There are some plants that I don’t really remember buying, and these Hippeastrelia bulbs are examples. I suspect the three bulbs came from an eBay purchase that arrived from India, but I don’t really know. I would guess that I’ve had them at least ten years. They are an interesting species cross of Hippeastrum and Sprekelia.
It took a few years for these to become happy enough (or potbound enough) to flower, but now they do it regularly. I divided the bulbs up two years ago. In addition, because they are self-fertile, I’ve grown some seedlings, too. Without actually counting, I guess I have about seven pots of these hybrids currently.
What I love about them is the hybrid vigor and the spectacular flowers with their exotic shape. The way the flowers appear is wonderful, too, as very quickly the buds appear and open. For someone like me who might not look at them even every week, I can be pleasantly surprised when that first blaze of crimson appears.
My 2020 plans for these plants are to top-dress the mature bulbs and fertilize them consistently to get as many flowers as possible. For the seedlings, I intend to pot them up into 5″ pots and fertilize them well, also, to hopefully get flowers soon.
