Amaryllis sparkles at the holidays
Amaryllises are beautiful flowers to grow around Christmas. A native of tropical South America, these stunning, 6- to 10-inch lily-type flowers bloom up to four flowers per stem for several weeks. Amaryllis, which means sparkling in Greek, come in red, pink, salmon, orange, white, yellowish green and assorted combinations of these colors. There are also double flowering varieties. The Latin name, hippeastrum, means horse star.
An amaryllis is a great gift for anyone who loves beautiful flowers. No green thumb is required to grow amaryllis; they are the one of the easiest bulb flowers to grow. You just need a sunny window and occasional watering and fertilizing. With a little effort the rest of the year, amaryllis will bloom again for many years to come. There are four ways to buy an amaryllis:
Just the bulb. Size matters when buying bulbs. Larger bulbs may have two or more flower stalks inside, which means more flowers for your buck. Choose the largest, heaviest bulbs and check for any signs of mold, decay or injury. There may be no growth showing or there may be emerging leaves and flower buds showing. The flower buds are on stalks separate from the leaves. You need quality potting soil and a pot. Because amaryllis stems can get up to 2 feet tall, use a heavy pot if possible. They like cramped quarters, so the diameter of the pot should be about 1 or 2 inches larger than that of the bulb.
Kit in a box. There is a bulb, soil and a pot. Sometimes the leaves and the flower stalk are already growing inside the box. They may look white and sad, from being in the box in the dark. Never fear -- as soon as you get the amaryllis out of the box, planted and placed in a sunny window, the leaves and stalk will turn green and be happy. Wet the potting soil separately in a bowl before planting. Plant the bulb, leaving one third of the bulb above the soil. Water until the water runs out the bottom drainage holes, then do not water until there is growth showing.
A bulb in a glass vase, with stones. It's all ready to go. You have to look in between the stones to see the water level. The water should touch the bottom of the bulb -- just barely. Make sure the water does not go above that line, or the bulb will rot and die.
Already planted in a pot. It's all ready to go. You just have to put it in a warm, sunny window and water it.
When the flowers bloom, move it into a cooler spot away from the window, such as your kitchen table, to prolong the blooms. It's fun to watch the flowers appear. One by one they take their turn emerging from the flower case. Be careful that the pollen does not get on fabric; it may stain.
Remove the flowers as they fade, so they don't make seeds (using up the plant's energy). When the flower stem turns yellow, cut it off an inch above the bulb. After the flowers are done blooming, treat it as a houseplant. Do not do anything to the leaves. The leaves make the plant's energy from the sun, giving you a better the chance of having blooms next year. Place in a bright sunny window. Fertilize twice a month.
Loretta Jewell, from Potratz Floral Shop, gave me these tips to getting the amaryllis to rebloom:
"After the flowering is done, to get it to bloom next year, you need to do good job growing the leaves all summer. The better the leaves the better the blooming. Do not cut off the leaves. They store the energy and food for next year's flowers.
"In June, move the amaryllis outside. Start with shade so the leaves don't get burnt by the sun. Then move it to semi-shade or full sun. Water and fertilize it like any other plant. Use an all purpose 20-20-20 fertilizer. Fertilizing will help the leaves make more energy for the future blooms. You can leave the pot above ground or sink it in the ground.
"In late September or mid-October, move the bulb and pot inside and place in a cool dark place where the temperature is about 50-55 degrees, like the basement. Stop watering, but don't let it get bone dry. After eight to 12 weeks, move upstairs to a warm sunny spot and begin the forcing process again."
I asked people online if they had any success with having the amaryllis rebloom. Janet Nelson of Elk Valley Garden Club replied: "I put my amaryllis outside all summer and bring it in when it starts to get cold. Put it in the basement, or any cool dark place; just leave it alone until it sends up a shoot. Then bring it upstairs and wait for the bloom."
Mike Bailey, a Penn State Extension master gardener, shared his amaryllis technique: "We have had some amaryllis that we have kept from year to year for about 10 years -- I keep them over winter in our fruit cellar which is at about 50 degrees. I don't encourage growth of the plant until about the end of March when I can bring them out of the fruit cellar. I give them some water and once growth starts I transition them to our patio room which is not heated. They bloom about six weeks later as big and beautiful as ever. When the blossoms are spent and the weather has warmed I place the pots on the back porch where they get filtered light. About the middle of September I bring them into the garage and let the foliage die back and them it's back to the fruit cellar. I give them some fertilizer a few times over the summer and keep them watered. I don't fuss over them."
Sherri Dempsey, who is also Penn State Extension master gardener, responded with this wonderful story:
"I have some amaryllis bulbs that I got from my mom in 1999. They are still in the original pot. I put them out in semi-shade in the spring and they stay there until October. I put them in the cool basement in very dim light. As the leaves die back, I remove them. I give them no water or food until about mid-November. I bring them back into the warmer, well-lit kitchen and give them water to saturate the soil and clay pot. As soon as I see sprouts, I feed them and water weekly so that the bulbs don't dry out. They should be blooming by Christmas.
"I put them out on the porch all spring and summer, and I feed and water them the same as my annual pots -- same food, same water. They get huge, strappy, fleshy leaves. I think they were originally from a good source like White Flower Farms or Jackson and Perkins. They may have been repotted once in that time, but I haven't wanted to mess with success.
"I used to have them sent to Mom in Texas every Christmas. In the summer of 1999, she brought me a bag of them and said she didn't need any more because she could grow them outside there. She died in January 2010. I never paid much attention to them except that I put them out all that summer. In fall of 2010, I noticed they were still in the dark basement so I brought them up into the house and they opened on Christmas Day -- the first Christmas without my mom. My husband told me it was Mom's way of saying Merry Christmas. I've never gotten over it. Every year I'm surprised that they still come back -- not as luxurious as they used to be, but priceless to me."
Give the gift of an amaryllis for a friend or for yourself. They are sold at your local garden centers and nurseries, online or at big box stores. Give the gift of a beautiful, stunning flower this Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all my readers.
SUE SCHOLZ is a member of Presque Isle Garden Club. Send garden news to firstname.lastname@example.org.