Haemanthus

[jshields]

While some Haemanthus are clearly xeric in habitat, the ones now in bloom here are from the Eastern Cape Province, KZN, or Gauteng/Mpumalanga, all of which are in the summer rainfall zone. Haemanthus montanus has just finished flowering, while Haemanthus humilis hirsutus is almost finished. Haemanthus humilis humilis is just starting to flower, and my two bulbs of Haemanthus carneus are blooming now for the first time since I received them years ago.

I'm trying to find seeds of some of the rare Harmanthus, like canaliculatus, pumilo, and tristus, if anyone knows of sources. We tried and failed with seeds of nortieri. In the cool greenhouse, we have had very good luck growing coccineus, barkerae, and crispus from seed. We have managed to grow a couple namaquensis from seed to almost bloom size. Pubescens and amarylloides have been much slower to grow and show no signs so far of blooming. We have one bulb of dasyphyllus, also very slow growing.

Jim Shields
Westfield, Indiana
USA

[Allen Repashy]

Hi Jim,

I have only been getting the available species from Rachel at Silverhill. I recently got a few localities of the H. coccineus, some H. humilus, H albiflos, H. montanus, H pauculifolius, and H. sanguineus. I would also love to find those species, I will let you know if anything pops up on the other lists I receive.

I just got in some Gethyllis grandiflora from Rachel and this will be my first for the genus. They are all germinating in the bag, but I hear the genus can be difficult.... anyone have tips? ... sorry to hijack the thread..

Allen

[jshields]

Hi Allen,
I know nothing about Gethyllis, I'm afraid. I get some of my Haemanthus from Dawie Human in Bloemfontein, either as seeds or occasionally as bulbs. I have found Haemanthus humilis hirsutus harder to grow than humilis humilis.

I recently got some seeds of deformis from one of the SX's, but I had trouble with it previously -- years ago. H. albiflos and H. paculifolius grow like weeds in the greenhouse in winter and outdoors (lath house) in summer. They need some water all year round.

I have coccineus from seed collected in the wild in Bainskloof, Richterveld, and Gifberg as well as bulbs from the Bokkeveld Escarpment and from around Bredasdorp and Caledon. There are noticeable differences in leaf shape between the different ecotypes, and the Gifberg accessions have somewhat smaller umbels than the others.

Jim Shields
Westfield, Indiana

[jshields]

The attached image shows my first-ever bloom on Haemanthus namaquensis, from seed provided by Silverhill Seeds and planted here in 1997. The bulb is growing in a 9-in diameter by 9 inches deep pot in a very gritty mix. The inflorescence is about 7.5 inches tall, of which ca. 2.5 inches is the umbel. The leaves on this particular specimen do not have the wavy edges typical of most namaquensis.

The picture was taken on the peak day of the bloom, Aug. 31st. It's now starting to go over somewhat.

Jim Shields
in Westfield, IN, USA

[Allen Repashy]

Congratulations Jim!

12 Years is a long wait, and I can imagine a lot of anticipation in recent years hoping for the first bloom. Thanks for sharing!

[jshields]

I decided to name this strain of Haemanthus as "Burgundy" because of its
unique color for a form of Haemanthus. This bulb and one other are
producing twin scapes this year, another trait I've not seen before in
Haemanthus.

The peduncle is moderately hirsute and has some red to burgundy
coloration. The erect bracts, burgundy in color and numbering (usually) 5
or 6, enclose the scarlet flowers. As the bulbs are still maturing, I'm
not sure what the ultimate scape height and flower count might be. The
leaves seem intermediate between the two parents' leaves, with light
covering of hairs, more along the leaf margins. The leaf margins tend to
have a fine red line and some abaxial transverse red striation near the base.

The actual cross was Haemanthus [humilis hirsutus x coccineus] where the
seed parent had pure white flowers and the pollen parent had scarlet
flowers. Where did the burgundy color come from? I hope to take the most
vigorous seedling from this batch and hand propagate it.

[Allen Repashy]

Wow, that's really an interesting color. I have seen quite a variety in the H. coccineus foliage depending on locality. Do you know the locality of the parent you used? Do you have any comments or photo's of the foliage of the hybrid you created? I love flowers, but find the foliage equally fascinating on these types of bulbs.

Allen

[jshields]

The seed or berry parent, H. humilis hirsutus, came from Michael Willets, Moss Landing, Calif., and I just assume it was ex hort. I don't think I have that particular bulb any longer.

The pollen parent, coccineus, came from the McMasters and was collected from the Bredasdorp/Caledon area in the Western Cape Province. Not all coccineus have red margined leaves, but these from the Bredasdorp/Caledon area all seem to. One of these coccineus seems to have a slight tendency to produce fasciated scapes, and this could be where the twin scapes in the hybrids are coming from.

Now where is the burgundy color coming from? Maybe a better question is, "Why are the flowers on hirsutus white?"

[jshields]

Two of my seedlings of this species bloomed for the first time this past summer or fall. These two initial blooms were not very impressive, but the plants probably bloomed a year before they were ready. As more plants mature, I hope to get a better look at the mature form of the plant and flowers. I think this is a fairly rare species of Haemanthus, but not terribly spectacular looking, so far. Flowers are mostly white, bracts light pink.

Jim

[jshields]

I've posted this inquiry a couple other places -- SRGC Forum and the I.B.S. Members list -- and got a couple responses. I'd like to ask this group as well: do you grow any Haemanthus in the ground where you garden? Which species? How cold/wet does it get at your place?

My previous results are summarized in my blog at:
Jim Shields' Garden Notes

Jim

[Boo Hollow]

I have one Haemanthus without a tag that is currently sending up a new flower stalk (first time for me) and it is entirely white. Is there a white flowering Haemanthus that flowers at this time of year??

[jshields]

There are a couple species of white-flowered Haemanthus that bloom around now: H. albiflos, the commonest Haemanthus in cultivation, with smooth leaves; and H. pauculifolius, a relatively new species that is becoming more common, and which has hairy leaves.

In my greenhouse here in Indiana, the albiflos bloomed a couple months ago (this year, but not every year). In the same greenhouse, the pauculifolius is just sending up its scapes.

You can see a picture of albiflos in my web site at:
The Amaryllis Family: Genus Haemanthus

In a few days, I'll take a picture of pauculifolius and post it.

Jim

[Tim Harvey]

I grow all my Haemanthus in the ground in Southern California.

Summer growers; deformis, humilis and vars, montanus, pauculifolius,

Winter: coccineus, namaquensis, sanquineus, crispus, barkerae, nortieri, amarylloides and vars, pubescens

Unfortunately we don't get very cold, and all grow easily in this generous climate.

T

[jshields]

Paul Licht at the UC Berkeley botanic garden says they have had a wide variety of Haemanthus growing in the ground there for several years. It seems pretty clear that light frosts do not bother most Haemanthus at all.

A couple guys in North Carolina have only succeeded (so far) with Haemanthus montanus outdoors in the ground. Some have definitely been lost to winter cold and/or wet.

Jim

[agavegreg]

I have not planted any Haemanthus in the ground for fear of losing them to packrats, rabbits or javelina. Is that unfounded?

[jshields]

I'd say the risks are limited, but you might want to test predation on Haemanthus before putting any valuable plants in the ground. Amaryllidaceae tend to have noxious alkaloids in them that discourage most predation. Try some Haemanthus albiflos in the ground for a season.

Aside from insects, I've never noticed animals attacking Amaryllids in the ground here -- Narcissus, Lycoris, Sternbergia, Crinum, Hymenocallis, for example

Jim Shields
in Westfield, Indiana
USA

[agavegreg]

Thanks Jim,

It might be too late to put any in the ground now, but I still might try a couple after this cold snap passes through.

[jshields]

I have one pot of Haemanthus pauculifolius in bloom in the greenhouse right now. It seems to bloom much later than any others. It's cousin, H. albiflos, bloomed a month or two ago.

Jim Shields
in Westfield, Indiana
USDA zone 5

[Tim Harvey]

My deformis are just putting up buds. Strangely, I have not managed to produce any viable seed despite having two plants, which I assume are separate clones, flower simultaneously.

T

[santo2010]

Here are some pics of my Haemanthus Albiflos.
Maybe a common plant, but I like to share them.

Jim: Up in this forum you say that you have found some difficulty growing H. Humilis Hirsutus. ¿Have you got any tip? I'm growing it from seed. They have now two little leaves.
Thanks,
Santiago

[jshields]

Nice pictures, Santiago.

Summer has finally come to Indiana. It was 87 deg F yesterday. I'm just starting to move pots of summer-growing Haemanthus outdoors, including H. humilis humilis and H. montanus.

The H. humilis hirsutus will go out in a day or two. In growing them from seeds, I have found that they grow much, much more slowly than H. humilis humilis, for instance. I would suggest that the seeds be planted in individual pots and left undisturbed in the same pot for as long as 5 years. I start Haemanthus seeds in 5.5-inch square pots, one seed per pot. They can stay in the same pot until after they have bloomed the first time.

Transplanting Haemanthus seedlings after one or two years almost always stunts their growth. I have not checked this with albiflos or pauculifolius seedlings. But when I was getting started with Haemanthus, I ruined some seedlings of barkerae by transplanting after only 2 years. That was ca 12 years ago, and some of them have still not bloomed.

I have some of my oldest, largest bulbs of Haemanthus in 2-gallon pots (ca 22 cm diameter by 22 cm deep). You get to see what a Haemanthus should look like when you grow them in big pots. Repot bulbs just before they start to bloom. I have had bad luck repotting these bulbs when they are just starting to go dormant.

I also use continuous liquid feeding on most of my bulbs in pots. I use a soluble fertilizer with micronutrients, something like 20-10-20 is good. I aim for 100 to 200 ppm N (nitrogen), which means 0.5 gram solid fertilizer per liter of water for 100 ppm N.

I hope these comments will be useful to someone.

Jim

[santo2010]

Very Useful Jim!
Thank you very much!

[santo2010]

Jim,
The plants have only two small leaves. They germinated more or less 45 days ago. Here it is going to start the winter. Winters here have no snow, just a few freezes. Should I move them inside? If I do so they will miss the winter, maybe they grow year round? What do you advice me to do?
Till now I only grow H. Albiflos, they never lose the leaves and they are outside year round, but I know they are the easy ones.
Thanks!
Santiago

[jshields]

Santiago,

Many Haemanthus species can resist occasional brief, light frost, but I would not expose them to this until they have reached a good size. Young seedlings especially need to be give great care. Their most vulnerable time, however, will be their first dormancy. Small seedlings may not survive that first dormant season, which is why I keep them growing artificially until they are bigger.

I grow my Haemanthus seedlings indoors under lights year-round for at least the first two years and often longer. With continuous long-day lighting (16 hours per day) and regular watering, they should grow more or less continuously. They will occasionally shed a leaf, but in a short time new leaves will appear. When they are large enough, I move them into the greenhouse just as their next normal growing season is starting. This seems to make the transition from a constant environment under lights to more natural conditions (varying daily temperatures, seasonal change in day length) easier for them.

I think that the longer you keep them under continuous growth conditions, the sooner you will see them bloom. Under these conditions, I have had H. coccineus bloom in 5 years and hybrids bloom in just 4 years. They do seem to need a dormant period to trigger flowering, and once they have had a dormant season, they must have one every year thereafter.

Good luck!

Jim
in Westfield, Indiana, USA

[santo2010]

Thanks again Jim!
Thak you very much for sharing your expertise!