It came as quite a surprise today to find one of the clumps of Amaryllis belladonna pushing up flowerheads through dry gravel. The blooming season here begins in mid-July and typically ends a month or maybe two later. We are now over two months beyond that. What is the reason? I suspect that it is rain. This is a dry garden in a dry area. I reported here a few months ago on the importance of water in initiating blooming - in fact it appears to control the time of blooming. Well, we had rain (1.5 inches or nearly 40 mm) a week ago. It does appear strange to see the clump pushing up both leaf growth and flower heads at the same time. The leaf growth is quite normal for this time of year, but the flowerhead development is not and the stems will be rather short. Belladonnas always flower without any leaves at their base. It appears the bulbs are trying to make up for the summer they missed for lack of water. Still, now that the nerines have finished the color is a pleasant sight. Andrew San Diego