Amaryllis

I wandered around the gardens yesterday looking for damage from the wind storm and looking for pictures to take to share with you, but didn't find much of either. What's blooming right now, and the only thing blooming, are the amaryllis bulbs sitting on the piano. This first one is a double white with just a hint of pink along the edges (though it doesn't show in the picture). I have a lot of these potted up and, in fact, just bought 2 more at the feed store for 2/3 off the other day. I really do like them, especially this time of year when everything is so brown and dead outside.

This is just what it looks like, a large, plain red, but the color really glows. I got this one about 15 years ago at a local flower shop when I went looking for something else. Always a sucker for large, beautiful flowers.

Not sure where this peach one came from, but it too has been around for a long time.

This last one I've had for at least 25 years since I know I had it for most of the time I lived in West Virginia. It has a smaller flower, though lots and lots of them. It is a bit unusual because it multiplies rapidly and just fills a large pot with its smaller bulbs. That's one of the reasons you get so many flowers with it because there are so many bulbs. I don't know the name, but I suspect it is a species. I also haven't seen it offered. I guess people like the big ones better. This one mostly stays in leaf all year and has leaves while it flowers, unlike the others. This one also will flower twice a year.

I keep them in the greenhouse most of the winter, only bringing them into the house when they are about to bloom. I guess I have a dozen or so of them by now. They don't seem to care about the amount of light they get while in the house (no leaves for photosynthesis so no need for bright light) so I can put them just about any place to brighten things up. During the summer, I set all of the pots in a bright shady spot on the ground and just water them with the hose as I go about doing other things. Pretty much neglect them, I guess, but they grow nice, lush leaves over the summer. I don't really try to put them into dormancy. They just seem to do it naturally in the fall when I bring them back into the greenhouse. In mid December, the first ones to bloom will start sending up bloom scapes. This is usually Giraffe which is one of my favorites. It is a cream color with red and green stripes. Very Christmassy smaller flower. I've noticed that my red species and Giraffe have only 3 blooms to a scape while the larger ones have 4. The large ones sometimes need to be tied up because they are so heavy they will just topple over. They get put in heavy crocks which helps a bit too. I fertilize them well when they are in leaf and don't bother when they are resting.

Since there isn't really anything blooming outside yet except the witchhazels, though I did see some tiny tips of spring bulbs peeking through yesterday, I think I'll intersperse witchhazels with some of my greenhouse plants for the next little bit.

Jane