Dear All, On this list we have often reported when the Amaryllis belladonna start to bloom in California. Perhaps it is a rite like the Lycoris blooming in other parts of the United States and the Crinum blooming for all of you who love Crinum. I've had a lot of bulbs bloom for me this summer and if I have time I'll write about some of them in another post, but the blooming of Amaryllis belladonna for those of us who haven't had rain since May and where the garden is a bit tired is a real thrill. We've speculated what makes them bloom before. I think the consensus was that they needed a lot of sunshine and occasional summer water to do well. At least the hybrids seem to need more water. This year I have Amaryllis belladonna blooming already in abundance and some plants I have had for years that have never bloomed are sending up spikes. Since many of my others don't bloom until much later I could have blooms for a long time. So why I ask is this happening. We did have late rain, but my garden has been very dry this summer. But we had an unusually warm summer with less fog so perhaps it was the extra heat or extra sun. Unfortunately since I'm attending the IBSA symposium I may miss some of this amazing display. How about the rest of you who grow this plant? One of the ones that is going to bloom I must have had for maybe 12 to 15 years without a bloom. It was originally in a container but never bloomed so I divided them and planted them out. This one eventually got shaded by a tree, but every year the leaves came back. It's still shaded by that tree, but this year it is going to bloom. Mary Sue We're back to drippy fog the last few days after all that sunshine. Mary Sue Ittner California's North Coast Wet mild winters with occasional frost Dry mild summers