Thursday, May 17, 2018

Hippeastrum Blooms in May

When climate was still reliable, and it has not yet been acting like a stressed psychopath, hippeastrum here in the hot tropics wake up from dormancy after the first heavy rains. By heavy rains i mean continuous rains that lasted for long hours or overnight. That literally soaks the soil deep until the roots of trees are fully quenched. That is the time when after 2-3 days the grasses starts to produce the green carpet, and the weeds starts to simultaneously germinate.

However, with the so called "Climate Change", not only people are experiencing the dilemma and problems in planning agricultural planting. Even the plants themselves suffer chaotic behavior. And that response to rain is very obvious with the hippeastrum blooming. We got some long drizzles in March and April, enough to break dormancy of some hippeastrum bulbs. Definitely, i will not be getting again simultaneous blooms from my H puniceum hedges and mounds. Moreover, i will not be able to pollinate some blooms as they will not bloom simultaneously. This year is a repeat of last  year. It is now May and i am already getting the bad picture of the climate change outcome.

The first one and No. 3 are red while the others are orange.

1. Hippeastrum X johnsonii







2. Hippeastrum petiolatum 

    It has shorter growth, scape and smaller bulbs. The flowers are also smaller but compensated with more number of 4 flowers per scape.






3. Hippeastrum from seeds of Carol Noel
    
They have much bigger bulbs, longer leaves, taller scape and big flowers. The tips of the flowers also tend to flip that brings more grace to its look. They also have 4-5 flowers per scape. 


4. Hippeastrum puniceum




5. Hippeastrum puniceum 'Alberti' 

    This hybrid of H. puniceum is short, with leaves also dwarfed by the other species. However, the multipetalled flowers get the wonderful limelight. Besides, the blooms last for several days. 



6. Hippeastrum roseum

This is also a diminutive species, but taller than that of H. 'Alberti'. Leaves are more erect and        thicker too. However, the flowers per scape are normally just 2-3. Flower sizes are also narrower just like the H. petiolatum. The stripes however gives it the outstanding attraction. 



15 comments:

  1. Am so envious of your hippeastrum! Mine are not doing so well. I only got the pink one to bloom!

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    1. Yes Evelyn, that pink H reticulatum is the only one which is almost invasive and flowers not only once a year, so unlike all of the hippeastrum. You have to change the soil to more well draining with more compost and fertilize them, bright sunlight too. Thanks for always being with me in my posts.

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  2. Beautiful flowers! We have had excessive rainfall in Virginia too.

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  3. All of your varieties are spectacular, but I have to call the double-petalled flower my favorite. I know that we are all experiencing the effects of climate change to varying degrees. In general, are people supportive of making personal changes that will improve or even reverse the situation?

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  4. Hello, it is a beautiful flower and lovely plant. We have had a week of cool temps, rain and clouds. The sun finally came out yesterday. Our spring plants were confused. Have a happy day and new week!

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  5. Those blooms are just stunning!

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  6. Years ago I had this in pink. I don't know what happened to it. Since we don't have a lot of free time, we have replaced most of our plants with succulents.

    Worth a Thousand Words

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  7. I am so enjoying your colors! It's rainy autumn here and all I can do is plan for spring!

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  8. If I had to choose between all of these lovely varieties of hippeastrum, I think I would have to go with the Hippeastrum puniceum 'Alberti' — I love the ruffled edges and the fact that they last a little longer than the others.
    Here in western Canada I suspect an amaryllis would have to be an indoor plant. I wish I had a talent for gardening but, rather than a green thumb, my brothers say I have a brown thumb!
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  9. These are just stunning Andrea.. We had days of cold rain to snow to rain. It is finally getting into some spring weather here...Michelle

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  10. My mom always had an amaryllis. Beautiful red color.

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  11. thank for your description of the different species. It reminds me to make the effort to be specific and not just call them all Hippeastrum. Climate is certainly changing, and I think no one yet knows exactly what this will mean for so many species.

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