In a message dated 8/17/05 4:26:22 AM, jimlykos@optusnet.com.au writes: << Another factor about Hathor is that it is more difficult to flower than other white Amaryllids -it requires hot dry spring-summers followed by heavy late summer rainfall. In this habit its very close to the pattern of flowering followed by the Brunsvigia josephinea x Amaryllis hybrids. >> Jim, So this would imply Brunsvigia josephinae is native to a climate where there is heavy rainfall in February (in Southern Hemisphere)? One thing I have noted with the basic "Amaryllis belladonna hybrids" that I so easily mass-produce from seed, is that they seem to need more water than do the original pink A. belladonna that we are all so familiar with. I sell alot of them locally at the farmers markets and the customers that are the happiest with them invariably report back that they are growing them right in the garden among the other flowers where they are routinely watered all year any time there is a lack of rainfall. One thing I noticed here occurred a year ago when in April I accidentally left a water timer set to run a sprinkler for 3 hours after dark (probably set to "daily watering", but possibly every 3 days--in any event frequently and in rather heavy soil at that). I only detected the "problem" in early June, when I noticed this one area of fully green amaryllis foliage in the middle of a field that was otherwise completely dry (normally I would not have watered them after mid- to late-April). At that point I let them go dry, like everything else, with the watering resumed in late July as usual to trigger flower bud emergence. I was watching with great interest to see what would happen in that heavily watered area. At first nothing, while adjacent amaryllis came up and flowered normally, then all at once the formerly wet section came to life and as the season was nearing its end, bloomed easily 3 times as many stems overall as any other part of the field!! While I have have never steadily and consistently watered them right on thru the summer (mostly due to being distracted by other things), it is remarkable how often I hear back with glowing reports from those customers who put them in places even like alongside the lawn, while those who followed the "textbook advice" I used to give and planted them out in dry areas where one would often see naturalized A. belladonna in this area, report little if any bloom the first year after planting (versus at least 50% with those who water), and in general report them to be alot less floriferous in the long run than this old fashioned one as well. I might add that those that I sell locally are generally dug and sold in bloom, this works well for the customer as they can choose precisely what colors they are getting, stem heights, etc., but I'm sure there is some added stress to the bulb if they leave the flowering stem on to continue blooming , though I do advise them to cut things off afterward so the plant doesn't also try to make seed. I notice Brunsvigia josephinae has very thick, glaucous foliage, that stays very healthy in the spring even in close promiximity to the Amaryllis belladonna hybrids which invariably seem VERY susceptible to stagonsospora (leaf scorch). If anything its leaves seem even more resistant to this disease than the old-fashioned pink A. belladonna, which has quite good resistance as well. Jim, if there are varying levels of B. josephinae ancestry in these hybrids, how come they are so dramatically more susceptible to this problem? Is there also another parent noted for such a susceptibility that is in their background as well?? It would be worth asking the breeder you referred to earlier: <<An Australian bulb breeder has recently flowered numbers of plants of both Amaryllis belladonna x B. josephinea and the reverse cross B. josephinea x Amaryllis belladonna grown from crosses he made 12 years ago. >> if his crosses, presumably using the straight A. belladonna as the parent, (thus ensuring no other species is involved), have somehow acquired a major susceptibility to this disease that is substantially lacking in the parents... Best wishes, Bill the Bulb Baron <A HREF="http://www.billthebulbbaron.com/">Bill the Bulb Baron.com</A> William R.P. Welch P.O. Box 1736 (UPS: 264 West Carmel Valley Road) Carmel Valley, CA 93924-1736, USA Phone/fax (831) 659-3830