Horticulture
Queen of the Green
Classes 22A & 22B
Cybister Amaryllis ‘Sweet Lillian’ bulb in bloom displayed in a 6” terra cotta pot. Pre-registration required.
22 Entries
Class 22A
Twelve Entries
Libby Moore
Little Compton Garden Club
“Equally open flowers with good form.”
“Poor color development on pale blooms and stretched stem suggests inadequate light during development.”
Length of Ownership: Three months–since December 7, 2020
Growing Conditions: This bulb has lived on a sunny windowsill to get it going. It was moved onto a plant porch for a few weeks. Then into the cool, dark basement to slow it down and then into the cold garage to really slow it down!
Cosby George
Greenwich Garden Club
“Good proportion of all exhibit components.”
“All blooms have crepey edges along petals and appear past prime.”
Length of Ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: When I removed my amaryllis from its packaging in December, it had already grown about six inches. I needed to slow it down. I potted the bulb, watered it and put it in a cold, dark room for three-four weeks.
In mid-January, I placed the amaryllis in front of a sunny window.
To promote growth in early March, I put the pot on a plate warmer.
Karen Marache
Greenwich Garden Club
“Bloom showed good color development and overall plant has good proportions.”
“More details on growing conditions would have been helpful. Suggest using a new terra cotta pot.”
Length of Ownership: Four months
Growing Conditions: Garage-chilled bulb till ready to put in sunny south-facing window.
Georgina Horsey
Georgetown Garden Club
“Detailed propagation card was helpful.”
“Stretching of scape and lack of color saturation indicates inadequate light during development. Suggest more attention to your container.”
Length of Ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: Potted up on January 6th as instruction from the nursery said 8 to 10 weeks. More like 5 to 7 weeks! Started on heat mat with light but as it grew quickly it was moved to a dark and cool area, with temperature no higher than 60. It still grew quickly and bloomed in early February. A second stalk emerged, the plant was kept in dark and cold, brought into the warmth and light on March 6th to allow the blooms to fully open. Photographed March 8th.
Tamera Galvin
Ridgefield Garden Club
“Overall good proportions with a neatness of presentation and detailed propagation information.”
“Distribution of blooms not balanced.”
Length of Ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: I planted the Cybister Amaryllis ‘Sweet Lillian’ bulb on 12/30/20 in a terracotta pot with organic potting soil and a small amount of bone meal. It was kept in indirect sunlight at about 68 degrees. I lightly watered and turned it every few days. On 2/2/21, I moved the pot to my garage which is around 40 degrees to slow the growth. I brought it back into the house on 2/22/21. The flowers opened between 3/1/21 and 3/6/21. These photos were taken on 3/8/21.
Candace Crosby
Albemarle Garden Club
“Well-groomed with nice color and form of blooms.”
“Turning the pot would help for a better distribution of blooms.”
Length of ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: Potted up in mid-December, placed on radiator for bottom heat in front of southern facing window. When the green stalk and bud started to grow a few weeks later, plant was placed in an outdoor shed with dim light. Placed back on radiator in the second week of February. Fertilized with Espoma BLOOM 2x once it started budding out.
Deborah Higgins
Ridgefield Garden Club
“Good form overall and the second scape is a plus.”
“Color is not fully developed, deformity in some petals, one bloom is past prime and better grooming would enhance.”
Length of ownership: Two-and-half months.
Growing Conditions: Planted on 1/1/2021 in Miracle-Gro Potting Mix. Watered and placed on warm radiator in bright light, in cool room. Moved to unheated, basement garage to slow growth on 1/23/2021. Brought back upstairs to cool location, in bright light, on 3/6/2021.
Lindsay Hardesty
Amateur Gardeners Club
“Well-developed color with five vibrant open blooms and great form.”
Length of ownership: Two months.
Growing Conditions: In a 6" clay pot in a sunny bay window, facing north.
Julie Sakellariadis
Garden Club of East Hampton
“Well-balanced bloom color, good proportion and well-groomed.”
“One bloom is past its prime, crepey and beginning to fade.”
Length of ownership: Two-and-a-half months.
Growing Conditions: I received five Amaryllis 'Sweet Lillian' bulbs on December 28th and planted them the next day. I kept them in an southeast facing window and watered lightly. Some bloomed in 4-5 weeks and others were slower; most have produced a second bloom. I experimented with keeping them, once the bloom was almost fully open, on a cool porch with temperatures between 50-65 degrees, and this did preserve the bloom a long time. After reading Veronica M. Read's book, Hippeastrum: the gardener's amaryllis, I moved three of the Sweet Lilian's under grow lights set at 14 hours of light, by a cold window and with a small space heater on the timer, so that day time temperatures reached 74 and night time temperatures dipped to 64. I found the pink/red in the bloom became more intense under the grow lights.
Debbie Pittman
Memphis Garden Club
“Good detail on propagation information conveys the struggle to get the best blooms.”
“Blooms are slightly past prime. Style and shape of pot is too heavy for delicate flowers of this plant.”
Length of ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: Bulb was received in December. Bulb was planted in container in January and placed in my basement until six weeks before the photo date. It was watered when first planted, but I watered very infrequently after that. Even in the basement, it had signs of growth. When I moved it to a south facing window in mid-January, it began to grow too quickly, so it went back into the basement. I continued to move it in and out of the basement. It has been a continuous challenge to try to have all four blooms open on a certain date, since all four blooms opened sequentially.
Phyllis Schmiedeberg
The Little Garden Club of Rye
“Good color with four blooms and one on the way. Clean pot and well-groomed.”
“Should have shown whole container in photograph.”
Length of ownership: Two months.
Growing Conditions: Loose bulb received 1/6/21 had already broken dormancy. I potted it 1/16/21 and enjoyed the first blooming stem ten days later. By then, a second stem emerged, so I placed the pot in a cold/dark location for four weeks, without watering. On 2/22/21 I brought the pot into a warm room under grow lights and watered as needed.
Chris Murray
The Little Garden Club of Rye
“Well-proportioned with richly developed color of bloom and a strong stem.”
“More propagation information would have benefited exhibit.”
Length of ownership: Two months.
Growing Conditions: Sunny east window. Put on radiator for last two days to hurry two blooms.
Class 22B
Ten Entries
Kim Cory
Albemarle Garden Club
“Intense color development. The two scapes are a plus.”
“ A more specific propagation card would help.”
Length of ownership: Three months
Growing Conditions: Bulbs were planted in individual terra cotta pots. The pots roamed around the house in search of sun and warmth or dark and cool based on the development of the bloom. Watered occasionally.
Heather Steers
Little Compton Garden Club
“Good color development of five symmetrical blooms.”
“Form is compromised by petal tips not being reflexed.”
Length of ownership: Two-and-a-half months.
Growing Conditions: Grown in indirect and direct, south facing window, light as well as cool dark area in back hall.
Frances Carden
Albemarle Garden Club
“Insufficient and defective blooms.”
Length of ownership: Three months
Growing Conditions: Indoors, bright indirect natural light, followed by dark cold garage, followed by hot and direct light.
Glenn Shaw
Greenwich Garden Club
“Blooms are open, have good color and form.”
“Regularly turning of pot would have achieved a more balanced opening. Lack of propagation information.”
Length of ownership: Four months
Growing Conditions: Warm sunny room.
Libby Welch
Greenwich Garden Club
“Robust flower with good color, proportion, balance and contrast.”
Length of Ownership: Three-and-a-half months
Growing Conditions: Bulb - kept in box in cold garage 12.2.20 through 1.11.21 when potted and brought into house, kept under grow light in kitchen, watered as necessary. Bloomed mid-February. After blooming, I cut the stem down to an inch above the bulb and kept it under the grow light and watered a bit. Soon a new stem shot up so I put a heat mat under the pot to speed it up and then it started blooming on 3.6.21. Photos taken the morning of 3.9.21.
Sally Merz
Green Spring Valley Garden Club
“The three out of five open blooms have good form.”
“Lack of consistent color pronounced in one bloom.”
Length of ownership: Three months.
Growing Conditions: The bulb was planted in mid-January. One stalk of blooms has come and gone. The plant was located in a bathroom with two north facing skylights. Our house temperatures are low for Maryland around 64 degrees. As the entry date got close, I began to warm the bulb during the day by relocating it to a warmer room with a temperature closer to 68 degrees.
Mimi Carrington
Garden Club of Morristown
“Five flowers equally distributed and good propagation information. Two scapes and leaf development are a plus.”
“Incomplete color development of all blooms and scapes are stretched.”
Length of Ownership: Five months.
Growing Conditions: Potted bulb January 11, 2021. Used Johnny’s 512 Mix potting soil and watered in. Placed indoors on a window sill height table with direct western sun. Room also offered southern and northern indirect light. Watered every 5-7 days. Turned pot 1/4 turn every day.
George Davis
Garden Club of New Haven
“Open blooms have nice color and form.”
“More blooms would have a better impact.”
Length of ownership: Four months.
Growing Conditions: Potted in Agway potting soil in November. Left in cool dark basement until January. Put in cool north window without water until February 15th. Moved to bright southern window and watered.
Piera Panozzo
Sasqua Garden Club
“The full photo is not consistent with the number of open blooms in the close-up photos.”
Length of ownership: Two months.
Growing Conditions: The Sweet Lillian amaryllis was planted in a 6" pot with organic potting soil and placed on a south-facing windowsill. The pictures submitted for the entry were taken March 9, 2021 of a third stem.
Jean Taplett
The Little Garden Club of Rye
“Good substance and form on open flowers.”
“Stretching and pale coloration may be due to lack of light.”
Length of ownership: Four months.
Growing Conditions: Cool, dark and drafty!!