I don't think you have the belladonna, but the one whose common name is Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) as the belladonnas are usually pink and rarely white. They are also fall blooming with foliage growth now.

Take a look at Balcony's page. He/she does wonders with these bulbs.

When it finishes flowering feed it until late spring, reduce watering until the foliage dies back and then stop watering. Keep it dry until late next autumn. When you start watering again the flower spike should be the firrst thing to appear. if the leaves appear first you'll just have to feed it up over the winter and try again.
Others may do something different but this has worked for me.

Hi, sorry to disagree with Wylie, but I think you do have Amaryllis belladonna, there is only 1 species of Amarylis, and this is it, although there are a few varieties, mostly pink or red, I think there is also a white 1, wheras there are around 80 species of Hippastrum, with hundreds if not thousands of varieties in different colours.
Cultivation is as Steragram has advised, these are frost hardy, which means they are hardy to minus 5 deg c, if you grow them outside plant them against a sheltered wall, and protect the leaves from frost, or grow them in a cool greenhouse, Derek.

Gosh I never realised they are frost hardy Derek! (Are we talking abut the same ones that have changed their name to Hippeastrum, because those are the ones I was talking about. But they flower in midwinter - I'm confused.

Hi Sue, they are 2 totally different plants, Amaryllis haven't changed their name, they always have been Amaryllis, they are native to South Africa and s w cape, whereas Hippeastrum are native to central and south America, but Hippeastrum are mostly frost tender, flowering from winter to spring, Amaryllis from autumn to winter, hope this helps, Derek.

I just keep watering and feeding mine all year and they re flower in May without any intervention from me. the first year after their xmas extravaganza they didn't flower but the last 3 years they have done with out fail.

My 1st time growing these beauties.

When do I start feeding and what do I feed with?

If they were blooming for the Holidays, they were most likely to be Hippeastrum. True Amaryllis belladonna blooms in late summer or early fall, grows leaves through the winter, and disappears from the surface from late spring until bloom. Amaryllis belladonna doesn't adapt well to growing indoors, and needs a good, hot, dry summer to bloom well.

They are 2 specie of Amaryllis see links below which are part of the Amaryllidaceae family which has over 1600 species. I think they are Hippeastrum in which case leave them to die back and do not water them until they show growth then water and feed them also do not repot them they thrive when pot bound and do not like root disturbance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllis#Common_name

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllidaceae

Thanks Derek and Steve. The confusion arose because lots of people still call hippeastrum amaryllis. Its good to know the difference. John should know by know which he has and what to do. This is a great site.

Another way to tell the difference is the belladonnas bloom before the leaves emerge so their common name is Naked Ladies. There is a photo of the white one on my photo section. I found that the white will flower before the pink. The others flower after they have leaves.

Just had a look Wylie - absolute perfection isn't it?
John, having seen it, I really hope you succeed with yours.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ANSWERS AND INFORMATION. i will follow the advice given. There has appeared a further fat bud on each plant....so another two lovely blooms to enjoy in a few days. THANK YOU ALL.