I know it's dark in the middle but the flash washed it out and putting it in the sun.. just couldn't get it right. This is the inside of the first parent plant.(The one that has already bloomed.) The thing coming up the middle is a lighter green then any of the pups and leaves. The leaf inside is also new growth since I have had the plant. The first pup from this plant never bloomed. The first parent plant is the one to the right in this image with it's two pups on either side of it. The plant on the left is the oldest pup to the parent with it's pup to the right and behind the parent pup. In is image the parent plant is on the left. You can see the damage it took while getting it out to IN from CA. You can see the pups better in this image I am afraid to cut any of the pups off the parent plant(s) until my mother in-law gets here mid August. I just want to keep it going the way it is and live! But can you ID it just from these images and without flowers? if so that is cool. :)

I've had this happen with amaryllis/hippeastrum; it blooms indoors in the natural cycle in January-April, but when you set it out, it blooms again 1-2 months later, because the changing conditions triggers it into thinking it's in a different place in the cycle. I think moving it from one location to another sets that in motion. When I bring them back inside, they get back on schedule. I wouldn't worry. If you are really intent on timing your blooms, you probably shouldn't move it from inside to out. But if you are OK with it "surprising" you, I do not think the health of the plant is at risk here. I have found with hippeastrum that if it is an extremely large, mature and healthy plant, it may even be able bloom twice per year, on both the natural and the artificial cycle, and if that's true for this individual and species you'll see another bloom in 6 months. If it is only big enough to bloom once per year, it may be 12-18 months before it blooms again.

The biggest issue is fungus gnats. Tiny black flies that love to live indoors or out and infest every single plant even if its in a pot. They are smaller than fruit flies. Outdoors, I use a form of Bt and also benefical nematodes as I used to get a LOT of these fungus gnats, they even get inside the leaf layers of brussles sprouts, which are not good eating when you see tiny back flies in the cooking water. Indoors, when I start seeds, I use a mix of seed starting soils, like Natural Beginnings from Gardens Alive, as well as a Jiffy mix that is sold by the bag through sevral web sites, and even shreaded coconut husk fibers called coir. These are all quite 'clean' and have little to no real soil in them. They help hold just the right amount of moisture too. The fungus gnats usually come from outdoor soils, lay eggs in the soil that turn into tiny maggots and these feed off the tender roots of any plants. Thats one reason you see house plants suddenly dieing for no apparent reason. To check indoor plants, I use yellow sticky traps that rest horizontally on the edges of the pots. After just a couple of days, these traps can become loaded with tiny black gnats! Outside is where I use a form of Bt and also water in the beneficial nematodes that live in soil and go after the fungus maggots. My garden soil here isn't perfect, but if I can reduce harmful bugs from killing plants, its a big help. I use scent lures and sticky traps for my apples, peaches, and even cucumbers. Each sticky trap has a scent lure that attracts the pests common to these plants. Some plants and trees are highly resistant to diseases and bugs. Asian pears, asparagus, and blueberries to name a few. It may be better to head to a nursery/garden shop, as Home Depot and Lowes tend to offer a very limited amount of organic supplies. Here, we have only a very few products that are organic and most are for bugs (Neem) and disease control (Serende). The bags of soil offered by Miracle Grow tend to be a bit harsh as they simply use chemical equivilents to the real soil nutrients. I have a small leanto shed that stores corn gluten, fish meal, humate, kelp meal, and a few others. I use these as natural nitrogen additives, or in the case of humate, many minerals and micro nutrients. If you do plan to spray for any bugs that might be feeding on the leaves, try Neem. I wouldnt spray any herbs with anything unless the bugs are chewing holes in the leaves however. Bt, is a liquid mixed with water and has several different strains, of which one is for the gnat control. Ever hear of squash vine borers? These bugs bore into the base of squash vines and destroy the insides which cause the plants to quickly die. I have used another form of Bt and actually injected it into the main stems of squash plants, by using an insulin syringe. The Bt attacks the borers and kills them. Imagine a garden thats a living thing like us, it just can't survive all by itself if you want good yields and quality crops. I have only 2000 sq. feet of garden space, and there is also areas all around the edges of my garden that have fruit trees, or some permanent plants like asparagus and horse radish, which I harvest every spring. For your pot of cilantro, add some seeds every 2-3 weeks, so they can give you more than 1 or 2 harvests. Only thing is, if they are clumped together, they are hard to seperate if there are two stages of growth within each other. Indoors, I start about 60 petunia plants, 60 or so impatien plants, peppers, tomatos, basil, and a few others about mid April. This year, seedless watermelons with a necessary pollinator, as well as a few cantaloupe types. Brussels sprouts again too, but will be covered with a light weight white plastic fabric to block out the bugs, then my big batch of corn, which I plant every other year. I have a small tractor and a big rototiller to turn the soil over every spring, and work in any soil ammendments needed. Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Beginnings

You were probably just lucky not to have encountered borers in your irises before now. We're definitely in borer country here in MN. You may have received them in rhizomes from other folks in borer country, or they may have simply flown over from your neighbor's iris patch. There's really no way to know where they came from, but there are effective ways to handle them now that they're in your iris bed. Late this fall and/or early next spring before temps reach 70 degrees (borer egg hatching temp), do a very thorough clean up of your iris bed. Remove all dead, dying, and diseased iris foliage, weeds, leaves, and other plant debris from your garden and burn or trash it. Do NOT compost. That'll get rid of most of the borer eggs before they can hatch next spring. Early next spring just as your irises are breaking dormancy and beginning active growth, apply Merit granules around your irises (marketed as Bayer Advanced Lawn Season Long Grub Control). If applied early and watered in well, Merit is very effective at controlling borers. If you wait too long into the season, though, neither Merit nor any other systemic insecticide will be able to kill borer larvae. They need to be killed soon after hatching before they get large. They are certainly bothersome and destructive, but borers aren't invincible. Good luck, Laurie