GARDENING

Amaryllis or Hippeastrum?

How to Tell the Difference

Photo by author

On the East Coast, the holidays are filled with ‘Amaryllis’ bulb kits to give as gifts or to decorate homes. The blossoms are fantastically large and showy in color, from the palest pink to deep scarlet. But did you know these magnificent blooms are not true Amaryllis flowers, but rather Hippeastrums? At first, I thought perhaps it…