Red amaryllis and paperwhites

[Marie Hass]

Dear Frank,

Someone told me that the actual blooming season for amaryllis is February to May, which would be about right for the way my "stable" has taken off.

I spent a lot of time on emaryllis.com to identify amaryllis I liked. I then checked resources to see if they were available. Many were not. I was, of course, looking after Christmas and many varieties were sold out. The best time to shop apparently is in the fall. Glad you have been able to get a real life preview. I would love to see your wife's collection.

Dear Grahame,

I have learned a lot as I shot these images, and as my friends here on CiC (one of which is you) offered critiques through my struggles. Sometimes the day would be too dull, and I got poor colors and lighting. I tried to shoot natural light on most, others I used my speedlite and Joe Demb diffuser. For sure, it has been a real learning experience, but I have gotten more comfortable as time went on.

Thanks again,

Marie

[FrankMi]

Oh, Oh, Marie! Am I ever in trouble!

Based on your beautiful Amaryllis and Paperwhites, I ordered several Amaryllis bulbs for my wife. The Chico came and went without my getting a chance to shoot and the second budding of the Flaming Peacock is about to burst onto the scene. To make matters worse, I ordered a few more for my wife for Mother's Day and I'm still not getting time to shoot!

Dumb me decided to get some bulbs and plant one every other week to watch the blossoms over the next few months. Well, the bulbs had a mind of there own an most of them started to sprout while in transit! Now if I don't get some images soon, I'll be the laughing stock of CiC! I got to dump this working for a living jazz and go back to living to do photography and other fun things. Isn't that what we're supposed to in retirement?

Anyway, we now have the following Amaryllis chomping at the bit to blossom: Emerald, Clown, Picotee, Siren, Sophisticate, Half & Half, and Papillio Butterfly.

I'll need to lean on you expertise, Marie, to make these look good!

[Marie Hass]

Oh!!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!! I cannot wait to see your wife's new collection!! Yes, now that you have so deliberatly fostered your wife's habit, you will have to take pictures. One set takes at the most 5 minutes, so you cannot say you do not have time! BTW, even my husband enjoys the blooms. I always have one plant on the kitchen table, and every weekend, when we sit down to breakfast, it is the subject of conversation.

I just took pictures of Gervase (glorious!!!!). I am waiting on Lemon Lime, Misty, Jewel, Papillo and Piyo-Piyo. The Piyo-Piyo bulb came from Japan. It is about the size a a golfball. The flowers promise to be tiny - hence the name, in English, I understand to be "little chick". I thought I would wait to post a group, rather than just one set. I also have Vittatum, which may bloom later.

Marie

[Marie Hass]

My next round of lovelies.

1. Piyo-Piyo. The bulb is no bigger than a golf ball. I show it here with a tennis ball.


2. Piyo-Piyo. The flower is also quite tiny.


3. Lemon Lime.


4. Gervase.


Again, for your review and comment.

Marie

[Brownbear]

Hi Marie,

Just to say these are all lovely... The 3rd and the 4th (gorgeous with more blooms) are my all time favourites with #3 being my absolute favourite - the detail, colour, lighting and composition - absolutely exquisite! A truly inspirational flower image.

[Marie Hass]

Thanks, Christina!

I love the gaudiness of #4, Gervase, especially with both scapes of blooms going at the same time. Over the top!!!!

#3, Lemon Lime, newly opened, was more lime than lemon. I hope this bulb will survive, as I had to to major surgery because it was rotting. It has continued to flower, but produced no leaves yet. We will see if it makes it.

#1 and 2, Piyo-Piyo, arrived with no roots and no sign at all of leaves or scape. I wondered what would happen, so i continued to water. 2 months later, i got leaves and a bloom. it is a cute flower and plant, very petite.

Thank you for commenting.

Marie

[FrankMi]

Hi Marie, I though I had posted but I don't see it here. I must have switched windows before hitting Post.

These are lovely Marie and I really love the 'punch' provided by the Gervase. When I showed these to Corrine, she was thrilled.

Her Picotee started to blossom on a stalk only 5" tall, determined little bugger, but she has 4 blossoms and two stalks so I guess she'll do OK. I noticed that your Nyora was doing the same thing so maybe it's not that uncommon.

I hope to get a shot of the Picotee in the next day or so!

[Marie Hass]

Dear Frank,

I have been told that short stalks are a sign of the stress of being "forced" to bloom, some faster than others. My Nyora produced very ugly, incomplete blooms. I did not even take pictures. I am hoping that, as it matures and has the time to produce blooms on its own time, that the blooms will be prettier.

Marie

[FrankMi]

Dear Frank,

I have been told that short stalks are a sign of the stress of being "forced" to bloom, some faster than others. My Nyora produced very ugly, incomplete blooms. I did not even take pictures. I am hoping that, as it matures and has the time to produce blooms on its own time, that the blooms will be prettier.

Marie

That may indeed be the case Marie as the Picotee was well on its way when we opened the package. We'll see if anything comes of it. Thanks for the diagnosis Dr. Marie!

[Marie Hass]

Dear Reader,

More blooms - and a comparison.

1. Today, "Misty" opened her beautiful eyes for the second time. A lovely color and shape - described as "a mournful, nodding style".... Certainly, longer trumpets and a lovely green throat.


2. My "Piyo-Piyo" blooms (all 2 of them) have continued to age. They have gotten creamier in color, and the edges have frilled. Very pretty.


3. Just for comparison, I have photographed "Misty" and "Piyo-Piyo" together. My prior picture with the tennis ball just was not as good of a "visual" as this image.


Please feel free to comment/critique.

Marie

[IzzieK]

Marie...these are all beautiful. #5 you must have had your focus on the other flower at the right hand side but the softness of the greener left hand side is also spot on. I like the way you did this shot in that the angles of the flowers are equally divided in the frame. Black background fit well with it too.

In #6, piyo-piyo -- I have never seen one like this before. Honest! The frilled edges and the colour is just amazingly pronounced. Even the orangy star-like trace at the center is like an intro to the curved stamen. I like the way it gently curves to the center. Green complements it all.

The comparison between them is just all about the height of both. Do not laugh -- I think they are like Mutt and Jeff (as in the cartoons). Piyo-piyo is cute. I cannot fault this at all. Both of them are absolutely gorgeous! I just noticed that the stamen of Misty is more straighter than the Piyo-piyo. Is that natural in different species?

[FrankMi]

I really like these Marie, particularly #2 Piyo-Piyo.

It looks like the left hand blossom is a mirror image of the right hand one. It's almost as if you placed a mirror behind the right hand blossom!

[Marie Hass]

Amaryllis "Jewel" - an informal double.

A lovely white with a red ringed green eye. Our day was so dreary that I used my flash, trying not to blow the whites.





For your comment and critique. It looks as if I will have one more day to shoot this set, then I may have the 3rd and 4th blooms opening up.

Marie

[FrankMi]

Really good job on the whites Marie!

I need to learn to include more stem in my shots and go vertical. I tend to shoot more landscape as I often use my images as a randomly rotating wallpaper with each image being displayed for about 15 minutes.

[Marie Hass]

I have had this amaryllis since 2010 and it produces dinner plate size blooms every year. The motherbulb is softball size, and it has produced 3 nice sized offsets. The cluster of greenery in the pot looks like a party!!!!

It was sold to me as Aphrodite, but now I am not sure, because the colors are supposed to be more muted.

1.


2. I have asked my husband to lend a hand so that the viewer would have a sense of scale. My husband is 6'2" tall and has huge hands.



'Rie

[bnnrcn]

A giant beauty

[Nicks Pics]

All very nice, even though I'm not usually a flower enthusiast. The reds appear very rich, that can be tricky. The one under the lamp shade is excellently done.

[rudi]

It was sold to me as Aphrodite, but now I am not sure, because the colors are supposed to be more muted.

We have two 'Aphrodite', one is more peachy-pinkish and the other one is more like yours.

In image n°1: what about bringing down the brightness just a tad and a bit off LCE to bring out the lovely
texture in this already 'Giant beauty', as Binnur said. Just a thought....

[Marie Hass]

Binnur, as always, thank you. Nick, thank you as well.

Rudi, good comments. I will do just that. There are more flowers on that stalk opening up and I will re-shoot. Do you grow amaryllis? I love them and grow them. If you have pictures to share, I would love to see your varieties.

Thanks for the suggestions,

'Rie

[Marie Hass]

Dear Izzie,

I was remiss in answering your question in post #151. And for that I am truly sorry. I know time is valuable for all of us, and if we are not recognized for our efforts, we tend to participate less. Each variety of amaryllis is differently bred for certain characteristics. Some have longer trumpets, some are doubles, some have frilly petals, some petals are recurved and some are not. So, if I understood your question, your observation was correct.

'Rie