Amaryllis

There is something nice about having real flowers in my home in the middle of the winter, especially after all the Christmas decorations have been taken down’  Maybe it is the hope of spring to come, don’t know, but January and February are times when I especially like to have fresh flowers around.

On my last trip to Hastings I purchased a couple of amaryllis bulbs right before I had surgery – love the flowers and since the bulbs were over 1/2 price I couldn’t resist.  Could get my flower fix this way.  

This one was already growing when I bought it and was out of it’s box so didn’t know what color I was buying.  I was hoping it would be a red one but as you can see it has variegated pink and white blossoms.  The other one is supposed to be this color so who knows maybe it will be a surprise too when it blooms.  The second one is just starting to grow and a leaf tip has just emerged from the bulb.  It is nice that they are not both blooming at the same time. 

I hope to be able to keep these alive over the summer and plant them again next year.  I had one that I kept for several years but last summer it didn’t get planted and of course died of neglect.  I had a late start getting my garden in shape then broke my ankle so was just lucky that John wanted to take care of what I had done before my fall.

Keeping them from year to year is pretty easy…just sink the pot or remove the bulb and plant it in your flower bed in the spring after all frost is gone and keep it watered and fertilized all summer.  Towards fall dig it up and lay it in a dry spot  out of the sun and let it dry up.  (I lay mine on newspaper on my garage floor.)  When you want it to grow again and bloom, re-pot and start watering it.  I think they do need the rest time without water to bloom and the old leaves will dry up and you will need to pull them off before re-potting. 

I have found that keeping the bulbs over and fertilizing them during the summer they tend to have more than one bloom stem and more blooms per stem so it is well worth the effort.

Enjoy my flowers to brighten your winter.

Lynn
P.S.   When I looked at my blog this morning I couldn't figure out why the photos all looked a little out of focus but when you click on them they are sharp...wonder if that is the way it as always been?  Anybody know?