amaryllis update, old and newer

I am developing an amaryllis collection. I need to share some and find a permanent solution for growing them inside my home.

I have 13 bulbs for 3 or 4 years, maybe longer for 2 or 3 of them. I tried throwing several that looked dead in my compost pile, and they rose from the dead as it were. The bulbs are sitting in old seed starting trays and lids in our home office. My plan was to have them outside last summer, bring them in to die back naturally, put them in the dark, and bring them out in November to grow and bloom. Everything worked until the November step. I forgot about the dark, and then rushed getting them back into the light. They did not bloom at Christmas.

They are growing now. Since we keep the door closed, the office tends to be a bit warmer. The main window is south-facing. We’ll see if these bulbs bloom. I’m debating putting them outside in a sunny area of the yard this spring. According to Gardening Know How, the bulbs can grow outside up to zone 7b which is our zone here in Southwest Virginia. However, I wouldn’t let them overwinter.

The other part of my collection is bulbs I grew from seed. Last winter when my new amaryllis bulbs bloomed I used a paintbrush to pollinate them. After the blooms died back, I had many papery black seeds. I floated them in water to start new bulbs and transplanted the new ones into pots when a root appeared. These bulbs will take several years to grow big enough to produce a flower.