Cyrtanthus/Amaryllis blooms
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 12 Aug 2003 22:04:28 PDT)

Dear All,

As I madly try to get ready to go to South Africa there are a few things
about to bloom that I will be very disappointed to miss. I hover over them
every day saying, "Please please bloom."

One of them is my Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus. Bill Dijk gave some of
those little bulbs that Mark described on his plants a number of years ago
and I planted them. I have since given quite a lot to our BX as my plants
grew big, but did not bloom and made baby bulbs like mad. So I asked this
group for help. Alberto said plant in a much bigger pot and deeper. Jim
Shields who was getting multiple bloom a year from his agreed and Ken Kehl
said he had his outside. So I potted up in my biggest pot and planted them
deeper and now there are not so many of those little bulbs on the surface.
And I moved the pot outside in the late spring. And now there are five
lovely flowers that just have to bloom before I leave. I love the outside
color of them so at least I have that to enjoy.

I am sure our Cyrtanthus experts will answer Mark's question. Perhaps
planting deeper in a big pot will help too. I am hoping we will discuss
Cyrtanthus in detail this fall as a topic of a week if Paul Chapman finds
the time during his vacation to do his introduction.

The Bessera bulbs I got from Diana's spring sale are going to bloom too,
but I am not as hopeful about them opening before I leave. Yesterday my
first Amaryllis belladonna hybrids opened. Only three, but I suppose others
could appear later. The species has been out and about where I live, but
the ones I have in my garden haven't bloomed for three years even though
they used to. The bulbs are rather large and produce leaves. Perhaps it is
too shady where they are. Do they need to be divided when they get that
large to bloom properly?

Mary Sue