After 8 Years Amaryllis Blooms

I last recorded this amaryllis plant blooming in June 2013. The plant itself might be about 20 years old. It has not been repotted in probably 10 years.

Da Hua

One of the big red amaryllis flowers is blooming in June 2013. It started with just one plant I was given maybe back in 2002 and it has since become 5 plants. The original one bloomed last month and its bloom stem has black seed pods on it now. The stem will eventually fall over and release the seeds.








This tall stem system I think helps the plant propagate. The stem is about 50 cm tall and it will fall to ground spreading the seeds that distance from the parent plant. If the seeds take root the children will be some distance from the parent plant thus it does not directly compete for the nutrients and water of that plant. Note, I have not verified how the plant works the above is just my conjecture. The plant in the past produces another bulb that I eventually transfer to another planter.







As for the term "da hua" it is Chinese for "big flower". I learned that watching this Taiwanese drama King Flower (金大花的華麗冒險). See this site for episodes: http://sugoideas.com/idol-dramas/2013drama/king-flower/ (ones with English subtitles: http://www.dramacrazy.net/taiwanese-drama/substitute-princess/). Watching these shows is one way to learn the language... right?

As for the drama, it is pretty silly, illogical, and fun. As with most TV shows turn off some of your cognitive brain functions and think of it as entertainment time.  Some great recaps were done by Ms. Koala at this web link: http://koalasplayground.com/tag/king-flower/.

The show also has a catchy and upbeat song from the Dream Girls group seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w20itscV45M

Red Amaryllis Flowers

 Red amaryllis flowers blooming in May 2012. Plant usually blooms later in the year. Another odd aspect is that the stalk only has two blooms and not the normal four. As of this writing a second bloom stalk has started which I assume will have two more blooms on it.  Seems plant wants a staggered blooming pattern for this year.

Red Amaryllis

Red amaryllis flower blooming in Louisville, Kentucky. I have four plants and hope one will bloom each year.

Three Amaryllis Blooms

When it comes to flowers this flower really knows how to bloom!

Amaryllis/Hippeastrum In Full Bloom

The Amaryllis or Hippeastrum is really starting to bloom. It now has 3 of its 4 blooms open. Since this plant seems to bloom each year about this time I decided to try out the time lapsed photo mode on the Canon Powershot Pro1.

It is a nice feature that I did not quite understand when photographing the night blooming cactus. The first bloom I took pictures of every 15 minutes but made the error when setting up the flower in the frame to allowing open area for the flower to expand. So the flower which seems to move about 2 cm an hour, gradually expanded out of the frame over 12 hours.

The next bloom I left room for the expansion in the frame and let the camera shoot for 20 hours. I want to stitch the images into a fast movie but since they are all in RAW format it will take a while to convert.

The photos here show two of the full bloom at night and in the day time. Also a macro shot of one of the petals.

Amaryllis Getting Ready To Bloom

A bloom pod as formed on my largest Amaryllis plant. I yet to figure out what triggers these plants to bloom but it is a real treat when they do. The plant produces four huge flowers with each one about 90 degrees a part. This plant has already produced two other bulbs and one of those as matured enough to bloom.

I found this entry on the web about how to care for the Amaryllis. I keep the plants in the sunroom so they do seem to go dormant in the winter by losing all their leaves.

Amaryllis in Bloom

One of the amaryllis flowers is now fully opened and it is beautiful. The camera could not quite capture its true beauty though.

I also include a daffodil from the IUS campus where they are blooming all over the grounds.

Flowers

Rainy days are here but the first tulip flower has emerged. It is pink. It looks like there are two more almost ready to bloom.

The amaryllis flower stalk continues to grow taller.

Two of the daffodil bulbs are showing life and growth is beginning to appear.