Amaryllis

I have...er...had 27 amaryllis plants (amarylli?). Every summer, I put my amaryllis plants outdoors, where they soak up sunlight and grow strong.  Come early September, I put them in my garage, under boxes and drop cloths to block out light.   Amaryllis need this dormant time to rest to get ready to bloom again.  I bring them into the house two months later, begin watering them, and set them on a sunny windowsill.

Then this year, I pulled out the first two pots.  Hum, odd, no amaryllis bulbs there.  "Oh, well, maybe they rotted or dessicated."  But there were no bulbs in the next pot, and the next.  Or in 22 total pots!  Then, I came to a pot with a partly gnawed bulb, and 4 untouched survivors.  Rodents!  Rodents ate most of my amaryllis collection! I could see their distinctive teeth marks.

Next year, the amaryllis will rest elsewhere, or in wire cages.   I have 5 surviving plants, ordered 5 more (waiting for them to bloom) and a friend gave me this one:  The "Beth" amaryllis:

Winter blooms

Winter Blossoms
I go a little crazy at Christmas...well, winter really. Not to do with the holidays, because I never do much shopping, I mostly make gifts. No, I go crazy in the winter because nothing is blooming, the garden is quiet and static and I cannot get my hands into the soil. One thing that helps is to have some blooms in the house, and I don't mean cut flowers. Every fall for the past 5 years, I have purchased between 25 to 50 paperwhite narcissus bulbs. They are not expensive (don't buy them in a paperwhite kit, a pricey way to go) they are easy to start and quick to bloom. I often plant them in a vase, half filled with gravel and water, with their ends in the water (do not submerge them). Place them near or in a sunny window and voila, in two weeks, they will grow and bloom. I buy so many, because I like to start a few every week to insure months of bloom. Paperwhites are also very fragrant. It is comforting to see and smell flowers in bloom. If you haven't tried starting narcissus, give it a go! The same with amaryllis, which, unlike narcissus, can be summered outdoors and brought back into bloom for a few successive winters.

About 4 years ago, my students gave me this hibiscus. Though the plant loses leaves when brought indoors in the fall, it reliably puts out a bloom or two (sometimes more) each month it is indoors. It is a relatively care free plant- it needs food, water and sunlight outdoors in the summer and just minimal care when inside.

So, if the winter gets you down, try these cheering plants! And remember, the solstice has passed, so days are getting longer now!

Happy Solstice and happy gardening!

Winter Gardening Pleasure: Brief Entry

Winter Gardening Pleasures
I know it isn't exactly gardening, but I get a great deal of pleasure each year from starting up some amaryllis bulbs. I have written on this topic before, so I will not give too many details here. Amaryllis are one of the great floral bargains. For under $20 I bought 3 bulbs of the single-flowered amaryllis Ambiance, from Van Engelen bulbs, of which the flowers of only 2 of them are in the photo above...and, honestly, if you have a pot, potting soil and water, you can do it too. The flowers have been blooming for a few weeks now and will continue a few more- way longer than cut flowers for lower cost! And, if you take care of the bulbs correctly, you can coax some more blooms out of them next year!
Happy Gardening!

Amaryllis

[Photo: pink amaryllis at the US Botanic Garden in DC]
It is just about that time of year to start forcing your amaryllis (you know, those lush, tropical flowers in pinks, whites and reds we see around Christmas time). I find it a deep pleasure to have something blooming indoors in the winter and have forced amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus for years. They are really easy to grow and you do not need a green thumb to do so.

Pick out an amaryllis that you like. I usually go to a plant nursery, a botanical garden gift shop or order one line, but you can get decent bulbs at chain discount stores (not the fanciest varieties, but pretty all the same- and they come with a pot, planting medium and instructions!). Pot the bulb so that the top third of the bulb is above the soil. This ensures that no water placed on the surface of the soil will go down into the bulb's neck and rot the bulb. You can use a general purpose bulb fertilizer under the bulb, but I never do this. Put a stake in the pot at planting time- some flowers are so large they may flop without support (if they do, you can just cut them off and enjoy them as a cut flower, though they won’t last as long). Water thoroughly this one time, then water sparingly about once per week, until the flower bud shoots up- then water once the top inch of soil is dry, say ever 3-4 days. Keep the plant at room temperature (it does not like the cold). You will be rewarded with a lovely bloom!

After bloom, I cut back the flower stalk and leave the plant inside, watering and fertilizing with an organic fertilizer occasionally. After the first frost, the plants live on my porch, gathering sunshine and building up the bulb. In early September, I cut back the leaves to about an inch, and tuck the pots under boxes in my garage to mimic dormancy-no water at this time! Around mid to late October, I begin bringing some of them inside to start forcing them (usually 6 to 8 weeks before you wan them to bloom) and I stagger the dates I start forcing, to have a lovely blooming plant through much of the winter (I have about 10 currently and recently ordered 3 more).

If your bulb does not produce flowers one season, it may need another season outside to build the bulb back up. Don’t give up! I have had plants like these successfully re-bloom the next season.

Happy gardening!