Amaryllis belladonna in full bloom
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:16:16 PDT)

In discussions we have had on this list, most people have not been
able to get Amaryllis belladonna to bloom when grown in pots, but Nhu
and Jacob are very good growers. It's blooming here farther north
in California than Shirley and Nhu so I need to look up Nhu's data
base and add it. Usually it starts to bloom in the south and moves
north slowly, but this year I saw a spike on July 17 which seems really early.

In spite of living where it blooms in profusion I don't have much
luck with getting blooms on my property. I thought this was because I
have too much shade. I've reported in the past that they bloom better
in South Africa after a fire clears out the vegetation and there was
a patch that bloomed on a hillside here after a fire that I didn't
realize was there until the fire. It bloomed the second year too, but
now is covered in Vinca and other weedy plants so will see it is
continues to bloom. So if Jim brings his pot indoors would he need to
be sure there was plenty of light?

I grew some in a large pot for years without seeing a flower and
finally planted them in the garden. Every year the leaves would
appear, but never any flowers. But this year there is one spike on
one of them. I think there are three clumps in different spots in the
same area. I don't pay much attention to them. I purchased these more
than 20 years ago. There is another spike in another spot I don't
remember ever blooming before either. Why are they going to bloom this year?

Mary Sue