Box from VE is here! I haven't opened them yet, just dragged them into the garage.

breaking news!

Who wants Adenium (Desert Rose) seeds??

I just received an order from Victory seeds that included several $3 packs (15 seeds) of Adenium seeds. A Florida member ha

s been crossing and saving her seeds for a year or so and periodically sending them to Dave to distribute, pretty much at cost. Comparing my little plants (started in Feb) to others on the adenium thread, I can see I need to up-pot them early and often, because mine are in 2" pots and Dave has some huge ones now in gallon pots!

I'll put them in the fridge to keep them fresh for the seed swap, but I wanted to give my buddies here first crack at them.

They are tender plants, but aren't really hard to keep over the winter, as you can let them go dormant (just a little water every month or so to keep the caudex/stem plump). Mine haven't started dropping leaves yet, but I expect them to do so before the end of the year, even if I don't encourage dormancy.

They sound very similar in care for as plumeria, but of an apartment/ balcony friendly size!

Yes! They are easily grown as bonsai, also... you can gradually lift the roots to really show off their caudex. And I have way too many little bonsai dishes from when I was obsessed with miniature trailing African Violets.

The seeds will stay good in the fridge a long time, too. LMK if I should put your name on a packet, Sally...

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody tomorrow! Terri, I know you're still in recovery mode, but I hope you'll be up to joining us. If not, I'll make a delivery!

I'm making sliders (hawaiian rolls with chicken salad or ham & cheese) & probably also chili. There's fruit to nibble on, and I picked up some eggnog at Aldi for us to try.

Official time is noon to 4, but as my grandma used to say, come when you can, stay as long as you can!

I plan to come @ 1:00 Looking forward to seeing my garden buds.

Hit a glitch with the VE bulbs. They pack 3 amaryllis in a bag, then wire a label onto the bag, then put 2 or 3 bags into a box within their big box. I took two bags out of one of those boxes, and both labels had come loose and were on the bottom of the box. Furthermore, one of the bulbs was totally squishy and icky (I'll ask for a refund on that one).

I'm going to hope we got lucky and lost one of the 'Double Dream' bulbs. But, Lisa, there's a chance that your 'Amadeus Candy' bulb will turn out to be a 'Double Dream'. It'll be fine for Terri and me -- we'll both get 2 bulbs, one from each bag, and if they are mislabeled we can just switch the tags.

Final list from ADR. I can take the "available" bulbs.

'Picasso' (white, red edge & accents) 25 regular bulbs, $5 each
9 for Lisa, 3 for Jill, 3 for Terri, 6 for Rick, 4 available

'Mandela' (very deep Victorian red) 25 regular bulbs, $5 each
12 for Rick, 3 for Terri, 6 for Jill, 4 available

'Bolero' (pink) 16 jumbo bulbs, $7 each
6 for Rick, 3 for Terri, 3 for Jill, 1 for SallyG, 3 for Lisa

'Denver' (white) 16 jumbo bulbs, $7 each
6 for Rick, 3 for Terri, 2 for Jill, 5 for Lisa

'Double King' (Double red, tiny bit of white on tips) 24 regular bulbs, $5.33 each
11 for Jill, 10 for Rick, 3 for Sally-Donner

Final order from VE. The price for each includes 10% shipping and 6% tax (on the total including the shipping charge), as per their invoice.

Amadeus Candy (dbl white, pink tips) 30/32 cm, 3 for $35.75 ( $13.90 each)
1 for Jill, 1 for Terri, 1 for Lisa (could be Double Dream)

Candy Floss (single rose pink) 26 cm, 3/$23.50 ( $9.14 each)
1 for Jill, 2 for Terri

Double Dream (dbl pink) 30/32 cm, 3 for $35.75 ( $13.90 each)
1 for Jill, 1 for Terri, 1 bad, will get refund

Elvas (dbl white & raspberry) 30/32 cm, 3 for $35.75
3 for Jill!

Rozetta (dbl rose pink) 26 cm, 3 for $26.50 ($10.30 each)
1 for Jill, 2 for Terri

Samba (rounded red & white petals), 30/32, 6 for $58.75 (12 cent price break!) ($11.42 each)
2 for Jill, 1 for Lisa, 3 for Sally(D)

Sweet Nymph (dbl pink) 30/32 cm, 3 for $35.75 ($13.90 each)
1 for Jill, 2 for Terri

Zombie (dbl pink/cream) 24 cm, 3 for $38.25
3 for Jill!

Invoices.

SallyG
1 Bolero, $7

Donner-Sally
3 Double King, $5.33 each, $15.99
3 Samba, $11.42 each, $34.26
Total: $50.25

Rick
6 Picasso, $5 each, $30
12 Mandella, $5 each, $60
6 Bolero, $7 each, $42
6 Denver $7 each, $42
10 Double King, $5.33 each, $53.30
total $227.30 (minus my 2 iris rhizomes)

Terri
3 Picasso, $5 each, $15
3 Mandela, $5 each, $15
3 Bolero, $7 each, $21
3 , Denver $7 each, $21
1 Amadeus Candy, $13.90
2 Candy Floss, $9.14 each, $18.24
1 Double Dream, $13.90
2 Rozetta, $10.30 each, $20.60
2 Sweet Nymph, $13.90 each, $27.80
Total: $166.44

Jill
$$$
I'm not adding it up!

I'll bring my extra iris if anyone is interested.

Standard Dwarf Bearded Iris (Iris 'Going in Circles'), $6.50 Each
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Bee My Honey'), $6.50 Each
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Rasputin'), $6.50 Each
Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Victoria Falls'), $7.50 Each

Rick, those are all such pretty varieties! I've got quite a few in pots waiting to be planted, so I'm good.

PLEASE don't let me forget I have iris rhizomes to give away! old-fashioned purple and a frilly 2-tone purple/rose from my neighbor, plus the SDB 'Vavoom' (bright yellow) I just divided.

Thanks to everybody for driving up to Frederick today! Hope traffic wasn't too bad on the way home, although I think Friday rush hour pretty much lasts all day.

Sally, I'll pot your 'Bolero' and leave it on a low shelf in the basement to slow it down. I have 3 other Bolero that I'm trying to start slowly also, so odds are that I'll be able to get at least one of the 4 in your hands before it blooms!

Due to excessive shipping costs, I have extra available.

S O L D O U T

Jill:
2 Bolero, $7 each
2 Denver $7 each
4 Double King, $5.33 each
3 Mandella, $5 each

Lisa
4 Picasso, $5 each (

Shipping to Oregon is roughly $27. I haven't checked on the others, but my guess is they're all going to be in the $15-$20 range.

Rick I'd like to buy your four Picasso. Comes to $20, right?

Were you planning to ship gift bulbs to Oregon? I haven't tried shipping amaryllis bulbs for years, since I had some freeze to mush on their way to CA.

Rick, I'll take the 2 Bolero & 2 Denver, please. $28 I haven't run out of pots!

Also, I could use a few more gift bulbs, so I'll take the 4 Double King and 3 Mandela. DK were actually $5.11 (that's why you got $2 back), so call that $36.

(If anybody else wants some of those DK and M, just say the word.)

Total $64.

Jill & Lisa, I've got you down for my extras. For those that missed out, I'll probably shake a few more loose this week.

Jill,
I've been shipping bulbs to Oregon for almost 10 years now without problem. Same for the ficus that I sent.

I'd be happy with just 1 Bolero, too, so anybody who wants the others, feel free to ask!

I kept twice as many bulbs as I "needed" for here, because I've promised Mom a parade of amaryllis this winter... whichever plants are putting on the best show will go over to her apartment! I'm going to be playing games with them, trying to speed them up or slow them down to stretch out the show.

Right now, all the Christmas colored ones (Mandela, Double King, Picasso, Samba), including those I've potted up as gifts, are on seedling heat mats set to 85 degrees. I'll turn down that bottom heat once I see signs of growth, as I've heard more moderate temps can help with stronger (shorter) stems. As soon as they start growing, I'll give those away to friends and neighbors, because watching those flowers grow... and grow... and grow! is part of the fun.

The pink ones have been potted in very slightly moistened mix (because some root growth would be nice) and placed on the floor of the basement.

Bonnie is itching for something to do today, so I mentioned all the amaryllis I need to pot up. She was thrilled with the idea, so we'll get to it as soon as we are both finished up morning stuff. Jill, I actually think of all my new pink ones as Christmas colored ones a lot more than I think of true red They will go so well with my victorian themed decorations in the living room. I also got the burgundy ones for the jewel toned themed decorations in the library and the white ones for the slate blue and white themed decorations in the family room. I don't to any true red decorations on the main floor, but do in the basement rec room, but didn't get any true red amaryllis for there.

I love pretty much any color amaryllis any time, but since I have so many this year, I decided to start the red ones for Christmas and the pink ones for later on. I don't remember if I put the white 'Denver' bulb on the heat mat or not.

I'm not actually sure B&B is doing a general clearance sale. They have some "bulk sale" items at 50% off in quantities of 100. The 25% Black Friday sale is actually at their brick & mortar location.