From Costa Rica comes the beautiful, rare Phaedranassa carmioli, the Queen Amaryllis. This hard-to-find Amaryllis relative has the unusual ability to flower multiple times per year! The stunning, pink and green blooms are quite different from most common bulbs. As exotic as it looks, the Queen Amaryllis is easy to grow when given the right conditions.

The Queen Amaryllis forms a big, baseball-sized bulb, and large, shiny leaves that grow 15 to 20" long. It sends up an equally long flower stalk, which has about 8 to 10 blooms. The trumpet-shaped flowers tend to open two or three at a time, which prolongs the show. The plant can be induced to flower by withholding water for 2 months, which creates a mini-dormancy and usually makes them flower the following month. You can therefore get 2 or possibly 3 flower shows per year. Over time, the bulbs make numerous offsets, which you may separate.

Phaedranassa comes from an area that has mild temperatures, and cooler nights. It has handled temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s (30°C), but i don't know how it will fare in warmer areas, especially if nights are warm. In hot-summer areas, you may wish to induce dormancy during the summer by letting the soil dry out, then store the bulb in a cool spot until Autumn. There are reports of the dormant bulb handling winter temperatures down to the low- to mid-20s (-5°C) if planted deep, however i would protect it from all frost if you want it to grow throughout winter. The plant grows well in a 3 gallon pot, which may be moved indoors for the winter. It prefers mostly sunny conditions, although some afternoon shade may be appreciated in warmer areas. It likes well-draining soil (half potting soil, half pumice or perlite) and regular feeding. In the right conditions it's an easy and very fun bulb.

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