The internet giveth, and it taketh away

Once in a while it pays to double check the site for broken links and such; just due diligence at my own slow and steady interval. It would seem that perhaps a few questions put to Andre Barnhoorn last April about future availability of some of the varieties noted on his non-Sonatini site, Hippeastrum Breeding B.V. led to some due diligence in the land of windmills. That site hadn’t been updated in ages, but it still led to the occasional check in…just in case. So, did that little “poke” yield a newly updated site full of insights into the wondrous world of the latest in amaryllis breeding? Nope. It has been unceremoniously taken down 🙁

So, while we all know that many of the hybrids posted there (Helios, Balentino, Swan Lake and the like) did indeed make a splash in the commercial world (mostly in hardy garden mixes) what came of the rest? They can’t all make it through the rigors of testing, and among obvious quality standards for the flowering aspects, they must also show good disease resistance and be of relatively easy cultivation and propagation. So, while some cultivars successfully transferred over to the active Sonatini site, others did not make the jump. Naturally one of my faves was one such case. Affectionately named “Nr. 1306,” it was dropped due to its weakness to fungal attacks. I’m glad I made a little screen grab as a keepsake:

Ludwig Reborn?

So, while we are all drying our eyes at the loss of hybrids never born into the marketplace, there is renewal elsewhere. The venerable Ludwig name was never completely erased, but the promise of reviving the brilliant breeding program associated with the name seemed dashed when their old website was killed off a few years ago. But alas, there is a glimmer of hope. While a larger, more diverse company these days, they are once again in the Hippeastrum hybridizing business. This time, with an initially lean offering and a firm direction towards hardy garden types along the line of the “Sonatinis.”

Seen above is the first marketing of a Ludwig named cultivar in North America in some time. ‘Red Fire’ was noted as registered at KAVB in 2013 by grower Park Amaryllis VoF; they had registered ‘Park Red’ as early as 2009. While stock photos were noted late on 2011 at Visions Pictures, it never appeared in any of the usual amaryllis offerings in the seasons following. Until now. Direct Gardening is placing it among their various bulb selections for 2015 (P.S., if you didn’t buy this spring, wait until next year). I would bet that other companies will follow suit. Hopefully we’ll be reporting on this variety in 2016. Judging by the photos on the site, there are more than three listed varieties in trial. Either way, the site notes another momentous achievement for Ludwig, the first time Hippeastrum hybrids have been field grown and harvested in the Netherlands. Here’s wishing them great success!