As long as I'm thinking about amaryllis, here's one I find very interesting this year -- Sumatra.

I bought a bulb of Sumatra this past March, when it was on a late end-of-season sale at Easy to Grow Bulbs. Here it is, blooming at the end of June with Opal Star (which I bought in the same sale):



Okay, so the end of June was just three months ago, right?

So here's pics of the same Sumatra today:




Look at all the growth and all those offsets!

I'm so proud of this bulb -- such a tough bugger. It really wants to make a colony, and quick.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Sumatra or other cybisters? I do have a couple of other cybister varieties, but I haven't seen this in the others -- at least not yet!

Your Sumatra may have been so busy producing offshoots that it might not have produced a scape for next spring. If you do have blooms next spring, that's a bonus. You don't need to be in a rush to separate those offshoots, that pot has plenty of room for another winter. Opal Star is another cultivar that will make a nice clump. My Opal Star produced 7 new bulbs in 3 seasons. I separated them and repotted the group into a big pot: makes a spectacular display in the spring.

Yeah, especially seeing as how it was in bloom in June, I'm not expecting much from it next year. And I've heard that cybisters often don't rebloom regularly anyway. OTOH, it's an impressively fat bulb, so We Shall See.

And no, I don't plan on separating those bulblets at all. I like the clump effect. I'll just move the whole clump to a bigger pot when it gets too crowded.

Incidentally -- I never had much success with amaryllis until I started using clay azalea pots, the type with extra drainage holes as you might use for orchids. Now I'm a real convert -- that's all I use for them.

All of mine bloom in May/June with no problems blooming next year. Great idea on the azalea pots!

Thanks!