Emaryllis.com, your online Hippeastrum (amaryllis) headquarters!
That’s the amaryllis I bought? So you bought an amaryllis and it bloomed-that’s terrific! But “wait” you say, it doesn’t look like the picture on the label or catalog, or box kit, or…or…You get it, welcome to our world. Every season a substantial portion of amaryllis bulbs sold are incorrectly labeled. This might not be such a big deal if not for the fact that these are relatively expensive bulbs, which rightly raises the expectations for quality and labeling correctness.
The intent of this site is to photograph and describe those Hippeastrum hybrids commercially available (past and present) in the U.S. marketplace. Maybe now you can put a name on that mystery bulb!
The 2024-2025 Season Begins!
While the catalogs roll in, and we begin ordering our amaryllis bulbs and waiting for delivery…why not show Emaryllis fans a few our own hybrids that have bloomed the past several weeks? This photo shows Hippeastrum (cybister x papilio) siblings #3 (left) and # 2 (right). While we have already posted #2, #3 is new. We also have another addition, #4 to add to the library. We’ll make you click on through to the Emaryllis hybrids gallery to see it 🙂 Check out these beautiful “butterfly” form blooms now!
Here we have the first of this cross to actually look like its paternal/pollen parent, ‘Reggae’ This is cybister x ‘Reggae’ #3. Also uploaded is sibling #2 which like #1 looks much more like its maternal/pod parent, Hippeastrum cybister. Enjoy these two new exotic entries in the Emaryllis hybrids section of the photo library!
Though the bulbs were not very healthy (bulb scale mites seem to have been an issue), we did get 2 of 3 ‘River Dance’ bulbs to bloom true to type. Field grown, and intended for outdoor use as much as for containers. Now entered into our Photo Library!
The occasion of both ‘Blossom Grandise’ and ‘Santana’ blooming at the same time presents a moment of stark contrast. Here we have one of the largest modern Hippeastrum hybrids in ‘Blossom Grandise’ and one of the smallest. We have updated our entry on the what could surely be nicknamed “Appleblossom Grande” in our photo library. Enjoy!
Three more Emaryllis hybrids have bloomed, and the gallery has been updated with this little guy, ChicoMachu #5 and its more demure siblings #2, and #4. These are essentially a primary cross of Hippeastrum cybister (using the Chico cultivar) and H. machupijchense if that is indeed what we have under that name.
We are delighted to report that the second of our three ‘River Dance’ bulbs has bloomed true! We are also happy to see a more vibrantly colored flower than depicted in promotional images! After the third of these bulbs blooms (in 1-2 weeks) we will enter ‘River Dance’ into our galleries with an official “studio” shot.
Foiled! Park Amaryllis has been showing off a slew of new hybrids on their website. Only one newer variety was found on offer in the USA for spring sales, the rose and white ‘River Dance’. So what have we here? Not the bicolored and bewhiskered face of ‘River Dance’, but rather one of the first offerings from this breeding house, ‘Mastermind’, with its solid watermelon rose color and uneven, triangular blooms. Emaryllis purchased three of these bulbs in hopes of getting that perfect shot of a new hybrid. The other two bulbs are putting forth scapes, but hopes are rather muted. We will post the results either way.
As the main season for commercial amarylli slows to a crawl, we can add in some Emaryllis hybrids! Here is a cross between ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Germa’ with a nice citrine yellow color and elegant form. This is cross #4, but cross #3 is also now loaded into the Emaryllis hybrids gallery for your approval.
A late purchase of some well-priced bulbs has lead to an interesting (if unrequested) substitution. It’s been a while since Emaryllis has photographed ‘Charisma’. Buying a bulb with that label this season will not rectify that, but what a surprise! Newly available cut-flower variety ‘Exception’ is what we have here. Both cultivars are from the same breeding house, so maybe this was in oversupply considering its lack of name recognition vs. ‘Charisma’…OR…is it that the older ‘Charisma’ is winding down production?
The BKB Season is a wrap! Sort of. Check our last Mysteries of the Box entry for more on what might end up being the longest BKB post ever.
The cheery contrast of newcomer ‘Amazing Belle’ now graces our Double Flowered gallery in the Photo Library. Enjoy!
‘Scarlet Belle’ enters the Doubles gallery, offering a high standard for color and bud count.
The surprises keep surprising. One of our two late purchase white box kits isn’t white at all. See Mysteries of the Box for the latest!
Well, well. Our box kit mystery isn’t the clone sought by Emaryllis, but it is very, very new! So new that it does not yet have a name. This also means it goes (for now) into The Lobby until officially named and released. Welcome Saad-Assaf’s lovely pink “10-32-1” to the Emaryllis galleries. Found by way of our “Mysteries of the Box” post!
Box Kit update! While it looks like some of our kits won’t bloom this year, two are about to give up their secrets. The latest of the kits to be purchased are supposed to bloom pure white if the carton photos are to be believed. But something already looks fishy! Plus: our most recent pink box kit that did flower has been identified…sort of. Check out “Mysteries of the Box” in Hipp Happenings for the deets.
Thanks to Vlad from Bulb in A Box we have a genuine treat! Only available as a cutflower here in the U.S., this 2006 introduction at long last takes its place in our gallery. Subtle and yes, spidery! Welcome ‘Tarantula’ to the Photo Library.
Hippeastrum ‘Carance’ is bestowed the trade name Anne Seaton in the memory of a woman whose life was tragically cut short in an auto accident. This unique and lovely amaryllis is one of, if not the most compact and floriferous seen to date, and a beautiful tribute. Purchased directly from the company that registered it, Bloomaker USA.
Box Kit Bonanza Bonus update! We have a third flowering from the 5 kits emblazoned with the likeness of ‘Apple Blossom’, and it is not the same as the previous two! Head on over to Hipp Happenings for the latest revelation in “Mysteries of the Box”! Updated again 14 February
Our “Mysteries of the Box” post in Hipp Happenings continues to offer up some misery, mystery, and promise. Check our January 22-28 updates now!
Initially seen on the grower’s site, and later on wholesale and retail sites as ‘Andes Fire’ (That’s how we found it here). It seems Agro Floral has decided that this will be marketed as ‘Andes Sunshine’. Both names do little to describe the ultra dark red color of its flowers! There are quite a few of these dark reds out there now, a trend that seemed to start with ‘Royal Velvet’. ‘Andes Sunshine’ separates itself from the crowd with emerging scapes that are deep purple and really dramatic. The flowers are not overly large, but the bulbs are productive, and the scapes are compact so far. Perfect for pots indoors where toppling can be a problem with very tall, top-heavy stems. Now in the Photo Library.
The last of our trio of sleeved, pre-potted entries. Obviously this is not ‘Superstar’ as marketed. But since we didn’t get dark red ‘Barbosa’ but rather ‘Double King’ below, we now have a copy of that rather rare cultivar. ‘Barbosa’ is a nice mid-size dark red, along the lines of ‘Mandela’, but with less formality and unevenly crimped tepal edges. It would seem that the eye-grabbing images on these plastic sleeves is no better predictor of labeling accuracy than any other! The good news, these have all been good performers, with at least two scapes each 🙂
The second of three “sleeved” pre-potted amarylli has opened. It was sold as ‘Intokazi’, one of Hadeco’s long-running single white standard selections. It sure looks familiar, but it took Emaryllis down a rabbit hole. Alongside this cultivar, ‘Wedding Dance’ has been marketed, and it appears that very often over the years it has been substituted freely for ‘Intokazi,’ which may not be in production currently. We removed our entry for ‘Wedding Dance’ a while back, being uncertain of its identification. Now we think we have identified photos (they are older images) that show each cultivar in its most diagnostic form. And this one? Very likely, it is ‘Wedding Dance’ which will enable us to update our photo shortly. Check out the new text and gallery entires for 1977 introductions ‘Intokazi’, and ‘Wedding Dance’.
Mislabel alert! Three pre-potted and sleeved amaryllis varieties were purchased at excellent prices by mail order last month. The single red on offer was the rarely available dark red (and single-flowered) ‘Barbosa’. Obviously, that is not what we got. Is it the double red ‘Bingo’ as sold alongside ‘Barbosa’? Nope! We actually got a pretty healthy copy of ‘Double King’!
Initially sold (and posted here) as ‘Red Queen’, this huge-flowered scarlet beauty is now placed in our gallery under the registered name ‘Red Cream’. We’ve updated both our image and the text. If you want to impress with sheer size, this one will thrill! It’s great to see a modern version of the likes of ‘Ludwig’s Goliath’ 🙂
While our ‘Minerva’ kit yielded an atypical version of that old cultivar, our ‘Star of Holland’ kit delivered the typical form of ‘Minerva’ rather than the variety called out on the box. It looks like only one scape will be produced from this bulb, but it was accompanied by some luxurious foliage. We now say goodbye to our “Star of Holland 2023” blog post unless the unthinkable second scape emerges down the road. See our wrap in the Hipp Happenings blog!
We are on a roll here! We now have a total of 5 of these “Apple Blossom-y” kits and three other color varieties. Purchases made in a crazy last minute, sale price driven frenzy has led to a Box Kit Bonanza, Bonus Edition. With our first bloom, we can hold back no longer…go to Hipp Happenings and take a looksee at our newest post “Mysteries of the Box”. This wordy expose is aimed at celebrating the joys of mystery mislabels that are part of the box kit experience. Embrace and enjoy!
Just showin’ off here! It’s so cool to have all three of the ‘Amazone’ clan in bloom at the same time for a family portrait. We now have all three in our Photo Library. ‘Pink Amazone’, ‘Red Amazone’ and ‘Wild Amazone’….say cheese!
A new entry from the house of “Amadeus” is now in the doubles gallery. Bold and brash ‘Flamed Amadeus’ sizzles on the amaryllis bench here at the ranch, and we love the heat!
This dramatic beauty seemed to come out of nowhere this year, in a limited release. If you are sorely missing the high-contrast likes of ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Novella’ like we are, ‘Pink Beauty’ will bring you a big smile! Now in the Photo Library, and hopefully on more windowsills next season. This variety is a mutation arisen from ‘Pink Surprise’. A new favorite!
‘Red Amazone’ enters the gallery with its shapely flour-de-lis blooms and compact, beautiful scapes. Floriferous and unique. We hope this one is more widely available next season!
Emaryllis did a thing. A cell phone photo sent by a friend caught E’s interest. This led to a late season, and possibly ill-advised flurry of purchases of some cheap grocery store box kits marked down to $5 each. Caught up in the end-of-season sales frenzy, kits were bought in the last day of 2023, and first two days of 2024. This is something E would never advise our audience to get caught up in. Why did we do it? Stay tuned for a new Box Kit Bonanza Bonus edition coming soon!
Box Kit Bonanza update! We have bad news, and good. Check out our posts on Lady Jane (left) and ‘Star of Holland’ (‘Minerva’) in Hipp Happenings!
‘Picobello Majesty’ is a new smaller double amaryllis without official registration, so it may be flying under a provisional name. It shows up on Wijnen’s website, so is likely of their own breeding…and they have a penchant for “royal” names. ‘Double King’ was registered in 2013, and more recently ‘Double Highness’ and ‘Double Duke’ appear in registry roles. So far, short scapes and small-ish flowers make this one seem a great potted specimen. Better rooted and re-grown bulbs might alter that depiction next season. But what does Emaryllis think of ‘Picobello Majesty’ overall? Head to the Doubles gallery to find out!
Israeli firm Saad-Assaf has been busy creating new varieties, and here are two of the newest. Their farm is very near the area violently invaded last October, and we hope that no one working or living there was harmed. Welcome both ‘Rose Quartz’ (left) and ‘Ice Pink’ (right) to the Photo Library. Emaryllis is particularly smitten with the latter!
A few seasons after ‘Wild Amazone’ was released, we have two more in the series, in a very limited release. First up is ‘Pink Amazone’ which doesn’t have so much of the ‘butterfly’ form as its stablemates. If you liked ‘Fledermaus’, but wanted more rosy coloration, this will do nicely! Now in the Photo Library for your examination. Oh, that red flowered beauty in the background? That would be ‘Red Amazone’ which we will post once we get a few more open flowers.
Our first new variety of the year! Saad-Assaf’s wonderful ‘Bellini’ is now served in the Photo Library. Tall, large-flowered and luminous, ‘Bellini’ deserves a toast!
Happy New Year dear readers! Check this out, we have Box Kit updates! ‘Lady Jane’ (middle) looks like she will still be holding court into January with one bud yet to open. Our not-quite-normal ‘Minerva’ (left) is just passing peak after a great performance. But why won’t Emaryllis be holding on to this unique bloomer? More news! Our third kit has opened its first flower, so we have a third Box Kit Bonanza feature for your pleasure. Take a look at the progress of our un-creatively titled “Star of Holland 2023” post. All in Hipp Happenings.
Well, well, well. It is funny that our description of ‘Rosalie’ in the Photo Library notes that she is somewhat like a warm pink version of 1980 introduction ‘Susan’. Guess what happened when Emaryllis purchased a bulb of ‘Susan’ this season? Yep. Here we have ‘Rosalie’ as a skillfully made substitute.
Sometimes, growing amaryllises is no carnival. Literally. One bulb purchased as ‘Carnival’ as seen below turned out to be ‘Amalfi’. This bulb, also bought as ‘Carnival’ turns out to be ‘Summertime’, which we also see below was used as a substitute for ‘Milady.’ It’s odd that ‘Summertime’ hasn’t shown up on Hadeco’s roles for years, yet it is still being grown and sent out to the marketplace. Of interest here is the fact that this flowering is rather poor, with a short first scape bearing 3 short-lived flowers. This bulb was 24 cm circumference and had no roots at potting. The one below, which has flowered beautifully, was a larger 28 cm bulb, with some fleshy roots at potting. Get those bigger bulbs with roots when you can!
BKB 2023 does not disappoint on Christmas Day! Two of our three kits seem to offer peak performance at just the right moment. The third has a well-developed scape and lush foliage…something to look forward to for the new year ahead! The current ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Minerva’ kit entries have been updated in Hipp Happenings, check them out!
Mea culpa! A friend looking to compare some bicolor amaryllis varieties ended up alerting us to a major error. Emaryllis photographed this stunner years ago, yet it either wasn’t uploaded or was accidentally deleted at some point. ‘Barbados’ represents one the best red and white bicolors, with a shade of red that is as rich, sumptuous and vibrant as one could ask for. Now properly placed in our photo library.
Wherever in the world you are and whatever you celebrate…Merry Christmas from Emaryllis.com! There’s plenty happening on ye olde amaryllise benche, to be shared in the next days and weeks. Intriguing mislabels! Box Kit updates! New to emaryllis varieties! Stay tuned, and thanks for visiting 🙂
Yeeee haaaa! It’s beginning to look a lot like…Box Kit Bonanzaaaaaa! We’ll be reviewing three kits this year, and there will be a separate comparison post later. For now, we have our first two kits to bloom under the Emaryllis microscope. Each kit is given the full treatment, with its own post. Go to Hipp Happenings and select the Box Kit tab for all that’s fit to print!
As happens just about any time Emaryllis strives for the elusive copy of Hadeco’s ‘Milady’, 2023 sees us with an example of the firm’s 1977 variety ‘Summertime’. Though many of the flowers show color breaks (white streaks), this particular bulb is giving us a good performance. We celebrate any chance to improve older images, and have updated both photo and text on ‘Summertime’ in our gallery. Note: there is a presumably Dutch clone of lighter and brighter pink with white midribs also sold under this name in recent seasons.
Our first mislabel of the season! Last year’s efforts to get older bicolor ‘Carnival’ were thwarted when an order was abruptly cancelled. Offered by a few firms this season, Emaryllis was skeptical that Hadeco was producing this one, as its website shows it as “unavailable”. The unrequested (and very differently colored) cultivar used as substitute? Hadeco’s stalwart mid-sized pink ‘Amalfi’.
Oh, yes, there will be kits this season! At very least, these three very different amaryllis gift box kits will be the subject of some juicy Emaryllis style critique, and hopefully some celebration. We are looking at kits labeled as containing ‘Lady Jane’, “extinct” cultivar ‘Star of Holland’, and favorite box kit performer ‘Minerva’. We’ll let you know as soon as the first post is live!
The return of ‘Thai Thai’! A new supplier here in the U.S. has some intriguing offerings, including several unavailable or scarcely available elsewhere. So far, all bulbs of ‘Thai Thai’ have been correctly labeled…a first for this unique cultivar. Several years ago they were shipped in a mix with other varieties as covered here at Emaryllis. This lead to much frustration, making the acquisition of the correct bulb a borderline obsession for some collectors. We’ll have more to say about what this new company offering these later, as last season’s pricey potted-only sale of ‘Aurora’ is among the other Hadeco varieties available as bare bulbs (or potted!).
Emaryllis specializes in commercial hybrids, and we have few species in our Photo Library as a result. The flowering of any species is cause for celebration here, much less a fairly recently described one! Meet Hippeastrum ramboi of southern Brazil! Part of a suite of newly recognized species from Rio Grande do Sul, this one has a very small native range. Head on over to the Hippeastrum Species gallery to learn more!
Before the season of forced amaryllis starts, we have an update to our own Emaryllis hybrids collection. Almost all seedlings of a cross between cutflower selection ‘Piripiri’ and striped ‘Bangkok Rose’ have displayed striped foliage that range from having very broad, diffuse light centers, to very defined cream stripes. This season the first two seedlings have bloomed, so head on over to the Emaryllis hybrids gallery to see the results!
For inquiries: write to Info (at) emaryllis.com
145 Comments on “Home”
Loving all the updates this year, thank you for feeding my addiction! And thank you for the link to the US supplier with Thai Thai and Aurora, I ordered both. The Aurora just finished blooming, so sweet, but the Thai Thai all came up just leaves. The bulbs are super tiny, maybe they will bloom next year and show if they really are Thai Thai…
Thanks for your comments! A few of the several ‘Thai Thai’ I received did the same…all leaves. They all look true-to-type at least. A few also had Hippeastrum Mosaic Virus, so I have rogues those out. Good luck re-growing yours.
Wow! Had a busy few weeks and only just looked back to see what’s posted for the season. What a fantastic plethora of photos and variety’s. The most you’ve ever done in a season? Some stunning colours too. Your bargain bonanza has certainly got me looking and planning for my own bargain hunt! Thanks for all the amazing posts this season!
“Caught up in the end-of-season sales frenzy, kits were bought in the last day of 2023, and first two days of 2024. This is something E would never advise our audience to get caught up in”
You don’t have to – any time I see seriously reduced amaryllis bulbs, I’m guaranteed to get caught up in a sales frenzy, with or without advice!!!
Hi Emaryllis, well it’s that time of year again for us Amaryllis addicts to start ordering for the new season. Think it’s come early this year. I’m wondering if you may have some suggestions of scented types to look out for please? “Aquaro” was so lovely, it would be nice to find some others. Looking forward to seeing what’s new on here as the season progresses. Hope it’s a good year. All the best, Stella
Oh, how I wish ‘Jewel’ were still in production. You can still find stalwart double ‘Blossom Peacock’ readily and recently introduced ‘Cape Horn’ has some fragrance along with trumpet type ‘Santiago’. Hybrids with some of the white flowered species should yield fragrant progeny, but these have yet to show up in commerce.
That’s great thanks. online companies put Amaryllis for sale so early, this year, many sold out super fast. Blink and were gone, especially new types. So your list, I will have to look out for next year. I did manage to get a Santiago, (most expensive Amaryllis I have ever bought!) 🙂 It’s now in bud and will see in a week if it was worth it. After getting Amaryllis 99% incorrect last year. So far this seasons buys, different supplier 100% correct, big surprise. 🙂 Marilyn has a very delicate daffodil scent. And also mystica and La Paz flowered so gave them Marilyns pollen, using the tips that you suggested. La Paz…nope. but mystica has 2 growing pods from cut stigma tips pollination, but viable seed will be another matter. I still have 2 Chinese mysteries with never a flower in 7 years. 1 shrunk to an acorn in size, sat for a year in a sunny window no shoot no root, so about to Chuck it, removed it from the pot, sealed in a zippy bag with damp vermiculite, sulphur powder and cinnamon and dumped it on a dark radiator in September. It got shockingly hot, highly humid and sure I’d killed it, few days later went to throw the bag away but it had a brand new inch long root and tiny shoot! It’s now potted up with 2 leaves 5 inches long, is too big for its plastic bottle greenhouse, is back on its windowsill and sulking. I’m at a loss🤷♀️
These things are supposed to need sunlight and air circulation, but this one defies the odds. Do you have any ideas? What can it be in the Amaryllis world? And how do I keep it alive and growing? If you have any suggestions Emaryllis, they would definitely be appreciated please…. Soo the addiction continues lol. Can’t wait to see what your box kits reveal! An interesting mix 🙂
Yay! Bonanza of new pictures. 02 originals Nice! However this website is fatal! Lol. After the expensive mislabels, Just found some bargains, sold as pot luck … garden types £1 each, indoor £2.50 Couldn’t resist several of each. However I’ve promised to share some. But no doubt there will be more visits to the photo gallery yet. Sigh… I need more windows!
After several years of buying expensive named bulbs that ended up being nothing of the kind (usually just Appleblossom or Red Lion – and often, the Appleblossom stood in for a red variety and vice versa!) I now only buy the super cheap supermarket box kits. I still find the colours are wrong, but at least I don’t get so mad if I’ve only paid £3-£4 instead of £15!
This was my year for mislabeled bulbs, 3 out of 7. Interesting about the Opal Star substitutions. Both my Pinkolo bloomed as Opal Star. My Ice Pink bloomed as a beautiful but NOID double, I suspect that it is a Nymph of some kind. Pale coral background with dark raspberry trim and picotee edge. The seller couldn’t ID it but said that it came from Peru.
There seems to be consensus that mislabeling is as much a problems this season as ever. Sigh. Since you ordered an Israeli variety, they are usually substituted with others from the same supplier. As with my ‘Bagatelle’, check the Amaryllis IL Coming Up page…perhaps you got a pre-release ‘Replay’.
Found the photo of Replay. It could be a possible ID for my NOID. Easy to Grow Bulbs did list Replay this season. Lord knows what they were actually selling, since you say it is still in prerelease. Maybe Replay will be widely available next year, and I will see if the bloom matches the one that I already have. Hope always rules in the Amaryllis collectors world.
Love the new homegrown hybrids, especially the cybister. Commiserations on the yet more mislabels, though interesting. I was seriously thinking to call “the year of the amaryllis”… “Year of the Spamaryllis”! Cynical perhaps, but then tonight a new bud is showing a miraculous actual hint of possible peachy colour and I’m wondering could it really be the desirable “Desire” I actually bought after all? Please don’t let it be yet another “Serenity” thing. We live in hope and wait for the revealing. Patience!🙂
Wondering about your box kit update and thinking, bet one of those 2 turned out to be a “Serenity” thing.😏 Meantime love the new pictures.
Thanks! Just photographing another cybister type hybrid today and hope to post soon. The two box kits are photographed and just waiting for me to do a write-up. You should patent the term Spamaryllis (™) lol!
I might just do that! Lol. 9 out of 10 so far completely wrong, but today I celebrate that finally one has come out at least the right colour…orange! However it’s a bit pale so not sure if really is “Desire”. I’m now waiting on “Naughty girl” to open, but it’s starting to look like some naughty guy may have swapped her out too!
Looking forward to seeing those new cybister hybrid pics. My first year to set seed, so far looking good. The plants seem to choose if they want to grow the pods or not. A couple started to do so but then aborted the attempt n shut down the scape. They decided not enough roots perhaps? The ones growing pods are staying without leaves as yet. Perhaps plants have more intelligence than we know?
Good luck with your ‘Desire’ bulb! The most common reason that hybrids don’t take is a basic chromosome number incompatibility, but there are other factors. Short of embryo rescue and tissue culture techniques you can just accept it or try a few tricks of the trade. Try the reverse cross using the failed pod parent’s pollen on the other variety. Cutting the stigma off of the style, and using the sticky sap it exudes can work by removing the “lock and key” system of the stigma. Using a compatible pollen that is “killed” via microwaving, then mixing it with the desired pollen can also get around the style’s lock and key system. If you know the cross will fail, cutting the scape and placing it in water can prevent the bulb from controlling the shutting off of resources to the failing pod.
“Desire” did actually turn out to be “Desire”. “Naughty girl” was indeed switched. Really disappointed to find “Minerva” instead! That’s really interesting info. Heard years ago about cutting scapes to get seed production but didn’t say why, so thanks for explaining. So as my second “Opal star” is also now aborting half grown pods I have cut both scapes to see what happens. One looks too late but the other still has 2 ok pods out of 7 starts between them. As for those other things may experiment bit by bit. That’s all new to me. In fact thinking I’d need “The days of a tree” to learn everything to know. lol
Love the new hybrids – Congratulations!
My mystery ‘pink’ amaryllis whose first flower was white with a faint pink overlay is continuing to confuse – the second flower has opened white with a green centre (with a tiny pink dot at the base of each petal) and the tiniest possible amount of pink on the tips. and the third flower is all green & white. Definitely not the very strong pink colour shown on the box, but at least I only paid £4 for it! Can’t wait to see what the ‘solid red’ and ‘red and white striped’ varieties flower as!!!
Thanks, Phil! I’ve got a few more hybrids opening soon so stay tuned! Your pale mystery may be something unique, and you did get it at a bargain! Keep us abreast of the others.
Haha – red and white striped didn’t flower at all, solid red was Appleblossom and my second ‘red’ (someone else’s unwanted Christmas present) is now flowering pink…so of a grand total of 4 bulbs, none of them have flowered as they were supposed to!
Amazing 4/4 mislabels. Quite an indictment of the industry! Hopefully we can maintain at least a sense of humor about this situation, albeit with a note of frustration.
Commiserations on “table dance” Think it looks like a cat scratch accident in need of serious wound care! 😏 Hope you get the real McCoy next time. I’ve a new “Mont blanc” that I’m sure isn’t.4 Not huge flowers. Slightest daffodil fragrance at flower opening and aspirations to masquerading as a tulip. Flower stays very cupped until it withers. Have you any ideas what this confused creature might be? Not seen anything similar on your website.
Wow! American dream looks amazing! So glad I dropped by to see if there’s anything new. I’m adding that one to my list of must haves. 🙂 I’m not jealous of course… Not half 🙂 It looks perfect. More contrast than Daphne but so much cleaner than those random speckled inbetweeners. Wish it was available in Uk! What size are the flowers? Thanks for giving us amaryllis addicts another beautiful fix. 🙂
It looks like ‘American Dream’ and a spate of other van Geest hybrids are set for autumn 2023 delivery. This one is a “must have.” 🙂 These are not huge like ‘Daphne’ but still large at about 16-18cm. I imagine under ideal conditions they could be a bit larger.
Love the new pictures! Tantalising wondering just what they will turn out to be. 🙂 look forward to seeing the next update on those. Just wondering if anyone knows a reason why this happened to my bulb? Bought a new bulb that started to sprout leaves just before the buds. However the buds never grew above peeking out of the bulb and now shrivelling up. But the leaves have happily grown to about 20 inches. It’s a 30 cm bulb and 2 buds showed but not grown since October. The buds not gone bad just the energy is being pulled back out of it and aborting the flowering. Wondering if I did something wrong or a problem with the bulb itself? 🤷♀️
Also thanks to this website I’ve learned information about amaryllis I couldn’t find anywhere else on the web… for instance what to do when receiving a mail order bulb with maggots in! Amaryllis sure are like the lottery! This season has been mouldy bulbs, rotten bulbs plus maggots and so far totally wrong colours bar 1. A fabulous red pearl! But I can only do mail order so will keep coming back here when a surprise colour or a problem pops up. It’s a great resource.
Stella, I doubt you did anything to cause the scapes to shrivel. It is not that rare of an issue, and more likely is due to improper handling in the cooling period after harvest. Ethylene build-up in their storage container could “blind” the bulbs, killing the buds. There is also a chance that overdone heat treatment (aimed at killing bulb scale mites) could adversely affect the floral growths, but not the foliage. Hopefully you’ll be able to grow it on and se what it can do next season. Thanks for being an Emaryllis user and Good luck!
Thanks, that’s really interesting to know. Amazing what we get to know on this website! Not heard of that before but certainly makes sense. The leaves of this “ maybe Clown” do have amazing growth! 32 inches tall so far! ( in a sometimes sunny west window) Though not as tall as my 1st “not clown” Moon Scene, 39 inches:-) my third “Clown” attempt 2 weeks after delivery has turned out to be another Opal star….. Opal rocket?? 2 stems both grown to 2 foot tall in just over 2 weeks with 10 flowers! One slight caveat to that though being that the scapes popping out of the bulb in transit got damaged so couple flowers bit crumpled. Plus arriving with outer squishees needing cleaning up, fungal treatment and slimming down I’m wondering if it will self destruct? But that’s the fun of amaryllis 🙃
Hello. I love reading your blog. Last year (oh, this peaceful 2021 with its banal pandemic without explosions and drones) I bought bulbs numbered 08-005-1 and Lemon Cream in several stores. They do have some differences though. What I like about him is that he is a chameleon (maybe my dual nature sees kinship in him) And how do you like this variety? And was it bought already with the name or how else is it licensed?
Oh, Olesya if you are writing from Ukraine you have the compassion of all of us that condemns the brutal and cruel war being waged on your people. It is amazing and uplifting that you can find some moments of calm to appreciate the natural beauty of plants.
This new NL van Geest variety was apparently sold in Europe under its company accession number before the ‘Lemon Cream’ name was registered officially. They are the same variety…but as you say a variable one at that. The bulb I had bloom last summer even produced some flowers with extra petals, almost a double flower! It is still not sold commercially here in USA. I got mine from Vlad at Bulb in a Box.
Please stay safe and warm, and I hope the spirit of the holidays fills you with hope for brighter days. We stand with you.
Yes, I’m from Kyiv, we had two air alarms today, but our guys from the Air Defense Forces protect us!!! Thank you for your sympathy, we appreciate it all. Thanks for the answer, this variety is very interesting… Yes, thanks to Vlad I have very interesting varieties Thanks for your reply, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Let St. Nicholas or Santa Claus bring new varieties, and we will all read your review with pleasure
Hi loving the website and the Myriad pictures! Wondering if it’s possible you can identify a new Amaryllis I just got that just popped into flower today and looks to me a bit like Fledermaus. A big surprise as I ordered apricot parfait. This one is quite pretty but the flower much smaller than I would have expected for what I ordered and quite dark ruby in the centre. I would be happy to send a photograph of it.
Thanks kind regards
That’s great thanks. this crazy beauty is full of surprises. 4 flowers on first stem and now 6 new buds on a second! Also researching on your website is feeding my growing addiction!:-) it’s like picking a lottery ticket, get a winner by accident and totally hooked! 🙂
As I see those photos above, these bulbs are in a very small pots. Hippeastrum needs lots of nutrient to grow and flowering. I always give enough big pot to let them grow, and my bulbs bring the best they can. I can’t enclose photos here, but I happily would show how my Hippeastrums look like. All leaves and flowers are perfect and big. I buy derectly from Netherlands, from a reliable company. They sell big bulbs, ship carefully and they have a best price! Lemon star 9,3 euros, Tierre 8,51, Grandise Fantasy 9,32 The bulb size around 30-32 cm or bigger!
I think you are looking at bulb kit photos…I try to grow them in exactly the same pots the list come with to show performance. Yes, Hippeastrum hybrids are heavy feeders, and bigger pots with very well-drained media are great! I grow in mid-size pots due to a lack of space, and putting them out in spring, when heavy rains might oversaturate the media leading to rot. You are lucky to be able to buy directly from NL van Geest, I wish we could buy direct here in the USA! Thanks for writing!
This year’s amarylllis have finally flowered – and I have a first. I bought three kits, all under £5, and ALL THREE are flowering in the colour they were meant to. My white amaryllis has flowered white (huge flowers on an enormously tall plant, with a lovely green centre to the white), my red & white one has flowered red & white (barely a foot tall – never had such a short amaryllis!) and…drum roll…my third attempt to grow Queen of the Night seems to have worked. Anyway, she’s flowering in the right colour and looks pretty similar to the photo in the gallery. My last two attempts have been white and red & white striped, so I’ll settle for a solid deep red, even if it’s not the right one!
Only had one rebloom from last year so far – the others are still sulking.
Congratulations on your bargain blooms! It sounds like you hit the jackpot this season. So happy that your quest for ‘Queen of
The Night’ is fulfilled at last!
I really like this site for all the information that is available. I’ve been looking for the “Scarlet Baby” Amaryllis for several years and have been unable to find it. Is it even being produced anymore?
While the registration site KAVB hasn’t stated that ‘Scarlet Baby’ is out of cultivation, it is clear that it hasn’t been sold commercially in about 15 years. From about 2010 on it was used as a marketing name, but substituted with new varieties. It would still be successful in my view; the bronzed foliage and crimped edges of the flowers were nice details. Thanks for using the site!
I didn’t realize this year wasn’t a great year for amaryllises. I guess I got lucky! I pre-order 4 different sonatini and got them. The exciting bit was they arrived at the end of October and they looked ready to go! Now, considering I bought 3 of them for my mom’s birthday at the end of November, I was really happy I have my very mini-fridge I bought for keeping amaryllises cool. I caved on Nov. 20th, took them out, potted them, and gave them to her that day. They are growing quite well and, as of today, I can see the petals for one bulb on its two scapes. One bulb is taking its sweet time but that is fine. 🙂
We’ll see if I got the kinds I ordered which are: Belladonna, Brightspark, Joker, and Lemon Sorbet (that one is for myself). I had good luck last year with the one bulb I ordered for myself. I ordered a Thai Thai and it was correct.
I wouldn’t say it wasn’t still at least good, save for retail nursery prices and some delayed shipments here in the U.S. I think mail order firms had already set prices before covid related impacts had really reared their head. The loss of Royal Colors as a source of direct shipments from Europe also makes for a less exciting year for some unique sourcing. Also Hadeco’s MyAmaryllis.com does not seem to be shipping, and they have offered some of the harder-to-get South African grown cultivars.
The South African grown Hippeastrum are amazing! They are definitely ready to start showing off earlier than most. You made some nice choices, and I bet they will come true to type.I hope your bulbs bloom brightly, thanks for using emaryllis.com!
Olga, I wish ‘Santos’ was still marketed too, as do many other amaryllis fans. It had a commercial run of about 10 years. It was the only modern striped foliage hybrid to make it into large scale production. It seems to be a strong grower and easy bloomer, so it should have stayed in production for much longer. There is always a chance that a Dutch grower still has it and will consider producing it again, but those chances are slim. Since you mentioned this cultivar, I will update the photo of ‘Santos’ in our gallery to show a bit of its unique foliage! Thanks for writing.
Great if from Melbourne Australia. Lots of fabulous hippeas flowering in mid September. ( our spring) .
Continually use this amazing resource
Thx michael barrett cliviaman
So nice to have friends down under! Of course we love Clivia as well as Hippeatrum. Happy spring to you, as we are just ending our growing season up here. Thanks for using emaryllis.com 🙂
I have an amaryllis that bloomed and the bulb dried up. I lifted the top off and there was several small green bulbs under it. Will these bulbs turn into plants? What do I have to do to get them to produce flowers?
Yes, the offsets took over when the main growth died (sometimes this is from Narcissus Bulb Fly if grown outdoors.) You could just leave them as a clump for another year, or separate them and replant each in its own small pot, bringing the nose of each little bulb just above the soil surface. Fertilize and keep evenly moist through the growing season. Since they will be too small to bloom the first or even second year they could be grown on during the first winter or two indoors in a sunny window, or better yet under plant lights to extend daylength. It takes some patience to grow them on for bloom! Once they reach blooming size, they can be treated as outlined on our Amaryllis Care page.
I found out what happened to my shipment from Royal Colors. The bulbs were intercepted and destroyed by the Dept of Ag. plant inspection station at the Miami Air Cargo facility on Dec 16th. Today I received the empty box, sealed with US customs green tape and an interception notice. Royal Colors is not getting the proper permits. I contacted them to see if there is a chance that they would refund my money. What a shame that it has come to this.
Oh, boy….no good! My tracking status is still shown as “In transit” but considering it was mailed around the same date as yours, I am not counting on it arriving. I actually wanted to place a second smaller order a few weeks back, and that’s when they stated that they are no longer going to sell outside of Europe. They cite the cost of phytosanitary certificates as the main issue. You are so right…what a shame. I hope you and others get refunds if they did not succesfully get the bulbs to customers.
Considering that Sonatini dissappeared this year, and now Royal Colors, the amaryllis world just got a bit smaller.
I’ll post back here when and if I get a package…empty or otherwise.
Not even a “no” on a request for refund? Not the best business practice. I too received an empty (and very beat up) box about about a week ago. My box was intercepted at JFK for no phytosanitary certificate. Contents destroyed. The box was marked as though it was a “gift” and merely stated “garden products” as the contents. I might try asking for a refund for the bulbs themselves (and not the shipping) to see if that gets a response. A sad and frustrating situation.
Did you receive an order from Royal Colors last month? Mine was supposedly shipped Dec 6th but has never arrived here in Florida The RC website now states that they are not shipping out of Europe after Oct 2020. I suspect that it got turned away again from US customs. Unfortunately they don’t take responsibility if something happens with shipping. Reminds me of two years ago. Any idea what’s going on?
Yay! Welcome back Emaryllis – I’ve missed your posts over the summer! Can we look forward to some more bulb/box kit reviews this season?
I’m having to forego the box kits this year as I can’t go out to the shops, but I’ve just ordered ‘Mont Blanc’ and ‘Orange Souvereign’ as loose bulbs from a mail order site. Be interesting to see if they end up flowering true to label, as the box kits hardly ever do.
Welcome back to you as well! I’m sorry you are being limited by the current situation. Mail order is a great way to get bulbs, and even box kits. I haven’t been overly adventourous either, but have tried to get as much as possible in far fewer trips than usual. Box Kits are definitely coming along, hopefully initial posts to go up next week. A few cutflower varieties will be added to broaden the site a bit more also. Thanks for following the site 🙂
I would just like to find out whether you can help me, if I would want to register a new Amaryllis hybrid, how does one go to work? I am from South Africa and I don’t know who to contact regarding this. Can you please advise?
The international registrar for Hippeastrum (and many other bulbous plants) is KAVB in the Netherlands. They used to want some bulbs to grow on as part of the process, but I think that requirement may no longer be in force. Here is a page from their site with a link within to the registration form:
I have never bred anything that I felt was good enough for registration, so I am excited for you! Please keep us posted on your progress, I hope that your hybrid(s) can be featured here on Emaryllis.com some day!
After my amaryllis bloomed three gorgeous flowers, I trimmed the spent blossoms, and let the green leaves continue to grow in bright light. They really must of liked the location, temperature, and watering because the leaves grew so tall I had to prop them up with a plant spike and gardener’s velcro, otherwise the leaves would just fall over. It just got so out of hand.I started by cutting the leaves that would fall over the easiest- they were on the outside anyway. That only helped for a little bit before all the leaves were just falling to the ground. I got annoyed and I snipped all the leaves off. I know that this was the wrong decision to make… i should have just propped up the leaves with a stick.
I can’t believe I did that. . I know cutting off the green stops the bulb from getting all it’s energy, so does this mean the bulb will die? Or did I just force it in to dormancy?
Thank you!
Skyler, I hope everything turned out well. Normally they will just keep growing as long as daylight hours and temperatures are to their liking. Growing them in brighter light should help keep the leaves from being as long and floppy. Trimming back their length would be a better option than removing them entirely.
I picked up a boxed kit at Lidl yesterday for £2.79 – no labelled varieties but they come in a choice of pink, red or white. My white one proved to be a 27cm circumference bulb with no sign of disease or sprouting and some fat, healthy roots. It came with a sturdy grey plastic pot (with great drainage holes) and matching saucer and LOADS of coir. Obviously don’t know how it will flower yet, but compared to the £9.99 ‘de luxe’ boxed kits I’d seen earlier in the day at the local garden centre (small, shrivelled bulbs, suffering badly from scorch, with no roots and hardly any growing media), this is already looking like great value. And bearing in mind 50% of my garden centre named varieties didn’t flower true anyway last year, I think I’m sticking with Lidl’s unnamed bulbs this year!
Sounds like you picked up some nice bargains, Phil! It is very true that spending more on a bulb kit does not necessarily mean a better bulbs waits inside. Let us know how they turn out!
The ‘white’ amaryllis turned out red & white, which you have kindly identified as ‘Ambiance’. I guess Lidl were half right! Still a pretty flower though. And a good strong plant. If I can keep it free from scorch, I’ll rebloom it next year.
My ‘Half & Half’ from last year (which was supposed to be Christmas Star!) is flowering again and looking beautiful. I picked another ‘Christmas Star’ out of the garden centre’s bargain bin in January – be interesting to see what this one flowers as, but at £0.99, I’m not too bothered if it’s wrong!
Hello. We’ve recently had an interesting hybrid trumpet bloom (H. Aulicum cross) and wanted to send you pictures to see if it would be of any interest to anyone. It seems to be evergreen, only has 2 blooms per stem but has a lovely clean up facing trumpet with nice color. It’s also producing nice offsets. I was shocked that the cross took and truly expected it to be one or the other parent plants but it’s obviously a hybrid. Thanks so much!
On April 27 & 28 at Apopka Art & Foliage Festival in Apopka, FL You can find information on planting & growing large flower hippeastrum bulbs in limb forks of large old Live Oak trees in both South & North FL. Ask Bill or June at the Amaryllis Spectacularis booth(15th year). You can use your own bulbs.
Amaryllis Study Group
Hello , I am wondering if your H Machupijchiense is correctly named , in the http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com you can see the stamens are red , this isn’t the case on your picture (I have the same flower than you , still seaching for it’s ID , finaly might be an hybrid)
Agapanthe, To be honest I am not 100% sure that the species is correct. I have thought it might be H. miniatum, variegatum, fuscum and others in its related Peruvian group. It is what is sold in the U.S. as H. machupijchense, and that is what I am standing by for now. Thanks for your comment!
What has happened to the Photo Library?? It has been COMPLETELY BLANK for weeks! I referred friends to view what I had given them as bulbs and nothing! Will this be fixed?? When? It’s a useful resource
Charlene, Thanks for using the website, and my apologies for the gallery pages being down. At first the titles and descriptions went missing, and soon after the galleries became invisible. The Emaryllis website tech guru knows what the problem is, and will address it soon. These are the vagaries of an open source platform!
Any idea about what’s going on with Royal Colors?. They aren’t currently shipping to the USA. Claim a customs’ issue. They had that problem several years ago. I ordered back in June, was told my order shipped Oct 30th. Still haven’t gotten it. Were you able to get your RC order yet?
Hi Barbara,
Unfortunately I have had two orders refunded by Royal Colors this year. I’m not sure that any regulation has changed since other companies that import into North America haven’t been hindered this year. Most bulbs are sent to a company that imports (and has import permits), then distributes from within the U.S. Since RC ships into countries directly, the problem may be that they are circumventing the needed import permits to receive the bulbs from a foreign country. This is just a guess, but I hope the issue can be resolved as Royal Colors has been a great source for a unique variety of amaryllis cultivars.
My Royal Colors order arrived today, It had been shipped Oct 30th, returned and reshipped on Nov 22nd via another courier. The bulbs are surprisingly healthy, given the fact that they have been in transit for over 2 1/2 months. I hope that RC can straighten out their USA customs issues, since I will sure miss them as a supplier in the future.
That’s great, Barbara! Had you already been refunded? If so, I wonder if there are some stray boxes that may yet be delivered to those of us who had placed orders as well. Thanks for letting us know!
I was never offered a refund. I didn’t heard anything until I contacted them at the end of Nov. So my order may have been an early one that got into the mail, before they cut off shipments to the USA. And it still got returned to them once. I doubt if anyone else will get bulbs. Go to the RC website, inventory is very high for being the end of the year. RC has gotten stuck with bulbs that should have gone to the USA. No matter how you look at it, this is a real shame.
Oh, that is interesting. My orders (placed in May and September) were both refunded, so I hope the bulbs made it back home for someone else to grow. I imagine the U.S. is a significant market for RC, so they will undoubtedly make every effort to iron out any regulatory issues. Let us know how your bulbs prosper, and thanks for the update for all readers here in th USA.
Barbara, I just got one RC box today, also shipped Oct. 30. Mostly things are OK, but some had sprouted out and there were damages. The box looks like it was kicked around a lot during its journey!
I noticed, today, that RC has removed the notation on their FAQ section that they are temporarily not shipping to the USA. In the absence of that “disclaimer” I have to believe that are now shipping to the USA. Since the bulbs come into NYC, and with the severe cold in the North, I would be hesitant to order bulbs this late. But it does sound like progress has been made with their shipping issues. I also saw that you are getting bulbs directly from Hadeco. I will definitely try that bulb source this year.
Barbara, Royal Colors now has the U.S. listed in both their FAQ and in their dropdown menu in the shipping section of the order form. Good news, if late in the current season. Let’s hope for trouble free shipping next season! Ordering from Hadeco was a smooth process in my case; most of the bulbs were correctly labeled and it is the only way to get some of their newest creations.
I experienced the same. I placed an order and had priblem with custom so I canceled delivery. They said the bulbs were delivered but never receive the bulb. I was offered credit. Checked from them the code to use credit on my order and no response at all. I plan to check pay pal ir my visa regarding this when I arrive in US as I am still out of the country.
Cheryl, It looks like they have not been shipped to the U.S. this season, but should be available next season. Check the Hadeco My Amaryllis website next summer to see if that cultivar is available by direct order.
Is it common for a box kit amaryllis not to flower in the first year? I bought Queen of the Night (according to the label) at the beginning of December and it has produced loads of healthy leaves, but no sign of flowers. It has had the same treatment as my two amaryllis from last year which I started back into growth about the same time – one of those is flowering and the other has two well-developed scapes, but just leaves on my new one!
Phil, typically these bloom quite well, if not true to name. If the bulb is making only leaves, it was either “blind” beacause the flower initials aborted (this can be caused in many ways) or it was not cool conditioned. In the latter case, it may yet bloom, as spring is the normal flowering period for Hippeastrum. Don’t give up!
Thanks! If the flower initials aborted, does that mean it will never flower? Or is it worth keeping it till next year if it doesn’t flower in the spring?
They will bloom in the future. Most Hippeastrum hybrids make one bloom scape per three leaves. That is why I always look at the number of fleshy leaf bases on the top of a dormant bulb at purchase…more leaves = more flowers!
‘Orange Sovereign’ is only used as a marketing name these days, the original cultivar was close to scarlet in color, and huge! You probably are looking at two bulbs of ‘Naranja’ which is one of the best orange flowered amaryllises in the trade today, along with its sibling ‘Tineke Verburg’. I am hoping that the ‘Orange Sovereign’ name will be used to market ‘Souvenir’ in the future, as it is also stupendous!
Ah, well that makes sense now – thank you! Some of these Amaryllis flowers look so similar that I sometimes wonder why they bothered to give them different names. But I guess it is important when breeding for certain traits.
Come on what else have you got in bloom? I miss your blog posts.
I have a rather interesting mixup this season through a local greenhouse. They got in a small, but lovely selection of very large quality bulbs. I’ve bought two, labeled Rilona and White Nymph. Neither are right. Lol the “white nymph” I knew wasn’t white from all the color on the scape, but I thought perhaps it would be a red or pink of that family.
Yikes, Rosie! So many mislabeled bulbs have been reported this year, its disheartening. Older named varieties are so often substituted with robust growing newer types, and ‘Popov’ is a very strong grower.
Thanks for missing the blog posts, it has been a very busy year for the author, but I do apologize.
Thanks for the kind words Rosie! You may have an example of ‘Naranja’ for ‘Rilona’, or perhaps the smaller but very regular ‘Desire’. Both are excellent growers in high supply these days. I’m glad you like ‘Popov’, it is an excellent selection, and the scent is subtle but permeating.
I was also foiled at getting Sofia from Royal Colors. Last year I was contacted ahead of time, and offered a substitution for Sofia. This year, as happened to you, Picasso was sent, labeled as Sofia. I don’t expect this kind of dishonesty from Royal Colors. Shame on them. In regards to a previous email, the Hadeco Cayenne from Amaryllis Bulb Company was Cayenne.
Very few, Rob. I keep a few for breeding stock and some of the varieties that I favor and are no longer sold. I have very limited space, so when a lot of new amaryllis varieties get released, I part with some of the others.
Perhaps you need to develop a network of Amaryllis foster homes to grow and reintroduce those varieties that are no longer in circulation.
Ahhh, if only Emaryllis didn’t have a very busy day job! It would be nice to develop an ark of sorts for the cultivars that often disappear just as they are introduced.
Hi! I’m a very great fan of this website and love them! greatful! Congratulations!
I love Amaryllis and have many of it!
Do you know where I can buy Hadeco Amaryllis bulbs in Europe? I wish to had a bulb of hadeco’s ‘Honeymoon’
As I was a child, there was hadeco bulbs in trade here. And I have had a ‘honeymoon’ since a long time in bloom in my children room.
I’m very affraid that my english isn’t so good. Please excuse me for that.
Michael,
Your English is very good! Hadeco bulbs are becoming scarce here in the USA too, as one of the nurseries that carried many of their varieties stopped selling this year. Since Fluwel and Royal Colors also don’t sell Hadeco amaryllis, you are left with Amazon.com searches and more general holiday gift catalogs. Often Hadeco bulbs are sold for sale as potted, forced plants here, maybe in Europe too. Maybe someone from Hadeco will read this and offer advice! It looks like they are mainly selling ‘Miracle’ this year, but ‘Honeymoon’ is noted as a 2018 available variety. Good luck and thanks for using Emaryllis 🙂
Hello Michael!
Hadeco here… thank you for your interest in our bulbs.
Many retailers in Europe do sell Hadeco amaryllis but mainly this is during November and December.
You can order for your home or as a gift for others. Choose from the complete range of Hadeco amaryllis directly from the farm! Please visit http://www.myamaryllis.com
We combine shipments into sea freight containers from South Africa and then post them from Holland to you.
Last winter, there was a issue with ABC’s Ruby Gem, which turned out to be Gold Metal. ABC just contacted me and offered a “free” bulb this season to make up for last season’s mixup. They are carrying Hadeco’s Cayenne, which I ordered.
It was very good of Amaryllis Bulb Company to offer the correct variety the following season. Let us know if this one blooms true to type! Thanks for letting others know about last season’s issue as well.
Dear friend,
Nice to meet you.
We are a bulb importer from Hong Kong. We have import permit. Hong Kong is a small place, So we can’t make large order as other Import over 2000 bulbs per year with different types/species.
Now, we are preparing the autumn/winter sales.
Would you mind send your quotation of minimum order and price?
I hope we will have a good cooperation.
Best Regards,
Calvin
I was given three bulbs last summer, two from my great Gram-in-law after she passed and one from my sister. I have no real idea what cultivars they are, since I did not see them in bloom. I kept them in my southern facing picture window all this time. They went dormant during the fall and winter months. In January they came out of dormancy (or so I thought). Leaves began growing so I began watering them again. One bulb continued to grow, put up a scape, and bloomed beautifully. The other two seems to have stalled, one has a leaf tip about 2 inches tall and the other has 6 12in long leaves. They have not showed any more growth for about a month. Both bulbs are round, fat and green, and have grown some roots. Have you ever had a bulb start growing and then just stop? They seem so healthy I am confounded.
Rosie, I have seen amaryllis stall for no apparent reason fairly often. Once the daylight hours exceed 12 hours a day, they should all come into growth. Just remember that the stalled bulbs need minimal watering, and no fertilizer until actively growing. It’s so nice to hear that you are taking care of these “passalong” amaryllis bulbs 🙂
That is good to know that once the long summer days come they will get going. I have been reading your site since I got them and did searches to learn how to care for them. This is definitely one of the most fun and informative sites for Amaryllis/Hippeastrum. 🙂 I’ve spent hours looking through the blog posts and photo library! After my first blossomed I tried to identify it, but being one of the solid Reds makes it kind of impossible to my inexperienced eyes. It did have a fragrance though! I am being very careful with the watering. I have to be because the tiny one (is lucky to be alive) is in a small square glass vase with coconut coir. I have no idea who would of sold/gift it to my sister like that. I don’t have any other pots to put it in yet, but I will. I would be surprised to see it bloom, its smaller(17.5cm) and was in poor light quite a long time before I got it. Oh, I am well and truely hook line and sinker for them now. I’ve adopted two box kits from a local store over two weeks ago. Both have roots and one appears to have two scapes peeking. 😀 And I want even more.
Well, I found out what was wrong with them today. I got a clay pot with drainage for the small one and new soil for them both. When I took it out the littlest one’s basal plate was rotting out all around the middle. There were even fungal spores! 🙁 I pulled and scraped out all the spongy material I could, removed bad roots, and used a child’s toothbrush to clean the whole bottom really good. I let it dry in a window for a while. I dusted the bottom with cinnamon before potting it. I did Not water it as the soil was slightly moist already. It does still have several live roots.
The bigger one wasn’t as badly rotted, but it was starting to. There was a wad of rotten material in the bottom of the pot and I guess as soon as the roots tried growing through it, they started dying and stopped growing. Same deal, I cleaned it as best I could, let it dry, and dusted with cinnamon before potting it up with new soil. I hope and pray they will be all right.
It sounds like you have done the right things, and they should grow much better in new soil. They are pretty tough!
Have you ever known an amaryllis to go dormant for 18 months? I bought a bulb that shipped to the states from Iran. It leafed out but did not bloom. Then it went dormant for a good 18 months. Now it has finally decided to leaf out again. The bulb is good and solid, the leaves look great. I just wonder why it went dormant for so long.
One year yes, but never 18 months! With a huge change in environments and bare-rooting we now know that they can wait that long. Thanks for sharing your information with the Emaryllis world 🙂
Thanks for the reply – I hope my bulb likes its new country. It is supposed to be Royal Velvet, so now I just need to wait, who knows how long, until it blooms and I can find out.
Christie, please share your results when it blooms!
Ahh, sorry Adelaida, Emaryllis is just here for informational purposes. Some of the varieties I have photographed over the years are commercially extinct. A few cultivars are only available for 1-2 seasons, while others like ‘Apple Blossom’ have been easy to purchase for many decades. The best selection is by way of mail order companies…which ones depends on where you live. Thanks for your interest!
Emaryllis, this is such a wonderful website. Fun & informative for those wanting information on specific cultivars. It’s helping me chart the waters. Good work amd well done!
Thanks for enjoying this so much that you want to purchase. Emaryllis.com is here for information purposes only, sorry that none of our amaryllis varieties are for sale. Probably Royal Colors in the Netherlands is your best bet, as they ship internationally.
I raised amaryllis bulbs indoors for the first time this year and chose H.’Terra Cotta Star’. They are indeed gorgeous but the stems are weak. I have two bulbs. In both cases once the inflorescence emerged fully the stems toppled over at the junction with the bulb. If the breeder is out out there, could you work on that for the future please?
Thank you.
(author of “Visions of Loveliness:great flower breeders of the past”)
Greetings Ms. Taylor. Yes, the fact that many of these are naturally tall sees them perfectly suited to the cut-flower market, but less so to the lower light of the average home interior. There are more compact varieties that bloom on shorter, sturdier scapes. Hadeco of South Africa in particular focus on this trait. Dutch hybrids such as ‘Mambo’ and ‘Floris Hekker’ were selected specifically for pot culture as well. The “cybister” hybrids, owing to the lightness of their blooms offer a way to have the elegance of great height with less likelihood of toppling. Thank you for your comment!
Loving all the updates this year, thank you for feeding my addiction! And thank you for the link to the US supplier with Thai Thai and Aurora, I ordered both. The Aurora just finished blooming, so sweet, but the Thai Thai all came up just leaves. The bulbs are super tiny, maybe they will bloom next year and show if they really are Thai Thai…
Thanks for your comments! A few of the several ‘Thai Thai’ I received did the same…all leaves. They all look true-to-type at least. A few also had Hippeastrum Mosaic Virus, so I have rogues those out. Good luck re-growing yours.
What is happening? I ordered 5 bulbs from 2 USA companies. After last season’s labelling fiasco, I am amazed that all 5 were correctly labelled.
Good for you! I definitely see more correct labels this year than some other years. Good thing, as the prices of some are staggering!
Wow! Had a busy few weeks and only just looked back to see what’s posted for the season. What a fantastic plethora of photos and variety’s. The most you’ve ever done in a season? Some stunning colours too. Your bargain bonanza has certainly got me looking and planning for my own bargain hunt! Thanks for all the amazing posts this season!
Thanks, Stella! Nice to have you back enjoying the flurry of content 🙂
“Caught up in the end-of-season sales frenzy, kits were bought in the last day of 2023, and first two days of 2024. This is something E would never advise our audience to get caught up in”
You don’t have to – any time I see seriously reduced amaryllis bulbs, I’m guaranteed to get caught up in a sales frenzy, with or without advice!!!
It’s good to know Emaryllis is not alone!
Woohoo!!!! Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a box kit post from Emaryllis. Looking forward to the first update.
Thanks, Phil! Two kits are budded up, so it won’t be long!
Hi Emaryllis, well it’s that time of year again for us Amaryllis addicts to start ordering for the new season. Think it’s come early this year. I’m wondering if you may have some suggestions of scented types to look out for please? “Aquaro” was so lovely, it would be nice to find some others. Looking forward to seeing what’s new on here as the season progresses. Hope it’s a good year. All the best, Stella
Oh, how I wish ‘Jewel’ were still in production. You can still find stalwart double ‘Blossom Peacock’ readily and recently introduced ‘Cape Horn’ has some fragrance along with trumpet type ‘Santiago’. Hybrids with some of the white flowered species should yield fragrant progeny, but these have yet to show up in commerce.
That’s great thanks. online companies put Amaryllis for sale so early, this year, many sold out super fast. Blink and were gone, especially new types. So your list, I will have to look out for next year. I did manage to get a Santiago, (most expensive Amaryllis I have ever bought!) 🙂 It’s now in bud and will see in a week if it was worth it. After getting Amaryllis 99% incorrect last year. So far this seasons buys, different supplier 100% correct, big surprise. 🙂 Marilyn has a very delicate daffodil scent. And also mystica and La Paz flowered so gave them Marilyns pollen, using the tips that you suggested. La Paz…nope. but mystica has 2 growing pods from cut stigma tips pollination, but viable seed will be another matter. I still have 2 Chinese mysteries with never a flower in 7 years. 1 shrunk to an acorn in size, sat for a year in a sunny window no shoot no root, so about to Chuck it, removed it from the pot, sealed in a zippy bag with damp vermiculite, sulphur powder and cinnamon and dumped it on a dark radiator in September. It got shockingly hot, highly humid and sure I’d killed it, few days later went to throw the bag away but it had a brand new inch long root and tiny shoot! It’s now potted up with 2 leaves 5 inches long, is too big for its plastic bottle greenhouse, is back on its windowsill and sulking. I’m at a loss🤷♀️
These things are supposed to need sunlight and air circulation, but this one defies the odds. Do you have any ideas? What can it be in the Amaryllis world? And how do I keep it alive and growing? If you have any suggestions Emaryllis, they would definitely be appreciated please…. Soo the addiction continues lol. Can’t wait to see what your box kits reveal! An interesting mix 🙂
Yay! Bonanza of new pictures. 02 originals Nice! However this website is fatal! Lol. After the expensive mislabels, Just found some bargains, sold as pot luck … garden types £1 each, indoor £2.50 Couldn’t resist several of each. However I’ve promised to share some. But no doubt there will be more visits to the photo gallery yet. Sigh… I need more windows!
After several years of buying expensive named bulbs that ended up being nothing of the kind (usually just Appleblossom or Red Lion – and often, the Appleblossom stood in for a red variety and vice versa!) I now only buy the super cheap supermarket box kits. I still find the colours are wrong, but at least I don’t get so mad if I’ve only paid £3-£4 instead of £15!
This was my year for mislabeled bulbs, 3 out of 7. Interesting about the Opal Star substitutions. Both my Pinkolo bloomed as Opal Star. My Ice Pink bloomed as a beautiful but NOID double, I suspect that it is a Nymph of some kind. Pale coral background with dark raspberry trim and picotee edge. The seller couldn’t ID it but said that it came from Peru.
There seems to be consensus that mislabeling is as much a problems this season as ever. Sigh. Since you ordered an Israeli variety, they are usually substituted with others from the same supplier. As with my ‘Bagatelle’, check the Amaryllis IL Coming Up page…perhaps you got a pre-release ‘Replay’.
Found the photo of Replay. It could be a possible ID for my NOID. Easy to Grow Bulbs did list Replay this season. Lord knows what they were actually selling, since you say it is still in prerelease. Maybe Replay will be widely available next year, and I will see if the bloom matches the one that I already have. Hope always rules in the Amaryllis collectors world.
Love the new homegrown hybrids, especially the cybister. Commiserations on the yet more mislabels, though interesting. I was seriously thinking to call “the year of the amaryllis”… “Year of the Spamaryllis”! Cynical perhaps, but then tonight a new bud is showing a miraculous actual hint of possible peachy colour and I’m wondering could it really be the desirable “Desire” I actually bought after all? Please don’t let it be yet another “Serenity” thing. We live in hope and wait for the revealing. Patience!🙂
Wondering about your box kit update and thinking, bet one of those 2 turned out to be a “Serenity” thing.😏 Meantime love the new pictures.
Thanks! Just photographing another cybister type hybrid today and hope to post soon. The two box kits are photographed and just waiting for me to do a write-up. You should patent the term Spamaryllis (™) lol!
I might just do that! Lol. 9 out of 10 so far completely wrong, but today I celebrate that finally one has come out at least the right colour…orange! However it’s a bit pale so not sure if really is “Desire”. I’m now waiting on “Naughty girl” to open, but it’s starting to look like some naughty guy may have swapped her out too!
Looking forward to seeing those new cybister hybrid pics. My first year to set seed, so far looking good. The plants seem to choose if they want to grow the pods or not. A couple started to do so but then aborted the attempt n shut down the scape. They decided not enough roots perhaps? The ones growing pods are staying without leaves as yet. Perhaps plants have more intelligence than we know?
Good luck with your ‘Desire’ bulb! The most common reason that hybrids don’t take is a basic chromosome number incompatibility, but there are other factors. Short of embryo rescue and tissue culture techniques you can just accept it or try a few tricks of the trade. Try the reverse cross using the failed pod parent’s pollen on the other variety. Cutting the stigma off of the style, and using the sticky sap it exudes can work by removing the “lock and key” system of the stigma. Using a compatible pollen that is “killed” via microwaving, then mixing it with the desired pollen can also get around the style’s lock and key system. If you know the cross will fail, cutting the scape and placing it in water can prevent the bulb from controlling the shutting off of resources to the failing pod.
“Desire” did actually turn out to be “Desire”. “Naughty girl” was indeed switched. Really disappointed to find “Minerva” instead! That’s really interesting info. Heard years ago about cutting scapes to get seed production but didn’t say why, so thanks for explaining. So as my second “Opal star” is also now aborting half grown pods I have cut both scapes to see what happens. One looks too late but the other still has 2 ok pods out of 7 starts between them. As for those other things may experiment bit by bit. That’s all new to me. In fact thinking I’d need “The days of a tree” to learn everything to know. lol
Love the new hybrids – Congratulations!
My mystery ‘pink’ amaryllis whose first flower was white with a faint pink overlay is continuing to confuse – the second flower has opened white with a green centre (with a tiny pink dot at the base of each petal) and the tiniest possible amount of pink on the tips. and the third flower is all green & white. Definitely not the very strong pink colour shown on the box, but at least I only paid £4 for it! Can’t wait to see what the ‘solid red’ and ‘red and white striped’ varieties flower as!!!
Thanks, Phil! I’ve got a few more hybrids opening soon so stay tuned! Your pale mystery may be something unique, and you did get it at a bargain! Keep us abreast of the others.
Haha – red and white striped didn’t flower at all, solid red was Appleblossom and my second ‘red’ (someone else’s unwanted Christmas present) is now flowering pink…so of a grand total of 4 bulbs, none of them have flowered as they were supposed to!
Amazing 4/4 mislabels. Quite an indictment of the industry! Hopefully we can maintain at least a sense of humor about this situation, albeit with a note of frustration.
Commiserations on “table dance” Think it looks like a cat scratch accident in need of serious wound care! 😏 Hope you get the real McCoy next time. I’ve a new “Mont blanc” that I’m sure isn’t.4 Not huge flowers. Slightest daffodil fragrance at flower opening and aspirations to masquerading as a tulip. Flower stays very cupped until it withers. Have you any ideas what this confused creature might be? Not seen anything similar on your website.
Wow! American dream looks amazing! So glad I dropped by to see if there’s anything new. I’m adding that one to my list of must haves. 🙂 I’m not jealous of course… Not half 🙂 It looks perfect. More contrast than Daphne but so much cleaner than those random speckled inbetweeners. Wish it was available in Uk! What size are the flowers? Thanks for giving us amaryllis addicts another beautiful fix. 🙂
It looks like ‘American Dream’ and a spate of other van Geest hybrids are set for autumn 2023 delivery. This one is a “must have.” 🙂 These are not huge like ‘Daphne’ but still large at about 16-18cm. I imagine under ideal conditions they could be a bit larger.
That’s great to know. I also dream that one of my others not yet flowered might just be a mislabel of American dream. We live in hope! ☺️
Love the new pictures! Tantalising wondering just what they will turn out to be. 🙂 look forward to seeing the next update on those. Just wondering if anyone knows a reason why this happened to my bulb? Bought a new bulb that started to sprout leaves just before the buds. However the buds never grew above peeking out of the bulb and now shrivelling up. But the leaves have happily grown to about 20 inches. It’s a 30 cm bulb and 2 buds showed but not grown since October. The buds not gone bad just the energy is being pulled back out of it and aborting the flowering. Wondering if I did something wrong or a problem with the bulb itself? 🤷♀️
Also thanks to this website I’ve learned information about amaryllis I couldn’t find anywhere else on the web… for instance what to do when receiving a mail order bulb with maggots in! Amaryllis sure are like the lottery! This season has been mouldy bulbs, rotten bulbs plus maggots and so far totally wrong colours bar 1. A fabulous red pearl! But I can only do mail order so will keep coming back here when a surprise colour or a problem pops up. It’s a great resource.
Stella, I doubt you did anything to cause the scapes to shrivel. It is not that rare of an issue, and more likely is due to improper handling in the cooling period after harvest. Ethylene build-up in their storage container could “blind” the bulbs, killing the buds. There is also a chance that overdone heat treatment (aimed at killing bulb scale mites) could adversely affect the floral growths, but not the foliage. Hopefully you’ll be able to grow it on and se what it can do next season. Thanks for being an Emaryllis user and Good luck!
Thanks, that’s really interesting to know. Amazing what we get to know on this website! Not heard of that before but certainly makes sense. The leaves of this “ maybe Clown” do have amazing growth! 32 inches tall so far! ( in a sometimes sunny west window) Though not as tall as my 1st “not clown” Moon Scene, 39 inches:-) my third “Clown” attempt 2 weeks after delivery has turned out to be another Opal star….. Opal rocket?? 2 stems both grown to 2 foot tall in just over 2 weeks with 10 flowers! One slight caveat to that though being that the scapes popping out of the bulb in transit got damaged so couple flowers bit crumpled. Plus arriving with outer squishees needing cleaning up, fungal treatment and slimming down I’m wondering if it will self destruct? But that’s the fun of amaryllis 🙃
Hello. I love reading your blog. Last year (oh, this peaceful 2021 with its banal pandemic without explosions and drones) I bought bulbs numbered 08-005-1 and Lemon Cream in several stores. They do have some differences though. What I like about him is that he is a chameleon (maybe my dual nature sees kinship in him) And how do you like this variety? And was it bought already with the name or how else is it licensed?
Oh, Olesya if you are writing from Ukraine you have the compassion of all of us that condemns the brutal and cruel war being waged on your people. It is amazing and uplifting that you can find some moments of calm to appreciate the natural beauty of plants.
This new NL van Geest variety was apparently sold in Europe under its company accession number before the ‘Lemon Cream’ name was registered officially. They are the same variety…but as you say a variable one at that. The bulb I had bloom last summer even produced some flowers with extra petals, almost a double flower! It is still not sold commercially here in USA. I got mine from Vlad at Bulb in a Box.
Please stay safe and warm, and I hope the spirit of the holidays fills you with hope for brighter days. We stand with you.
Yes, I’m from Kyiv, we had two air alarms today, but our guys from the Air Defense Forces protect us!!! Thank you for your sympathy, we appreciate it all. Thanks for the answer, this variety is very interesting… Yes, thanks to Vlad I have very interesting varieties Thanks for your reply, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Let St. Nicholas or Santa Claus bring new varieties, and we will all read your review with pleasure
Hi loving the website and the Myriad pictures! Wondering if it’s possible you can identify a new Amaryllis I just got that just popped into flower today and looks to me a bit like Fledermaus. A big surprise as I ordered apricot parfait. This one is quite pretty but the flower much smaller than I would have expected for what I ordered and quite dark ruby in the centre. I would be happy to send a photograph of it.
Thanks kind regards
Yes, Stella, you can mail a photo or two to info at emaryllis.com
That’s great thanks. this crazy beauty is full of surprises. 4 flowers on first stem and now 6 new buds on a second! Also researching on your website is feeding my growing addiction!:-) it’s like picking a lottery ticket, get a winner by accident and totally hooked! 🙂
So will we be getting any of Emaryllis’ inimitable box kit reviews this season? I hope so – we need something to brighten a grim winter!
Only one box purchased so far…so I can at least promise that much!
As I see those photos above, these bulbs are in a very small pots. Hippeastrum needs lots of nutrient to grow and flowering. I always give enough big pot to let them grow, and my bulbs bring the best they can. I can’t enclose photos here, but I happily would show how my Hippeastrums look like. All leaves and flowers are perfect and big. I buy derectly from Netherlands, from a reliable company. They sell big bulbs, ship carefully and they have a best price! Lemon star 9,3 euros, Tierre 8,51, Grandise Fantasy 9,32 The bulb size around 30-32 cm or bigger!
I think you are looking at bulb kit photos…I try to grow them in exactly the same pots the list come with to show performance. Yes, Hippeastrum hybrids are heavy feeders, and bigger pots with very well-drained media are great! I grow in mid-size pots due to a lack of space, and putting them out in spring, when heavy rains might oversaturate the media leading to rot. You are lucky to be able to buy directly from NL van Geest, I wish we could buy direct here in the USA! Thanks for writing!
Hi, can I order from South Africa?
Janet,
Emaryllis is for information only, we don’t sell amaryllis bulbs. Lucky for you, Hadeco grows in S. Africa! Thanks for the inquiry!
This year’s amarylllis have finally flowered – and I have a first. I bought three kits, all under £5, and ALL THREE are flowering in the colour they were meant to. My white amaryllis has flowered white (huge flowers on an enormously tall plant, with a lovely green centre to the white), my red & white one has flowered red & white (barely a foot tall – never had such a short amaryllis!) and…drum roll…my third attempt to grow Queen of the Night seems to have worked. Anyway, she’s flowering in the right colour and looks pretty similar to the photo in the gallery. My last two attempts have been white and red & white striped, so I’ll settle for a solid deep red, even if it’s not the right one!
Only had one rebloom from last year so far – the others are still sulking.
Congratulations on your bargain blooms! It sounds like you hit the jackpot this season. So happy that your quest for ‘Queen of
The Night’ is fulfilled at last!
Thanks for your recommendation of the Bulb in a Box channel – loving it!
So glad you like it too, and Vlad will be delighted! He also has a large and very active Facebook group by the same name.
I really like this site for all the information that is available. I’ve been looking for the “Scarlet Baby” Amaryllis for several years and have been unable to find it. Is it even being produced anymore?
While the registration site KAVB hasn’t stated that ‘Scarlet Baby’ is out of cultivation, it is clear that it hasn’t been sold commercially in about 15 years. From about 2010 on it was used as a marketing name, but substituted with new varieties. It would still be successful in my view; the bronzed foliage and crimped edges of the flowers were nice details. Thanks for using the site!
I didn’t realize this year wasn’t a great year for amaryllises. I guess I got lucky! I pre-order 4 different sonatini and got them. The exciting bit was they arrived at the end of October and they looked ready to go! Now, considering I bought 3 of them for my mom’s birthday at the end of November, I was really happy I have my very mini-fridge I bought for keeping amaryllises cool. I caved on Nov. 20th, took them out, potted them, and gave them to her that day. They are growing quite well and, as of today, I can see the petals for one bulb on its two scapes. One bulb is taking its sweet time but that is fine. 🙂
We’ll see if I got the kinds I ordered which are: Belladonna, Brightspark, Joker, and Lemon Sorbet (that one is for myself). I had good luck last year with the one bulb I ordered for myself. I ordered a Thai Thai and it was correct.
I wouldn’t say it wasn’t still at least good, save for retail nursery prices and some delayed shipments here in the U.S. I think mail order firms had already set prices before covid related impacts had really reared their head. The loss of Royal Colors as a source of direct shipments from Europe also makes for a less exciting year for some unique sourcing. Also Hadeco’s MyAmaryllis.com does not seem to be shipping, and they have offered some of the harder-to-get South African grown cultivars.
The South African grown Hippeastrum are amazing! They are definitely ready to start showing off earlier than most. You made some nice choices, and I bet they will come true to type.I hope your bulbs bloom brightly, thanks for using emaryllis.com!
Good evening!
Do you know where is it possible to buy a Santos Amaryllis. I can’t find it anywhere 🙁
Great collection!
Olga, I wish ‘Santos’ was still marketed too, as do many other amaryllis fans. It had a commercial run of about 10 years. It was the only modern striped foliage hybrid to make it into large scale production. It seems to be a strong grower and easy bloomer, so it should have stayed in production for much longer. There is always a chance that a Dutch grower still has it and will consider producing it again, but those chances are slim. Since you mentioned this cultivar, I will update the photo of ‘Santos’ in our gallery to show a bit of its unique foliage! Thanks for writing.
Great if from Melbourne Australia. Lots of fabulous hippeas flowering in mid September. ( our spring) .
Continually use this amazing resource
Thx michael barrett cliviaman
So nice to have friends down under! Of course we love Clivia as well as Hippeatrum. Happy spring to you, as we are just ending our growing season up here. Thanks for using emaryllis.com 🙂
I have an amaryllis that bloomed and the bulb dried up. I lifted the top off and there was several small green bulbs under it. Will these bulbs turn into plants? What do I have to do to get them to produce flowers?
Yes, the offsets took over when the main growth died (sometimes this is from Narcissus Bulb Fly if grown outdoors.) You could just leave them as a clump for another year, or separate them and replant each in its own small pot, bringing the nose of each little bulb just above the soil surface. Fertilize and keep evenly moist through the growing season. Since they will be too small to bloom the first or even second year they could be grown on during the first winter or two indoors in a sunny window, or better yet under plant lights to extend daylength. It takes some patience to grow them on for bloom! Once they reach blooming size, they can be treated as outlined on our Amaryllis Care page.
I found out what happened to my shipment from Royal Colors. The bulbs were intercepted and destroyed by the Dept of Ag. plant inspection station at the Miami Air Cargo facility on Dec 16th. Today I received the empty box, sealed with US customs green tape and an interception notice. Royal Colors is not getting the proper permits. I contacted them to see if there is a chance that they would refund my money. What a shame that it has come to this.
Oh, boy….no good! My tracking status is still shown as “In transit” but considering it was mailed around the same date as yours, I am not counting on it arriving. I actually wanted to place a second smaller order a few weeks back, and that’s when they stated that they are no longer going to sell outside of Europe. They cite the cost of phytosanitary certificates as the main issue. You are so right…what a shame. I hope you and others get refunds if they did not succesfully get the bulbs to customers.
Considering that Sonatini dissappeared this year, and now Royal Colors, the amaryllis world just got a bit smaller.
I’ll post back here when and if I get a package…empty or otherwise.
Thanks for the heads up, even if it is bad news.
Never heard back from RC on my intercepted order. Guess they are pulling out of the “outside of EU” market.
Not even a “no” on a request for refund? Not the best business practice. I too received an empty (and very beat up) box about about a week ago. My box was intercepted at JFK for no phytosanitary certificate. Contents destroyed. The box was marked as though it was a “gift” and merely stated “garden products” as the contents. I might try asking for a refund for the bulbs themselves (and not the shipping) to see if that gets a response. A sad and frustrating situation.
Did you receive an order from Royal Colors last month? Mine was supposedly shipped Dec 6th but has never arrived here in Florida The RC website now states that they are not shipping out of Europe after Oct 2020. I suspect that it got turned away again from US customs. Unfortunately they don’t take responsibility if something happens with shipping. Reminds me of two years ago. Any idea what’s going on?
Yay! Welcome back Emaryllis – I’ve missed your posts over the summer! Can we look forward to some more bulb/box kit reviews this season?
I’m having to forego the box kits this year as I can’t go out to the shops, but I’ve just ordered ‘Mont Blanc’ and ‘Orange Souvereign’ as loose bulbs from a mail order site. Be interesting to see if they end up flowering true to label, as the box kits hardly ever do.
Welcome back to you as well! I’m sorry you are being limited by the current situation. Mail order is a great way to get bulbs, and even box kits. I haven’t been overly adventourous either, but have tried to get as much as possible in far fewer trips than usual. Box Kits are definitely coming along, hopefully initial posts to go up next week. A few cutflower varieties will be added to broaden the site a bit more also. Thanks for following the site 🙂
Any tips on obtaining rare hippe bulbs in the US ?
Hi Jeff. The only source with significant variety in the U.S. is Telos Rare bulbs in California.
http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/SAmerican2.html
Thanks for checking our site and happy collecting!
Good day!
I hope you are well.
I would just like to find out whether you can help me, if I would want to register a new Amaryllis hybrid, how does one go to work? I am from South Africa and I don’t know who to contact regarding this. Can you please advise?
Greetings Fredrich,
The international registrar for Hippeastrum (and many other bulbous plants) is KAVB in the Netherlands. They used to want some bulbs to grow on as part of the process, but I think that requirement may no longer be in force. Here is a page from their site with a link within to the registration form:
https://www.kavb.nl/english/registration
I have never bred anything that I felt was good enough for registration, so I am excited for you! Please keep us posted on your progress, I hope that your hybrid(s) can be featured here on Emaryllis.com some day!
Stay well through the pandemic.
Kindly,
Bill
hallo Fredrich
Hope you are well from where in south africa are you.Iam also from south africa,and love my cybisters.
Hello! I need help…
After my amaryllis bloomed three gorgeous flowers, I trimmed the spent blossoms, and let the green leaves continue to grow in bright light. They really must of liked the location, temperature, and watering because the leaves grew so tall I had to prop them up with a plant spike and gardener’s velcro, otherwise the leaves would just fall over. It just got so out of hand.I started by cutting the leaves that would fall over the easiest- they were on the outside anyway. That only helped for a little bit before all the leaves were just falling to the ground. I got annoyed and I snipped all the leaves off. I know that this was the wrong decision to make… i should have just propped up the leaves with a stick.
I can’t believe I did that. . I know cutting off the green stops the bulb from getting all it’s energy, so does this mean the bulb will die? Or did I just force it in to dormancy?
Thank you!
Skyler, I hope everything turned out well. Normally they will just keep growing as long as daylight hours and temperatures are to their liking. Growing them in brighter light should help keep the leaves from being as long and floppy. Trimming back their length would be a better option than removing them entirely.
I picked up a boxed kit at Lidl yesterday for £2.79 – no labelled varieties but they come in a choice of pink, red or white. My white one proved to be a 27cm circumference bulb with no sign of disease or sprouting and some fat, healthy roots. It came with a sturdy grey plastic pot (with great drainage holes) and matching saucer and LOADS of coir. Obviously don’t know how it will flower yet, but compared to the £9.99 ‘de luxe’ boxed kits I’d seen earlier in the day at the local garden centre (small, shrivelled bulbs, suffering badly from scorch, with no roots and hardly any growing media), this is already looking like great value. And bearing in mind 50% of my garden centre named varieties didn’t flower true anyway last year, I think I’m sticking with Lidl’s unnamed bulbs this year!
Sounds like you picked up some nice bargains, Phil! It is very true that spending more on a bulb kit does not necessarily mean a better bulbs waits inside. Let us know how they turn out!
It’s grown really well – two scapes with beautiful big flowers…in red & white! So not the ‘white’ I was promised on the box, but very beautiful.
The ‘white’ amaryllis turned out red & white, which you have kindly identified as ‘Ambiance’. I guess Lidl were half right! Still a pretty flower though. And a good strong plant. If I can keep it free from scorch, I’ll rebloom it next year.
My ‘Half & Half’ from last year (which was supposed to be Christmas Star!) is flowering again and looking beautiful. I picked another ‘Christmas Star’ out of the garden centre’s bargain bin in January – be interesting to see what this one flowers as, but at £0.99, I’m not too bothered if it’s wrong!
Hello. We’ve recently had an interesting hybrid trumpet bloom (H. Aulicum cross) and wanted to send you pictures to see if it would be of any interest to anyone. It seems to be evergreen, only has 2 blooms per stem but has a lovely clean up facing trumpet with nice color. It’s also producing nice offsets. I was shocked that the cross took and truly expected it to be one or the other parent plants but it’s obviously a hybrid. Thanks so much!
On April 27 & 28 at Apopka Art & Foliage Festival in Apopka, FL You can find information on planting & growing large flower hippeastrum bulbs in limb forks of large old Live Oak trees in both South & North FL. Ask Bill or June at the Amaryllis Spectacularis booth(15th year). You can use your own bulbs.
Amaryllis Study Group
Hello , I am wondering if your H Machupijchiense is correctly named , in the http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com you can see the stamens are red , this isn’t the case on your picture (I have the same flower than you , still seaching for it’s ID , finaly might be an hybrid)
Agapanthe, To be honest I am not 100% sure that the species is correct. I have thought it might be H. miniatum, variegatum, fuscum and others in its related Peruvian group. It is what is sold in the U.S. as H. machupijchense, and that is what I am standing by for now. Thanks for your comment!
What has happened to the Photo Library?? It has been COMPLETELY BLANK for weeks! I referred friends to view what I had given them as bulbs and nothing! Will this be fixed?? When? It’s a useful resource
Charlene, Thanks for using the website, and my apologies for the gallery pages being down. At first the titles and descriptions went missing, and soon after the galleries became invisible. The Emaryllis website tech guru knows what the problem is, and will address it soon. These are the vagaries of an open source platform!
Any idea about what’s going on with Royal Colors?. They aren’t currently shipping to the USA. Claim a customs’ issue. They had that problem several years ago. I ordered back in June, was told my order shipped Oct 30th. Still haven’t gotten it. Were you able to get your RC order yet?
Hi Barbara,
Unfortunately I have had two orders refunded by Royal Colors this year. I’m not sure that any regulation has changed since other companies that import into North America haven’t been hindered this year. Most bulbs are sent to a company that imports (and has import permits), then distributes from within the U.S. Since RC ships into countries directly, the problem may be that they are circumventing the needed import permits to receive the bulbs from a foreign country. This is just a guess, but I hope the issue can be resolved as Royal Colors has been a great source for a unique variety of amaryllis cultivars.
My Royal Colors order arrived today, It had been shipped Oct 30th, returned and reshipped on Nov 22nd via another courier. The bulbs are surprisingly healthy, given the fact that they have been in transit for over 2 1/2 months. I hope that RC can straighten out their USA customs issues, since I will sure miss them as a supplier in the future.
That’s great, Barbara! Had you already been refunded? If so, I wonder if there are some stray boxes that may yet be delivered to those of us who had placed orders as well. Thanks for letting us know!
I was never offered a refund. I didn’t heard anything until I contacted them at the end of Nov. So my order may have been an early one that got into the mail, before they cut off shipments to the USA. And it still got returned to them once. I doubt if anyone else will get bulbs. Go to the RC website, inventory is very high for being the end of the year. RC has gotten stuck with bulbs that should have gone to the USA. No matter how you look at it, this is a real shame.
Oh, that is interesting. My orders (placed in May and September) were both refunded, so I hope the bulbs made it back home for someone else to grow. I imagine the U.S. is a significant market for RC, so they will undoubtedly make every effort to iron out any regulatory issues. Let us know how your bulbs prosper, and thanks for the update for all readers here in th USA.
Barbara, I just got one RC box today, also shipped Oct. 30. Mostly things are OK, but some had sprouted out and there were damages. The box looks like it was kicked around a lot during its journey!
I noticed, today, that RC has removed the notation on their FAQ section that they are temporarily not shipping to the USA. In the absence of that “disclaimer” I have to believe that are now shipping to the USA. Since the bulbs come into NYC, and with the severe cold in the North, I would be hesitant to order bulbs this late. But it does sound like progress has been made with their shipping issues. I also saw that you are getting bulbs directly from Hadeco. I will definitely try that bulb source this year.
Barbara, Royal Colors now has the U.S. listed in both their FAQ and in their dropdown menu in the shipping section of the order form. Good news, if late in the current season. Let’s hope for trouble free shipping next season! Ordering from Hadeco was a smooth process in my case; most of the bulbs were correctly labeled and it is the only way to get some of their newest creations.
I experienced the same. I placed an order and had priblem with custom so I canceled delivery. They said the bulbs were delivered but never receive the bulb. I was offered credit. Checked from them the code to use credit on my order and no response at all. I plan to check pay pal ir my visa regarding this when I arrive in US as I am still out of the country.
Any news on last year’s new Thai Thai variety being available this year??
Cheryl, It looks like they have not been shipped to the U.S. this season, but should be available next season. Check the Hadeco My Amaryllis website next summer to see if that cultivar is available by direct order.
Is it common for a box kit amaryllis not to flower in the first year? I bought Queen of the Night (according to the label) at the beginning of December and it has produced loads of healthy leaves, but no sign of flowers. It has had the same treatment as my two amaryllis from last year which I started back into growth about the same time – one of those is flowering and the other has two well-developed scapes, but just leaves on my new one!
Phil, typically these bloom quite well, if not true to name. If the bulb is making only leaves, it was either “blind” beacause the flower initials aborted (this can be caused in many ways) or it was not cool conditioned. In the latter case, it may yet bloom, as spring is the normal flowering period for Hippeastrum. Don’t give up!
Thanks! If the flower initials aborted, does that mean it will never flower? Or is it worth keeping it till next year if it doesn’t flower in the spring?
They will bloom in the future. Most Hippeastrum hybrids make one bloom scape per three leaves. That is why I always look at the number of fleshy leaf bases on the top of a dormant bulb at purchase…more leaves = more flowers!
Can you tell me what the difference is between Orange Sovereign and Naranja? They look exactly the same to me. What is the difference?
‘Orange Sovereign’ is only used as a marketing name these days, the original cultivar was close to scarlet in color, and huge! You probably are looking at two bulbs of ‘Naranja’ which is one of the best orange flowered amaryllises in the trade today, along with its sibling ‘Tineke Verburg’. I am hoping that the ‘Orange Sovereign’ name will be used to market ‘Souvenir’ in the future, as it is also stupendous!
Ah, well that makes sense now – thank you! Some of these Amaryllis flowers look so similar that I sometimes wonder why they bothered to give them different names. But I guess it is important when breeding for certain traits.
Come on what else have you got in bloom? I miss your blog posts.
I have a rather interesting mixup this season through a local greenhouse. They got in a small, but lovely selection of very large quality bulbs. I’ve bought two, labeled Rilona and White Nymph. Neither are right. Lol the “white nymph” I knew wasn’t white from all the color on the scape, but I thought perhaps it would be a red or pink of that family.
Nope not even close! XD
It’s Popov!
Yikes, Rosie! So many mislabeled bulbs have been reported this year, its disheartening. Older named varieties are so often substituted with robust growing newer types, and ‘Popov’ is a very strong grower.
Thanks for missing the blog posts, it has been a very busy year for the author, but I do apologize.
I wonder if the demand is exceeding the supply, or if it’s merely human error during harvesting and packing.
What’s funny is that the other Whinym there are blooming the correct variety.
I am actually very pleased with the Popov. It’s gorgeous and scents the whole room!
I can’t figure out the Rilona sub though. The blooms are about 5 1/2″ and a somewhat deeper red-orange color, very regular and beautiful form.
I understand, I just wanted you to know that your site is very appreciated. Sometimes it can feel like no one cares, but we do! 🙂
Thanks for the kind words Rosie! You may have an example of ‘Naranja’ for ‘Rilona’, or perhaps the smaller but very regular ‘Desire’. Both are excellent growers in high supply these days. I’m glad you like ‘Popov’, it is an excellent selection, and the scent is subtle but permeating.
I was also foiled at getting Sofia from Royal Colors. Last year I was contacted ahead of time, and offered a substitution for Sofia. This year, as happened to you, Picasso was sent, labeled as Sofia. I don’t expect this kind of dishonesty from Royal Colors. Shame on them. In regards to a previous email, the Hadeco Cayenne from Amaryllis Bulb Company was Cayenne.
Emaryllis,
Do you usually keep the amaryllis you have photographed?
Very few, Rob. I keep a few for breeding stock and some of the varieties that I favor and are no longer sold. I have very limited space, so when a lot of new amaryllis varieties get released, I part with some of the others.
I see. Perhaps you can find a way to reintroduce those varieties that are no longer in circulation.
Ahh, if only I had the space to grow them all!
Perhaps you need to develop a network of Amaryllis foster homes to grow and reintroduce those varieties that are no longer in circulation.
Ahhh, if only Emaryllis didn’t have a very busy day job! It would be nice to develop an ark of sorts for the cultivars that often disappear just as they are introduced.
Hi! I’m a very great fan of this website and love them! greatful! Congratulations!
I love Amaryllis and have many of it!
Do you know where I can buy Hadeco Amaryllis bulbs in Europe? I wish to had a bulb of hadeco’s ‘Honeymoon’
As I was a child, there was hadeco bulbs in trade here. And I have had a ‘honeymoon’ since a long time in bloom in my children room.
I’m very affraid that my english isn’t so good. Please excuse me for that.
kindly regards,
Michael
Michael,
Your English is very good! Hadeco bulbs are becoming scarce here in the USA too, as one of the nurseries that carried many of their varieties stopped selling this year. Since Fluwel and Royal Colors also don’t sell Hadeco amaryllis, you are left with Amazon.com searches and more general holiday gift catalogs. Often Hadeco bulbs are sold for sale as potted, forced plants here, maybe in Europe too. Maybe someone from Hadeco will read this and offer advice! It looks like they are mainly selling ‘Miracle’ this year, but ‘Honeymoon’ is noted as a 2018 available variety. Good luck and thanks for using Emaryllis 🙂
Hello Michael!
Hadeco here… thank you for your interest in our bulbs.
Many retailers in Europe do sell Hadeco amaryllis but mainly this is during November and December.
You can order for your home or as a gift for others. Choose from the complete range of Hadeco amaryllis directly from the farm! Please visit http://www.myamaryllis.com
We combine shipments into sea freight containers from South Africa and then post them from Holland to you.
Last winter, there was a issue with ABC’s Ruby Gem, which turned out to be Gold Metal. ABC just contacted me and offered a “free” bulb this season to make up for last season’s mixup. They are carrying Hadeco’s Cayenne, which I ordered.
It was very good of Amaryllis Bulb Company to offer the correct variety the following season. Let us know if this one blooms true to type! Thanks for letting others know about last season’s issue as well.
Dear friend,
Nice to meet you.
We are a bulb importer from Hong Kong. We have import permit. Hong Kong is a small place, So we can’t make large order as other Import over 2000 bulbs per year with different types/species.
Now, we are preparing the autumn/winter sales.
Would you mind send your quotation of minimum order and price?
I hope we will have a good cooperation.
Best Regards,
Calvin
Hello Calvin,
Emaryllis.com is just a hobbyist site, we do not sell any bulbs. Nice to hear from Hong Kong!
Take care,
Bill from Emaryllis
Is the Flag Amaryllis and the Star Amaryllis the same plant?
I’ve never heard of either. I know the term ‘flag’ can often refer to some irises though.
I was given three bulbs last summer, two from my great Gram-in-law after she passed and one from my sister. I have no real idea what cultivars they are, since I did not see them in bloom. I kept them in my southern facing picture window all this time. They went dormant during the fall and winter months. In January they came out of dormancy (or so I thought). Leaves began growing so I began watering them again. One bulb continued to grow, put up a scape, and bloomed beautifully. The other two seems to have stalled, one has a leaf tip about 2 inches tall and the other has 6 12in long leaves. They have not showed any more growth for about a month. Both bulbs are round, fat and green, and have grown some roots. Have you ever had a bulb start growing and then just stop? They seem so healthy I am confounded.
Rosie, I have seen amaryllis stall for no apparent reason fairly often. Once the daylight hours exceed 12 hours a day, they should all come into growth. Just remember that the stalled bulbs need minimal watering, and no fertilizer until actively growing. It’s so nice to hear that you are taking care of these “passalong” amaryllis bulbs 🙂
That is good to know that once the long summer days come they will get going. I have been reading your site since I got them and did searches to learn how to care for them. This is definitely one of the most fun and informative sites for Amaryllis/Hippeastrum. 🙂 I’ve spent hours looking through the blog posts and photo library! After my first blossomed I tried to identify it, but being one of the solid Reds makes it kind of impossible to my inexperienced eyes. It did have a fragrance though! I am being very careful with the watering. I have to be because the tiny one (is lucky to be alive) is in a small square glass vase with coconut coir. I have no idea who would of sold/gift it to my sister like that. I don’t have any other pots to put it in yet, but I will. I would be surprised to see it bloom, its smaller(17.5cm) and was in poor light quite a long time before I got it. Oh, I am well and truely hook line and sinker for them now. I’ve adopted two box kits from a local store over two weeks ago. Both have roots and one appears to have two scapes peeking. 😀 And I want even more.
Well, I found out what was wrong with them today. I got a clay pot with drainage for the small one and new soil for them both. When I took it out the littlest one’s basal plate was rotting out all around the middle. There were even fungal spores! 🙁 I pulled and scraped out all the spongy material I could, removed bad roots, and used a child’s toothbrush to clean the whole bottom really good. I let it dry in a window for a while. I dusted the bottom with cinnamon before potting it. I did Not water it as the soil was slightly moist already. It does still have several live roots.
The bigger one wasn’t as badly rotted, but it was starting to. There was a wad of rotten material in the bottom of the pot and I guess as soon as the roots tried growing through it, they started dying and stopped growing. Same deal, I cleaned it as best I could, let it dry, and dusted with cinnamon before potting it up with new soil. I hope and pray they will be all right.
It sounds like you have done the right things, and they should grow much better in new soil. They are pretty tough!
Have you ever known an amaryllis to go dormant for 18 months? I bought a bulb that shipped to the states from Iran. It leafed out but did not bloom. Then it went dormant for a good 18 months. Now it has finally decided to leaf out again. The bulb is good and solid, the leaves look great. I just wonder why it went dormant for so long.
One year yes, but never 18 months! With a huge change in environments and bare-rooting we now know that they can wait that long. Thanks for sharing your information with the Emaryllis world 🙂
Thanks for the reply – I hope my bulb likes its new country. It is supposed to be Royal Velvet, so now I just need to wait, who knows how long, until it blooms and I can find out.
Christie, please share your results when it blooms!
How can i buy your amaryllis? How much?
Ahh, sorry Adelaida, Emaryllis is just here for informational purposes. Some of the varieties I have photographed over the years are commercially extinct. A few cultivars are only available for 1-2 seasons, while others like ‘Apple Blossom’ have been easy to purchase for many decades. The best selection is by way of mail order companies…which ones depends on where you live. Thanks for your interest!
My Ruby Gem from ABC also turned out to be Gold Metal.
Thanks, Barbara the confirmation is much appreciated!
Emaryllis, this is such a wonderful website. Fun & informative for those wanting information on specific cultivars. It’s helping me chart the waters. Good work amd well done!
So glad you find the site useful and fun!
Lovely collection, I have a few I don’t know the names of, how can I send a photograph for you to tell me the names
Hello Brenda, just send them to info(at)emaryllis.com and I will have a go at naming names!
Hi.. I want to buy your amaryllis special double , please help me to buy your collection
Thanks for enjoying this so much that you want to purchase. Emaryllis.com is here for information purposes only, sorry that none of our amaryllis varieties are for sale. Probably Royal Colors in the Netherlands is your best bet, as they ship internationally.
Thank you for the helpful comments
Judith
I raised amaryllis bulbs indoors for the first time this year and chose H.’Terra Cotta Star’. They are indeed gorgeous but the stems are weak. I have two bulbs. In both cases once the inflorescence emerged fully the stems toppled over at the junction with the bulb. If the breeder is out out there, could you work on that for the future please?
Thank you.
(author of “Visions of Loveliness:great flower breeders of the past”)
Greetings Ms. Taylor. Yes, the fact that many of these are naturally tall sees them perfectly suited to the cut-flower market, but less so to the lower light of the average home interior. There are more compact varieties that bloom on shorter, sturdier scapes. Hadeco of South Africa in particular focus on this trait. Dutch hybrids such as ‘Mambo’ and ‘Floris Hekker’ were selected specifically for pot culture as well. The “cybister” hybrids, owing to the lightness of their blooms offer a way to have the elegance of great height with less likelihood of toppling. Thank you for your comment!