The Red Lion Amaryllis in my garden is a long ago gift from my father in law, Glenn. He went through forcing bulbs every Christmas, saving them and planting them in the garden and then dividing them and after a while there was a pride of Red Lions. Glenn left us almost fifteen years ago and I still cherish this Amaryllis (he would never call it a Hippeastrum.) It refused to flower for several years, so I moved it to a sunnier spot and the Red Lion is roaring again. I was happy to bring it inside to enjoy in a Monday vase. I was even happier the lion was inside when a rollicking late afternoon thunderstorm roared through.
A closer view of the Lion:
Accompaniments to the Lion:
The white flowers are ‘Miss Alice’ Bougainvillea; orange flowers are Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens). This is a restrained plant palette for me. The vase is my favorite piece of vintage Blue Willow, a teapot from the UK.
The thunderstorms lasted longer than I thought they would – leaving 7 and a half inches of rain behind in a little more than two hours! Lots of roaring here today.
Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM every week and hosting our Zoom meeting yesterday. Such fun to meet other garden bloggers. Follow this link http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com to see more vases.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
What a fabulous combo in that stunning teapot. Love the roaring, bright colors.
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Thank you.
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Wonderful that Glenn’s handiwork still inspires you Amy! I like the combination with Bougainvillea. Nice to see you yesterday, ever so briefly. Next time I’ll check with you on the time conversion!
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It’s always nice to see a little Glenn in the garden. Good to see you as well. I was expecting peonies from you today – it looked like a bowl was nearby??
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Yes, I made two arrangements today and one was of the peonies next to my chair.
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It is always a treat to see flowers from a different climate Amy, and this week you managed to insert so much drama into the teapot.
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Thank you, Noelle. It is a bit dramatic! Great to see you yesterday.
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Seven and a half inches of rain and in only two hours or so – good grief, how normal is that at this time of year? I love the history of your amaryllis, and the fact that has settled down again for more roaring, after you moved it. It always makes for a striking vase. Sadly the cheap pack of six I got have not done especially well – the ones that have flowered have all been the same, which I wasn’t expecting. I still live in hope Aldi will have them again…
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Sometimes we get thunderstorms like that, this one was called a tornadic thunderstorm that passed directly over my house, a tornado touched down a few miles away but did no damage. I hope Aldi has the Amaryllis here too! Great to see you yesterday.
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Thanks for the info on the tornadic thunderstorm – you know how much I like weather info! I think we have had two winters without Aldi Amaryllis, since the UK left the EU. No big bags of tulips either… 🙄
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No bulbs is a weird side effect of leaving the EU?
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It’s all the red tape, Amelia – for some suppliers it just isn’t worth it, especially if they have other outlets
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The bulbs are probably at Walmart here.
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You had a nice rainfall. We were promised that much rain twice and both times the clouds missed us. I recognize all your plants this week and it is really nice to have plants to remember someone. My oldest is from my grandparents.
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Yes, I hate it when the rain fails to materialize. I managed to fry Glenn’s collection of Christmas cactus the first year in Florida. Sigh.
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What a special gift from your father in law Amelia. You must be delighted that the lion is in full fettle again. That is a tremendous amount of rain in such a short spell! It was good to see you and everyone else again yesterday.
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Good to see you, Anna. I was just looking into Beth Chatto’s books. More rain today!
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Flowers in the garden that remind us of someone dear are all the more special. ‘Red Lion’ is a Christmas classic that never grows old. Nicely combined with ‘Miss Alice’ and firebush.
Wow, that’s a lotta rain! Luckily, your sugar sand can take it.
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I agree, it makes me feel Glenn is saying hello. I could probably water already!
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Your lions make such a lovely loud noise in that lovely old teapot Amelia! And I am humbled that you can keep them going for so long, while I just throw mine on the compost after they have flowered! I am often shocked when you say how much rain you have had in such a short spell… we just had showers today. And a gorgeous rainbow. Happy gardening Amelia!
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Thanks, Cathy. I wonder if that is the original bulb as the other flower is now producing seeds? It may be the third generation! Fort Lauderdale had a thousand year storm this week – 24 inches of rain in 24 hours!
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Oh my goodness!
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Seven and a half inches of rain in 2 hours borders on scary, Amelia! I heard about Fort Lauderdale’s experience, which I can only interpret as Mother Nature’s temper tantrum. Your lion is perfect with the firebush.
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Thanks, Kris it was a pretty incredible storm.
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That is rad that you can continue to grow it in the garden. Almost all are discarded after forcing, and the few that are not must live as houseplants in harsher climates.
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I agree and was happy to see it.
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It was fab to see you again yesterday, so good to have a face to go with a name. Love your roaring lions for which you’ve chosen the perfect partners. 🙂
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