Pride goeth before . . .

That rapidly growing, eager to flower "Royal Velvet" amaryllis that I mentioned in my last post, remember it?  It was the energy-charged plant whose performance was dwarfing its competitor. Well, it burst into bloom with such enthusiasm that the plant catapulted itself on to floor and straight out of its pot.  In the discharge, both flower stems were broken, pollen was smeared everywhere, and the bulb was a mess of bent and crushed greenery.

I did manage to save the flowers. I've never liked cut amaryllises--it seems almost disrespectful to reduce such luscious blossoms to being just another flower in a vase--but in this case, an exception was the only way to go.

The bulb, after trimming and re-potting, still has one more scape.  Those banged up cuts and dents make the sepals look like they came through a bar brawl.  The bulb a feels a little soft and shrunken under its brown tunic--like it's draped in slightly too large clothes--but perhaps that's just a sign of its exhausting recent exercise regimen.