Yes, a plant may indeed be dormant but still green. Camellias bloom
when they are dormant, yet the bush is still in leaf.

However, I have read too many posts in this newsgroup where people force
hippeastrum into total leaflessness by withholding ALL water and placing
them in dark closets or cellars. When some bulbs do not cooperate,
people even cut off the leaves. This could eventually kill the bulb.
Those people equate "dormant" with "leafless".

My hipeastrum do rest in the winter. They stop putting out new leaves,
and they don't bloom. I don't feed them; but I do keep the soil moist,
either in their pots or in the ground. (Of course, I hope they are
watered by our winter rains; but we haven't been getting much of that
for three years.)

If you live in a cold-winter climate and have hippeastrum in pots, you
might want to read
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Flowers/holiday.htm#Amaryllis.
As noted above, howwever, I disagree with the forced dormancy
recommended there.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

I read the article, and that's pretty much what I do. I used to withhold
all water in the early winter, but I have been having more success by just
reducing the water to a half then a quarter of their regular summer amount.

My concern in posting was that the chilling period (but not darkness) does
seem necessary. People with bulbs in pots indoors, in a constantly warm
spot, might believe that they don't need to do anything, since some posters
said that they don't take any action but those posters, like me, are letting
the seasons provide the chilling period. That belief would be wrong. They
need to arrange a chilling period. During the dormancy phase the plant forms
its flower buds inside the bulb, visible if you cut your bulb open.

Thank you for your reply.

Andrew