Hippeastrum
'Jewel' (Amaryllidaceae family) is a Japanesedouble
hybrid created, Veronica Read tells me, by Mr. Miyake in Chiba,
Japan. It was granted Dutch Plant Breeder's Rights in 1992
and was one of the first doubles available. The four heads
are carried on a three foot stem. These hybrids have to be
kept going from year to year and not rested in the Autumn.
Veronica included many 'Jewel' hybrids in her Hippeastrum
Celebration at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1999. She
says that very few of the them turned out to be double with
many being completely single, but the above bulb seems fully
double and also has a faint perfume. It flowered last February,
again in June and again now.
Plant Portraits through the year
The
plants are arranged in alphabetical order with the date of the photograph
after it.
