Amaryllis Bulbs, Acers and Aloes
My Gardening Addiction
Amaryllis: I love color! I just can’t get enough of it. I’m constantly planting colorful flowers in my garden or forcing (process of making a plant flower in an artificially created environment) a narcissus, hyacinth or amaryllis bulb for indoors. It just does something to me to see the spectrum of color.
I planted this Amaryllis bulb back in November. I had two bulbs: one I forced in a glass vase with only water for indoors; and this one I put in a pot of dirt outdoors. Funny enough, the one I forced bloomed within a month, in time for Christmas, but this one waited until March to bloom. And oh what a bloom!
According to the University of Minnesota Extension — The bulbs are native to Africa, the genus Amaryllis comes from the Greek word Amarysso, which means “to sparkle.” Bulbs were brought to Europe in the 1700s and have been known to bloom for up to 75 years. However, the amaryllis bulbs we commonly purchase and grow as houseplants are hybrids of the genus Hippeastrum and are native to Central and South America.
The secret to keeping amaryllis thriving for years is to keep the plants actively growing AFTER they have finished blooming.
- After the flowers have faded, cut them off to prevent seed formation. Seed formation will deplete important…
