I have grown amaryllis bulbs outside since I was in fourth grade and got some bulbs from my teacher. Those bulbs have gone with me wherever I have moved (across the deep South) and I still have them 57 years later. They grow so big and so fast and are breath taking in late April when they bloom. One year while on vacation, I had some horrible caterpillars eat every bulb and leaf to the ground. It took them an extra year to bloom again. I am diligent to check for the little monsters now.
Thanks for your message.

57 years old is impressive for a clump of Amaryllis. If you've moved them with you, they are true "pass along" Amaryllis. Some day you will pass them on to family and friends. Well, caterpillars do turn into pretty butterflies and moths, but hopefully not at the expense of your precious bulbs.

Thank you, Barbara, for your most informative article. I am in the deep south, although not as deep as you! Ha!

My mom passed to her Heavenly home in October 2018 and left me with garden beds full of amaryllises and more than 50 in pots!!! During the last 3 years of her life, to compensate for her inability to work in her yard, I started collecting seeds from her amaryllises and germinated them in pyrex dishes of water, then planting them in Jiffy pots. It gave Mom something to do with her garden as she watched them grow from seed to small plants to golf-ball sized bulbs. Before I gave away many of them, I had over 650 Jiffy pots of tiny amaryllises!! I didn't realize what I had gotten into until they started growing!! I just regret that she did not see the fruit of our labors come to fruition this year when the first bloom appeared on one of the plants that we grew from a seed! It is a small bloom from a smaller than usual bulb, but the stalk bore two nice blooms. I am posting a few pictures below for you to see. Hopefully I will see more blooms from some of the other bulbs next year.

I had hoped to get the names of some of the blooms that she has, but I have managed to identify only a few. I will continue to do research, but I am somewhat relieved to know that a lot of them are cross-pollinated and since many are from the gardens of family and friends, the identities will be difficult to find.

Thank you so very much for your generous 'thumbs ups'! I really appreciate your validation of this new member of the Association. Since you are an obviously very knowledgeable individual in gardening of many kinds, I am pleased to have your approval on many of my posts. It is very encouraging for me.

I have enjoyed the imformative posts on amaryllises and look forward to learning a lot more from you and others!

Have a good Sunday and hope you are safe and will continue to be!

Tom

Good Thursday morning, Barbara!

Thank you for the to my reply to your post in "yard amaryllis". You really have some impressive examples of all kinds of this beautiful lily!

I found a picture of my 'amaryllis project' which I will post below. i have several thousand pictures I am going through now to locate a pictorial history of my initial successes of what I call my 'Pyrex Propagation' of Amaryllis seeds. I would like to start a thread on this topic when I can gather enough pictures to share.

I am also posting a picture of my mom at 95 amid some of her beloved blooms. She was happiest when she could be in her garden with her hands in the dirt!

Stay safe, be well, enjoy your family and friends and whatever else makes you happy!

Tom
"The beauty of this earth is part of what sustains us though challenges. Together, we will succeed"