I bought this in may of last year, and it was just finishing blooming. This is the 3rd time it has bloomed for me since then. 3 times in 14 months, not bad! I absolutely love this stage of blooming on this plant. The red is so intense (more than the pics show) as the buds pop open and the blooms begin to unfurl, and they are so fresh and new. The first 2 times it bloomed, the spikes had 6 blooms. This one has 22 buds!