Good luck.
BTW, your Heinz ketchup reference is dating you!
I'm not sure why it has more stout leaves than most. Probably because I grow it in fairly high light, and it dries out fast in the summer due to the intense heat (above 30 C daily). In winter it is kept under a fiberglass roofed porch, but otherwise is exposed to the elements. I water it just enough to keep it from completely drying out. This year there was a two day cold snap with temperatures ranging between -5 and 0 C, so it definitely can take some cold. I didn't notice the buds until sometime just after Christmas, and I check fairly often.Congrats!! Wow~ I have not seen such wide chunky leaves on armeniacum.
The flowers look fairly large, too!
How do you keep them in the winter? and how long did it take from the first sight of emerging spike to open bloom?
I had one in low spike since last summer that dried up before I even saw the bud. Then, another one that started later in the fall and made it as far as a high bud, which then blasted two months ago.
Now, I have third plant in low bud. Something tells me this one will make it.
No problem, Tom .... the delay of one year doesn't matter anything !Tom, good luck with these two buds ! I'm looking forward to seeing fotos of them flowering here very soon......
The flowers look great. 
