Amaryllis belladonna 2017

[fermi de Sousa]

Our dark pink/cerise Belladonna Lilies are in flower.
They seem a bit late as the ordinary forms have been in flower for weeks in our neighbours yards,
cheers
fermi

[Cfred72]

Very beautiful also in dark form 

[anita]

Amaryllis belladonna do well in Adelaide, South Australia, so for some years now I’ve been trying to collect different clones (expect a tap on the shoulder Fermi – the cyclamen form you’ve got is clearly different from the form I’ve got which finally flowered this year after several years of sullen multiplication without a single flower).
I’ve got about 15 different forms. I haven’t yet cracked the secret of flowering them so I don’t see all of them every year. This year there have been more performing than in previous years so I’ve put together a compile.
I don’t know what influences blooming. It’s not heat because they all get that, it’s not dry because they do get that… although one form that’s been the first to flower every year for the past 10 did not flower this year after our wettest year for decades (wet to us is 860mm and rain every couple of weeks over summer which just is not normal – do not imagine for a second that this meant our Adelaide garden was wet or even damp. The summer rain brought mostly welcome downpours but in between the ground was dry as a teetotaller's throat) so there’s something to the moisture story.. and some forms that did not flower for several autumns following exceedingly dry springs and summers did flower this year – a dry year means a total of 395mm rainfall for 2015.. most between May and July and then no discernible rain from AUGUST to FEBRUARY (we irrigated but that keeps stuff alive, not thriving). It's not sunshine - I've got clones flowering from full sun to part-shade - I think the need to plant in full sun as described in Europe is not quite so important in our dry, sunny climate.
I’ve tried recreating fynbos fires by lighting straw over that stubborn magenta clump… the bulbs were ashy but unmoved! I've tried throwing banana skins on the clumps (ethylene released by bananas can trigger flowering in some Australian natives such as Doryanthes which I've done successfully) so if anyone has any suggestions to improve flowering happy to hear them.

Anyway I’ve been categorising forms by:
Flowering time (different clones flower at different times but the sequence of early, middle late is consistent)
Flower color
Flower Height they vary from about 24 inches to over 45 inches
Flower radius – some flower with under 10 blooms and facing a single direction others go the full radius
Flower shape – star, full, frilly
And lastly by stem color.

Foliage habit also varies I suspect that some of the taller more floriferous cultivars are Amarcrinums because the growth habit is more fountains of leaves rather than the usual messy flop.

OK over with the boring stuff.

Jamus S, who is known to many on the forum for his plant knowledge and superb photography, visited and captured images which do greater justice to these lovely plants than my very basic skills (thanks again J!).

We are now in mid-season for the clones I’ve collected.. small, early pink has sulked and not flowered, big pink is already over. But the clone I suspect is the old cultivar known as Appleblossom is in full flight and Jamus’ photos have captured the gorgeous confection created as the bloom's colors age from white to deep magenta in each bouquet. (I mentioned coveting this cultivar over a fence in a post that I wrote several years ago.. the home changed hands and the new owners dug out and placed the bulbs on the verge as give aways – I grabbed bucket loads)
Then there’s mid-tall pink – which always flowers later than early tall pink but has a lovely 360 radial bouquet.
Also in bloom are two white cultivars mid-tall white, which has under 10 waxy creamy blooms about the same shade as a fresh gardenia with a hint of yellow in the throat. This only spreads about 90 degrees.
There’s frilly white – the picture explains the moniker. It has blooms radiating around 360 degrees.
And finally, mid-season Deep Magenta… as I mentioned at the start it’s finally bloomed again after several years where it just produced more and more bulbs, and is clearly different to Fermi’s deep pink cultivar… more yellow in the throat and the blooms first emerge as pale pink with darker veining and then age to a uniform deep pink… whereas Fermi’s blooms look like they have a more even color and a whiter throat.
Late tall-pink is just coming into bloom (no pix) and late picotee white is only just up (no pix).
I hope everyone enjoys Jamus’ lovely images.

[Gail]

Very lovely Anita & Jamus, love the pictures and your comments are interesting.

I've recently bought 3 for my new garden in Norfolk - standard pink, 'Durban' deep pink and 'Hathor' white. Whether I ever get any flowers on any of them time will tell...

[Jupiter]

Anita, I think the one Fermi has is different from any of yours. What do you think? He gave me seed when he was here and they germinated well. Once I see them up and growing I will pass them on to you so you can look after them properly in your garden and they may join your collection.

[anita]

I've recently bought 3 for my new garden in Norfolk - standard pink, 'Durban' deep pink and 'Hathor' white. Whether I ever get any flowers on any of them time will tell...

I think the trick to increase the chances of flowering in your climate are to get the bulbs as hot and dry as possible during summer. If you could cover them with old-fashioned glass cloches to intensify the heat during summer you could be more certain of blooms.  Good Luck!

[anita]

Anita, I think the one Fermi has is different from any of yours. What do you think? He gave me seed when he was here and they germinated well. Once I see them up and growing I will pass them on to you so you can look after them properly in your garden and they may join your collection.

Hi Jamus, Going by the photos I do think that they are different, the clone I've got seems to start with a pale background and dark veining with the darker color bleeding across the whole bloom as it ages while Fermi's clone looks as though it has a more even color that shades slightly darker as it ages. Hopefully Fermi will be able to provide more information once he sees the commentary on this thread.
If you can spare some seedlings of Fermi's clone, I'd appreciate them... although if your garden is running out of room you could let them flow into the paddock behind!

[Jupiter]

... although if your garden is running out of room you could let them flow into the paddock behind!

Don't think we haven't thought about it! there are no cows out there at the moment and you should see what's growing. Dill, Feverfew, Scrophularia, Cerinthe, Geraniums, Alexanders, Poppies, etc etc.

[Gail]

I think the trick to increase the chances of flowering in your climate are to get the bulbs as hot and dry as possible during summer. If you could cover them with old-fashioned glass cloches to intensify the heat during summer you could be more certain of blooms.  Good Luck!

Thank you - currently Durban is at the base of a south-facing wall and Hathor in a pot in the glasshouse. Fingers crossed.

[David Nicholson]

A friend of mine grows them very well indeed in wet old Devon. He is about 10 miles closer to the coast than I am so suffers very little frost, has much less rain than I do and his garden is South facing.

[fermi de Sousa]

Don't think we haven't thought about it! there are no cows out there at the moment and you should see what's growing. Dill, Feverfew, Scrophularia, Cerinthe, Geraniums, Alexanders, Poppies, etc etc.

Hi Jamus,
Belladonnas grow in a lot of paddocks with sheep around here with no adverse effect on either.
We grow ours away from more delicate plants that can be swamped by the foliage in winter/spring. That means being along fencelines and the edge of beds and we're planting new seedlings at the base of the rocks that line some of the raised beds. Where I lived previously we grew a lot in that narrow strip of soil between the fence and the footpath.
I don't know what promotes flowering either. For years I presumed that a white "Multiflora" type had not flowered because the tree they were under was producing too much shade. This year there are 4 stems arising rather unexpectedly- go figure!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Anita,
here's the white "Multiflora" hybrid which I got from a Victorian grower (Geoff Wilson) a few years ago; it looks a lot like your "frilly white",
cheers
fermi

[Jupiter]

Yes, yes it does! Anita was right in assuming hybridisation was involved in the different forms.

[anita]

Hi Anita,
here's the white "Multiflora" hybrid which I got from a Victorian grower (Geoff Wilson) a few years ago; it looks a lot like your "frilly white",
fermi

Fermi, The two do look very similar, I didn't get my bulbs from Geoff but they are definitely some sort of hybrid. I wish there was somebody doing some work on these plants.
I have read of hybrids with nerines, brunsvigia (a number of different species) and with crinums.
There's a really interesting discussion about the so called "multiflora' hybrids on the PBS wiki http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/2003-November/hnabtk9s0h1piv7oomiajs9f21.html.
Anita

[François Lambert]

I have read of hybrids with nerines, brunsvigia (a number of different species) and with crinums.

Anita

Yes, about hybrids with Crinum, I have one at home - received about 10 year ago from a Crinum anthusiast.  The one I have is Amarcrinum Howardii.  It has however only flowered once for me (in late summer if I remember well) probably because I have been neglecting the plant just too much.  I should take some more care of the plant this and the next years.