Amaryllis, etc.

Last week I talked about Paperwhites. This week – Amaryllis! I remember the first time I grew an Amaryllis. I was nineteen, in my own home for the first time. I potted up the bulb and anxiously watched it grow for weeks. Finally large buds appeared and began to open, revealing huge gorgeous flowers. The day after the flower buds finally opened, a two-year-old little girl visited me. She was looking with wonder and curiosity at my “big flower” and then suddenly without warning, she reached out and just snapped off the flowers.
I nearly cried. Since then, I have had Amaryllis some years and some not. This year I will again. They are so easy to grow that anyone can grow them, and they are so welcome in the dark days of winter with their long lasting huge colorful flowers.
Where can one purchase Amaryllis? Some stores such as Target carry them prepotted, home centers like Lowe’s carry them, and certainly can be found in all good garden centers – usually the loose bulbs. The bulbs are quite large – about three to four inches in diameter. They are also widely available from bulb companies such as Van Engelen or Dutch Gardens (www.dutchgardens.com) or Van Engelen (www.vanengelen.com). I prefer to buy the loose bulbs, as I have plenty of pots around and also always have some potting soil on hand. Any good quality potting mix will do. The pot should be about six inches in diameter – no larger, as the bulb likes to be somewhat crowded – and also fairly heavy, such as a clay or ceramic pot. It also must have drainage holes. A light plastic pot might be too light, as the Amaryllis gets to be about twenty inches tall with several large heavy blooms. Put the bulb in the soil nearly up to its neck, leaving one quarter of the bulb peeping out of the soil. Water with room temperature water initially, and then do not water more often than once a week. A southern window is ideal for an Amaryllis. From potting to bloom should take six to twelve weeks. If you pot one up now, you should be enjoying gorgeous blooms sometime in January, just when you need a little pick me up. As the flowers fade, cut off the individual flowers with a sharp scissors.
After the extended bloom period – what then? If you don’t mind purchasing new bulbs yearly, you may toss it on the compost heap or just somewhere out in a garden bed to decompose. Or, with a bit of care and feeding, one can bring it to bloom again next year.
After the flowers are completely spent and faded, leave the flowering stalk to die back in a natural fashion. Leave the leaves in place and treat it as a houseplant for the rest of the winter. After the last frost date (May 15 here), sink the pot in your garden somewhere partially sunny (at least four hours) to grow its leaves and build energy for its next bloom cycle. Fertilize monthly with fish emulsion and seaweed fertilizer. In mid September, dig up the pot and bring it inside. Put it in a cool place for the next eight to ten weeks. I put mine next to an outer door that is infrequently used. It must be cool and dark, about 55 degrees. Withhold water during this time. After the eight to ten-week wait, bring the potted bulb back in to a warm light area, and begin watering again to begin the cycle all over again.
Try an Amaryllis this winter – you will be glad you did!