What makes Amaryllis hybrids bloom? and more

I've been away so missed this discussion. Where I live we have a lot more
rain than in the San Francisco Bay area or Southern California. But in the
20 years we have lived here the average rainfall has dropped significantly.
Following the discussions over the years about what makes these bloom, I
have yet to find an answer that works for me. The species blooms all over
the place along the north coast of California without any summer rainfall
or additional water. I'm not sure you can count the fog as making much
difference either since if you put your fingers in the soil, it is bone dry
even after foggy days except for the very top of the soil. It may be better
some years than others and when they bloom seems to vary. This year it was
earlier with most of them in the fading stages now. The ones I have in my
garden show no signs of life at all. As for the hybrids I grow I detected
one spike starting yesterday in a part of my garden that gets no summer
water at all. In other areas of the garden that get a little water so far
nothing.

In the last rainy season we got the lowest amount of rain since we have
lived here, (about 32 inches or 81cm.), but we had good rain in May after a
long dry period. I can't remember when the leaves of my plants died down,
but I expect it was sometime after that. I hear next year is supposed to be
an El Nino year. In previous El Nino years we had significant rainfall
(like 90 to 100 inches- 228 to 254 cm.) a couple of those years so perhaps
we'll have a chance to compare. And usually all that rainfall comes with
temperatures below freezing only occasionally, certainly not enough to
damage the leaves. I wasn't growing Amaryllis hybrids then, but I would
suspect that too much rain wouldn't be better.

When my plants bloom they do not usually all bloom at the same time, just
like my Nerine hybrids that are in bloom for two to three months and
showing no signs of life yet. This may have to do with how much sun they
get which is no doubt a significant factor as discussed in earlier posts.
There are probably a lot of factors at play which is why we haven't been
able to come up with definitive advice. I'm still hoping that at least some
of them may bloom.

I was excited yesterday to see a first bloom on Haemanthus barkerae, grown
from seed started in 2002 and growing in a container in a raised bed
unprotected from the elements, unlike most of my Haemanthus. I'm
notoriously poor at fertilizing which may be the reason it was so slow.
Also the Oxalis are showing signs of life and some are even blooming and
the first green leaves of Moraea polystachya are up. I also had better
blooming this summer from Eucomis. Usually I only see the leaves and that
was still true of a couple of pots. The ones I planted out have never
bloomed but probably don't get enough water in the ground. I have no idea
why I had more blooms this year.

This time of the year when the bulbs start growing again for me I get
really excited and I forget all those thoughts that I have to be totally
crazy that occur during the summer when I am repotting.

Mary Sue

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers