

Balcony

The table full of bulbs is actually in our living room but we rarely use it to eat on unless we have guests. The photos were taken a few years ago now, you should be able to see the dates on the actual photos.

They were also taken the first year all the seedlings flowered for the 1st time, which is why there are so many!

17 Jan, 2013

Michaella

They are beautiful Balcony, well done you!

17 Jan, 2013

Balcony

Thank you very much, Michaella.:-)) Glad you like them! Do you have any of your own?

17 Jan, 2013

Stickitoffee

Must have been a very pleasing and amazing sight to see all those seedlings flowering.

17 Jan, 2013

Balcony

I was ever so happy! Many of the bulbs also put up 2 flowering stems & a couple even managed 3!!! Incredible for plants that were flowering for the very first time! They far exceeded my expectations! :-)) See the last photo above where I'm standing beside our table filled with them in the living room. I put it down to growing them in a growbag for tomatoes their 3rd year! It was the most sensible thing to do at the time as it enabled me to have them all growing on my balcony but in very little space. See the 2nd photo in this blog. The growbags were also very cheap but the bulbs grew very well in them!

21 Jan, 2013

Stickitoffee

Those grow bags are very useful for all sorts of things, now to find a sunny place to put them!!!!!!!!!

21 Jan, 2013

Balcony

Just be careful not to overwater the bags!

26 Jan, 2013

Stickitoffee

ah yes ~ that can be a problem, i will watch!

26 Jan, 2013

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