The first Amaryllis bulb came home with me in early December. It was just a bulb with instructions to place it in a container (a pot, a bowl, a plate) and to let it be. No water – or just a small amount if I really felt it was needed. I placed the bulb in a shallow dish, added a few tablespoons worth of water, and proceeded to let it be.
The very next day I could see the emergence of a bud. It was small, looked different from the thick leaves and I was armed with just enough gardensense to know it was the start of a flower.
A week or so later, I brought home another bulb. By now the first bulb was pushing up at least a half-inch worth of stem each day, the bud was holding on tight and reaching strongly for daylight coming through the window. I turned it daily with care so it would not become top-heavy.
Both Amaryllis bulbs came from grocery store, a local chain, that I frequent. Bulb #2 found another dish and proceeded to try to follow to the first bulb in growth.
Yet another week and another Amaryllis bulb followed me home. I felt the need (OK, the urge) to buy it. It was one of the last bulbs in the store’s barrel. How could I leave it behind? Each bulb was $8.00 and the first two were so rapid in their growth, that, well . . . you know me and flowers.
These exotic bulbs put on a spectacular performance throughout the month of December and well into January, showing off with amazing blossoms that seemed to be perfectly timed so that new blooms opened up as old ones faded away.
As the flowers died back, I gently snipped them off, amazed at the amount of liquid that secreted out of the stems, especially since I had not watered them! I eventually cut them all back, with just one bloom left on one of the stems. She did not disappoint. This weekend, now mid-January, there was this amazing blossom (above).
I have displayed these bulbs along my center countertop, right behind the kitchen sink. They have been a bright spot in what has been a predominately gloomy winter. They have performed quite spectacularly. At the moment, there is the one last bloom, but, much to my delight, the other two Amaryllis bulbs, which I thought were dormant, have sent up new shoots which look like they will be opening by week’s end.
How wondrous our world is and what a joy these small little pleasures in life can be. It looks like there will be enough Amaryllis blossoms to take me through at least the month of January, and now I am wondering if I can facilitate dormancy for next December.
Have you had any experiences with Amaryllis bulbs?
Beautiful and what a great idea to carry a person through a gloomy winter. I hope I remember this next year!
LikeLike
Thank you, Janet.
This is such a great winter plant, Janet, and this particular one doesn’t need anything. 🙂 I hope I will be able to get them to bloom again next December, but, if I can’t, I’m sure to look for a few more bulbs.
This is a great plant for children as it grows so fast.
LikeLike
They are so gorgeous and quite flamboyant, don’t you think? Just the ticket for the middle of winter!!
LikeLike
Flamboyant. Yes. A perfect word to describe Amaryllis. They have put on quite a show and kept me happy this winter.
LikeLike
Penny, the amaryllis is a well-loved flower for me, ever since I bought one in bloom on the first anniversary of my mother-in-law’s death. It has flowered on the anniversary ever since, in a pot on my balcony. Last year it podded and produced many tiny seeds, from which I am growing two new plants. One is intended for my sister’s birthday.
I had no idea you could grow one inside, and that it would flower in the winter. What a cheerful blaze to brighten your chilly days! Mind has finished its flowering so I’m very happy to bask in yours for now. Thank you.
LikeLike
What a touchingly beautiful way to honor your mother-in-law, Juliet, and how wonderful that it has set seed and will be honoring your sister’s birthday. Reading this warms my heart. Thank you for sharing this.
I have not seen them growing outdoors in our climate. They are bred to grow indoors come winter here around Christmastime. Is the amaryllis a springtime, early flowering plant for you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s an early spring flowering plant here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t have much luck with Amaryllis bulbs, I remember having one years ago. My house used to be full of plants , now I have hardly any left. I like buying bouquets when I am home.
Your Amaryllis look gorgeous and you take such good care of them.
LikeLike
I love bouquets as well, Gerlinde – especially when they come from my garden. 🙂
These bulbs were are so easy, they are hard to kill. 🙂 Really, I just put them in bowls and did not even water them. Only care was turning them so that their stems were straight. Thanks, Gerlinde. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for the tip, I will get some the next time I see them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What beautiful flowers, Penny. I don’t have any experience with amaryllis bulbs. But you’ve brightened up a gloomy day with your lovely photos.
LikeLike
Thank you, L. Marie. These are the easiest of bulbs. Really. I did nothing to them and they have provided so much color in this gloomiest of winters.
LikeLike
When we lived in Oregon (all year), I remember several winters when someone gave me amaryllis and hyacinth for winter color and growth — friends and family knew that I needed something to brighten up gray days. You were smart to buy more than one — that makes a full, living bouquet! One alone is more just a curiosity — still beautiful — but so much better together.
LikeLike
Thank you, Sallie. I thought was being a bit frivolous at first, but, found that I truly received much joy from the $24. total for the three bulbs I have already had 8 weeks of blooms – and now the new buds are just starting to open. As I think about your comment, you are right. I’m spent more that $24 for a bouquet that lasted maybe a week. Now, dear Sallie, you have me smiling anew. 🙂
LikeLike
How beautiful, Penny! I think red is the perfect bright color for a long, shadowy winter. It may not be quite fair to share my experience with amaryllis since our climates are so different, but I’ve had good luck growing them directly in the ground! My grandmother had a whole bed of them! All that means is that I think the bulbs are hardy. I would think with simple gentle care you’d be able to “bring them back” next year. When I let them just go in the garden the thing I noted was they’d often bloom at different times, so I never quite understood their cycle. I think with just a little reading up on them you’ll find a strategy and I suspect have a lot of fun with them!
LikeLike
It is Friday, as I write, and that bloom is now bursting into flower!
I’m happy to hear, if a bit envious, that you can grow Amaryllis in the ground. I can only imagine a bed of them! Wow! Our climate is too harsh and the growing season too short, but, we can find the bulbs as Christmas approaches. They are such a great plant to have for small children, as they grow so quickly. Thanks, Debra. I will be putting on my sleuthing suit and see what I can uncover and give revival a try – otherwise, I’ll buy some more bulbs. Otherwise, $24 isn’t too steep a price for three bulbs and continuous bloom for two months. 🙂
This has been one of the gloomiest Januarys I can remember. Sigh.
LikeLike
Such a happy flower for the cold winter days! We had a pink one that came from the grocery in a box and was just gorgeous.
BYTW thanks for the Midnight update! I think his people were just keeping him inside…as it should be. Enjoy my birthday weekend. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry so I will laugh!
LikeLike
It is a happy flower. I like that. Your pink must have been lovely, Marilyn.
You are very welcome. I think they were, too – or the middle neighbors. Midnight owns this neighborhood. I think everyone takes care of him in different ways. We are the “milk” house.
Laugh, enjoy and have a very happy birthday! Celebrate all weekend.
PS – are you watching Victoria?
LikeLike
They are lovely! I really wanted one, but wasn’t sure what to do. I have piles of flower catalogs at the foot of my bed that I’m going through. I can’t wait until it’s time to plant. I’m gonna cheat and buy a few seeds soon, just to look at and get excited over. Mr. Groundhog needs to get his act together on Thursday.
LikeLike
Mr. Groundhog should be appearing soon – here’s hoping he brings good tidings. 🙂
Isn’t it wonderful when the seed catalogues arrive? They give us that sneak peek into spring and summer and set us to daydreaming about what to try. Buy the seeds! Those little packets of hopefulness are worth it. I have packets I’ve never used and this year will just toss them in the ground and see what happens.
Since I wrote this a week ago, those swollen buds have opened and are showing off! They start selling Amaryllis here in the Midwest around November. These bulbs were absolutely the easiest imaginable. The bulbs are literally sitting in bowls/dishes and I have done nothing to them but cut of the dead blooms. 🙂
Enjoy your catalogues.
LikeLike
Spectacular blooms, Penny!! You were so smart to stagger your planting dates for an extra-long flowering season. It has been so long since I tried Amaryllis. I must remember next December. Now that I am home during the day, it would be so fascinating to watch them grow! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful blossoms with us, Penny! I have been so grateful for the pale pink Cyclamen blossoms on our dining room table this winter. They warm my heart each and every day! It’s the little things that make life sweet. ♡
LikeLike
They have been such a joy to behold, Dawn. One that was just budding, above, is now opened and in full bloom – again. I purchased these bulbs at Marriano’s. No water needed and they have given me know 2 full months of pleasure. Best $24 (total) spent. Thank you. I hope I can get them to rebloom next year – or that the store sells these again. 🙂
Cyclamen are such beauties and welcome sights on these gray days. You are so, so right; it is the little things that make life sweet.
LikeLiked by 1 person