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.

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

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.

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?

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