Dear Jim, I have killed a number of H. aulicum bulbs. So I am now trying one in Hydroton (little balls of fired, unglazed terra cotta) with the original rootball in the organic medium that nurtured it when it was a child. It increases in size slowly and offsets a lot. How big are these plants when they are mature? Mine is similar in size to H. flammigerum (H. striatum petiolatum?). Dell -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of J.E. Shields Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 1:30 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Hippeastrum aulicum While we're talking about Hippeastrum, I might mention an interesting occurrence. I've had one plant (numerous bulbs) of H. aulicum stenopetalum for about 30 years. I got it from the late Dr. Tom Whitaker, who got it from the front yard of a lady somewhere in Brazil. It blooms for me from time to time, depending probably on whether I give it any particular care or not. Before I got it, Tom had grown it in his own front yard in La Jolla, Calif., for many years. It bloomed in the big greenhouse in December, and I took note of the bloom but otherwise left it alone. In 30 years, it has never set any seed, no matter how assiduously I pollinated it. This year, both flowers in the umbel set seed pods. I assume they are "x self," but it is possible that a plant of H. mandonii bloomed at about the same time. In any case, I definitely did not pollinate it myself. Let me stress that it has never, ever, set a seed before while in my possession, whether hand-pollinated or not. Rather curious. Both seed pods had healthy-looking seed in them, and I planted most of the seeds yesterday. I want to see 1) whether they germinate or not; and 2) eventually, if they someday bloom, whether they are true to their maternal genes or are they hybrids. Someday I will take a new picture of this plant in bloom. The most recent photos are at least 15 years old, and on 35-mm slides. Since my slide scanner recently died of old age, I'm not able to show you the flower just now. Jim Shields in sunny and very snowy Westfield, Indiana USA ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA