This is Hippeastrum (amaryllis) Apple Blossom, a bulb I’ve had a number of years–
It is one of my favorites because the blooms are quite large and have a wonderful, delicate scent–After the blooms fade and the leaves begin to grow, I cut the stalk off and put the plant in a south facing window until it can go outside–Apple Blossom becomes big in the summer with long, arching leaves–I keep all bulbs in this family outside under the pecan tree from mid-March until August–At that time I stop watering, tie up the leaves, and put them under the deck to force them into dormancy until first frost–At some point along the way, I un-pot the bulbs and cut off the dead leaves, leaving all the roots intact–They are then bagged and brought in and either kept dormant in a closet for a while longer or potted on up–They bloom once more, the cycle repeats–
The petals have a crystalline quality–In the right light, they look as if dusted with diamonds–
Another of the flowers–There were four, all open at once on this stalk–I like to have Hippeastrum in bloom continuously from December to March–I especially love them in January–A few others:
An unnamed Hadeco hybrid, new this year–
The blooms are a beautiful peachy-salmon color–This is a sizeable and mature bulb; the leaves will be very long–
This is Red Lion, above–I had two of these bloom, one after the other this year–
I have quite an appreciation for Hippeastrum, and have begun adding species such as Papilio, and related amaryllidaceae like Sprekelia and Griffinia to my collection–I recently germinated seed from the hardy amaryllis growing in various clumps in the garden next door–This is an old heirloom plant passed down and divided among succeeding generations of the same family, according to the owners of the garden, our friends Tom and Tony, both excellent gardeners–
This is an early photo–They came up twice as thick with a 98 % germination rate–These bulbs produce amazing, electric orange/red blooms–I haven’t been able to identify these, but when they bloom this year, I’ll try nonetheless, looking at photos and older hybrids from as far back as I can–
The spotted leaves of Griffinia liboniana–This bulb produces a bluish-purple, miniature version of an amaryllis bloom–
The Orchidist 