27.1.11

Amaryllis 'Lemon Lime' Hippeastrum


Hippeastrum, say it out loud, Hippeastrum. What an ugly name for an Amaryllis, right? Hippeastrum is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family. Depending on the source Hippeastrum means either "horseman's star," "knight's star" or "horse's Star". Why? Nobody really knows. What the experts, fancy gardeners and botanists know is that Amaryllis isn't the proper name for these bulbs, and yet we persist on using the name. Maybe it is because the word sounds as beautiful as the blooms look. 'Lemon Lime' is my latest Amaryllis to bloom and it looks remarkably like my 'Mont Blanc,' but greener. 'Lemon Lime' is one of the "green" hybrid Amaryllis bulbs, the coloration and shape of the bloom can vary from bulb to bulb.

Amaryllis Lemon Lime Hippeastrum


No photography trickery here, this is a pretty accurate representation of the color of my 'Lemon Lime' bloom. Seeing this bloom shortly after 'Charisma' was like eating a good Italian ice after a meal. It cleansed the pallet after the loud pink/red color of 'Charisma.' It even looks like a lemon-lime Italian ice doesn't it? The greenest part of the bloom is located mostly in the throat

Amaryllis Lemon Lime Hippeastrum

Here is 'Lemon Lime' in front of a light colored background. To my eyes the white brings out the green tint in the throat and the flower petals a lot more. It also accentuates the slight shimmer to the petals.

Amaryllis Lemon Lime Hippeastrum Bloom

I rarely pay attention to the back of an Amaryllis flower, but with 'Lemon Lime' I kept turning the bulb because it was greener than the front. Perhaps it is because the creases in the petal are deeper and shadowed that the green looks brighter back here. Whatever the reason I really liked the effect and the bloom spent as much time turned away from me as it did facing me. 'Lemon Lime' was 21 inches in height and the bloom was about 5 inches across. I pollinated the blooms with pollen from 'Charisma' and we'll see if the red, green, pink combination of the blooms gives us anything interesting.

Hybridizing your own Amaryllis bulbs at home is really simple. Below there's a video showing you how to pollinate the bloom. If you'd prefer you can see post where I explain Amaryllis pollination.

How to Pot an Amaryllis Bulb.



Potting an Amaryllis is really easy. In this garden video I'll explain how I choose a pot, how to place your Amaryllis bulb in a pot and how to water your Amaryllis the first time.

How to Pollinate an Amaryllis Flower.



Amaryllis bulbs can be very expensive to buy, especially for the nicer variety of bulbs. Fortunately, pollinating an Amaryllis bulb's flower to produce seeds is very easy. When you pollinate a bloom you're sexually propagating a plant. In this garden video I show you how easy it is to pollinate an Amaryllis flower and what the seed pods look like.

How to Propagate an Amaryllis Vegetatively.



At this rate I may need to find a greenhouse or move to a South America where Amaryllis bulbs originate from. At went to a recent garden trade show and came home with four new bulbs. Where am I suppose to keep all these bulbs? I only have so many windows that I can place them in. With the next batch of seedlings things will surely get tight. At least they'll be great fodder for post on my Amaryllis bulb blog. How many Amaryllis bulbs are you growing?

12 comments:

  1. Great tutorials! and love the photos too

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  2. This one is lovely! It's so nice not to see a red Amaryllis! Love the green coloring.

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  3. I grew two bulbs this year of the smaller variety. I have grown the larger ones also but have never been successful getting them to rebloom. So, I do not save them anymore. They should have a drop off for slightly used amaryllis bulbs.

    I am sure you would do great keeping them going, but you would have to buy a seaprate house just for your amaryllis!

    Eileen

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  4. Lemon Lime is lovely! Such a refreshing change from her more blatantly bold cousins.

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  5. Such beautiful images - I agree that it is nice to see the refreshing pale lime colours instead of brash red. I've never grown amaryllis before, but I think I will now!

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  6. I am sure it feels really refreshing to have this wonderful and pretty bloom around :-D The name, Lemon Lime is really so suited for this flower... it has both colours.

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  7. She is beautiful. You captured the true color. Great photos.

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  8. I like this one!

    I thought I was growing 3 varieties this year (had 4, gave one away), but 'Green Dragon' is very small -- you get 3 bulbs when you order and all 3 were different. So in the end I had 5. And 2 plants are producing seed but I forgot to mark which were which in the pot.

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  9. This one is gorgeous -- easily my favorite of the ones you've blogged about so far. Swoon.

    Will be interesting to see what you get from cross-pollinating this with 'Charisma.'

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  10. @Fer, Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

    @Meemsnyc, Thanks, you know I kind of miss not having one of the ubiquitous red blooms this year. They're common but kinda cheery colors to have around when it is dull and dark outside.

    @Gatsbys Gardens, LOL, that's a great idea. I wonder if one of the conservatories around here would go for it. They could resuce all of these bulbs, nurse them to health and then put on quite a show.


    @Webb, 'Lemon Lime' was a nice bloom and I really enjoyed having it around. Just noticed today that itlooks like I'm about to get a second scape on the bulb!

    @Nest and Sparkle, Really? Oh you have to grow at least one, once in your life. They're great bulbs to grow indoors.

    @Stephanie, It is a perfect name for it and I'm glad to have grown it. Although, I feel like I've grown it before, but maybe gave it away.

    @Lily, Thanks. I try not to mess with the colors of flowers because I know how disappointing it is to grow something and not have it look like it does in pictures.

    @Gayla, I'm going to have to try out some of those miniature bulbs I saw on your blog. The 'Green Dragon' was amazing.

    @Colleen, I agree. I can't wait to see what I get from the crosses. Green & pink may make an interesting combo for a bloom.

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  11. Just a thought as to perhaps why "Hippeastrum" ....

    You mentioned that it roughly translates as "horseman's star" or "knight's star". That, in turn, made me wonder if possibly the plant (bulb + inflorescence but before leaves emerged) struck the person who coined the name as something akin to a weapon common to knights/horsemen -- namely a horseman's mace. The head of these bludgeoning weapons came in many different shapes/styles including spiked "star shapes" and bladed spheres.

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  12. I have tried over and over in pollinating dwarf amarylsis and no matter how often I do it I never am successful,are they sterile, I can get regular to pollinate, but never dwarf or dbl.s thanks

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